Free Reads!

Free Reads!

   Call me boring, but my idea of heaven may be a long day at the beach with an absorbing book, a chaise lounge and a tall, cool drink. O.K. a handsome man for suntan services is a definite plus!  I used to lug all kinds of reading matter to Jones Beach - magazines, newspapers, books (paperback and hardcover).  Let's face it - it is next to impossible to read a newspaper at the beach - the wind blows the paper everywhere -  the magazines and books come home with sand embedded on every page.

   So I am a reluctant convert to reading books, newspapers and some magazines on a tablet.  My boyfriend gave me a KindleFire for Christmas and I must admit it's pretty great!  We watch HBO Go on it and I can check my email and search the web.  Maybe one day I'll blog from it, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.  This is supposed to be about free reads...

   Old habits die hard, and I admit I am still one of the 10 old farts who still subscribe to the New York Times physical newspaper, but most of the time I read the headlines online and let the papers pile up until I recycle them at the end of the week!  Did you know that if you subscribe to any home delivery, you get all digital access?  I plan to be grownup and realistic soon.  I will cut my home delivery down to just Sunday and read the rest online (sigh)!  

    If you are reading this blog, I'll assume you are probably more tech-savvy than I, so I'm going to share what I've learned about budget e-books.

   The New York Public Library NYPL eBooks lends ebooks for 2 or three weeks.  You can make a list of up to 12 books you would like to read and you will receive an email when the book is available.  You then have 3 days to download or it drops from your list.  You cannot renew ebooks, but you can put the title back on your list and take it out again if it is available.  I was pleasantly surprised at the selection of titles.

   Amazon has thousands of free books - mostly "classics" that are in the public domain. Go to the Kindle Store, select "Kindle eBooks" and sort by price.  On the Kindle itself, there is an app called Free eBooks.com.  Project Gutenberg has more than 42,000 ebooks to download for free.  eBookFling claims it lets you "trade" ebooks with other readers, though I've had less success w/ that one.  I'd love to hear from you about this.  I listed 2 books and requested 2 titles, but it says the titles are "lending disabled."  Perhaps I am doing something wrong...

   I haven't found magazines yet, but I suspect the library may have a part in this.  Let me know if you've found sources of free magazines.

Timely Thrift

  Restaurant Week is coming up Monday, July 22 - Friday, August 16!  Participating restaurants will begin taking reservations on Tuesday, July 9.  This is almost a month of $25 lunches and $38 dinners at some of New York's finest restaurants - places I wouldn't normally visit on a budget.  You can visit restaurant sites like Zagat to research restaurants.  Then book 'em on  Open Table.  Bon apetit!

I'm very anxious to hear how you are or are not enjoying my blog and what I can do to improve it.  Saving money and enjoying life can seem at times contradictory, but I am here to say it can be done!  Please become a follower so you can comment on the blog and let me know what you think...thanks!

Next time - the almost free Fountain of Youth!

Keep calm & carry on...Lori