Now that it’s officially summer, time to get your beach reading on! Here are a few good sources for cheap books.
PaperbackSwap.com – register for a free account and list 10 books you are willing to swap. That earns you two credits to request books from other members. The more your trade out the more books you get to request in. You pay to mail out books and receive them for free. The site is great for kid’s picture books and NY Times best-sellers. They also have DVD and CD swaps. Read more about how it works.
BookMooch.com – this site uses a similar system as PaperbackSwap. You pay to mail books and receive them for free. You need to send out one book for every three you receive to remain in good standing. BookMooch is free and has a very cute Web site.
Bookins.com – this site charges a flat fee of $4.50 per book but boasts better customer service than Paperback Swap and BookMooch. The site’s point system allows you to trade books for DVDs. You can also print postage from home. Read more about how Bookins works.
Goodwill and Salvation Army – large thrift stores often have a used book section. Expect older titles and great prices.
Your local library – but of course!
Related:
15 places to get free books online (affordable if you have a Kindle!)
Education World provides summer reading lists by grade (scroll down to see the options)
NY Times recommends these books for vicarious travel
Thanks, Andrea!
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
I LOVE Paperbackswap – and the CD and DVD site too! We use it ALL the time and can’t believe the money we save! Whenever I hear about a new book I might want to read, I just put it on my wishlist on the site. Eventually, someone will post it and it’s mine! (I can be patient when it comes to books, no need to get them right as they are printed!)
The iPhone has an ap that will download 150 books to your iPhone for $10 (less than 7¢ per book). They are older classics where the copyright has expired, but who has read all of them. The ap includes a reader for the iPhone where the text scrolls across the screen like a teleprompter.
I love PaperBackSwap! I’ve used it for a year now and they keep adding more and more features…. growing quickly, so there are more and more books available. (Over 3.5 million as of this posting)
I have to agree with the paperbackswap suggestion! It is a great community. In addition to that I also use the book price comparison site BookSpy.Net to find books I can’t get on paperbackswap.com for cheap. Great list