Unbookening Extra: Books, the line item

The Guardian books blog offers some tips for filling your shelves on the cheap: Get as many free volumes as you can, visit the library and take advantage of bookstore sales.

These are pretty good; of course I would add Bookmooch and borrowing from friends and relatives to this list of tactics. I used to be a big fan of the one-cent Amazon find (in which independent sellers knock the Marketplace price for a used copy down to $0.01, which with shipping makes the book about $4), but I've been off those recently. Instead of Oxfam bookstores, we have the dollar shelf at the Strand and library sales (I hear the Upper East Side has a great one). Best user tip from the comments:

"I also find reading over people's shoulder on the tube a good way of trying a book you like the look of before committing to a purchase."

That's cheap! But also, difficult depending on when you're riding and how good your vision is.

Sadly U.S. magazines have not caught on to the European trick of packaging a freebie (cheap purse, flip-flops, book) with each issue on the newsstand. I still use my electric blue checkbook wallet I got from Spanish Glamour -- come on, guys, what are you waiting for?

Thanks to Riese's Auto-Fun for pointing this out.