I have book envy. I read book reviews and Oprah's book club suggestions and wish that I could buy every book suggested. The problem is that I’m on a budget and buying bestsellers is not in my budget. So, I envy anybody who isn’t on a budget and can buy gobs of bestsellers, without any regrets.
Buying books is something I never regret doing. Blowing my budget is something I regret a lot. For many years I maintained my budget by buying books at garage sales or thrift stores but you can’t buy an e-book at a garage sale or thrift store.
Checking out e-books
Just when my book envy reached an impossible high, I found out that I can check out e-books from my local library. As soon as I paid off my fines, I jumped on to my library’s website and found the Overdrive service that my library uses to manage and lend the e-books.
Overdrive Service
I’m not sure how many libraries use Overdrive but it seems that this service is fast becoming a standard for lending e-books. If you have a valid library card, you can check out an e-book. If your library does not lend e-books, you can find a library that offers lending privileges to patrons outside the library’s service area for a fee.
Waiting Lists
My library doesn’t always have the e-books that Oprah recommends but I’ve found that they have a good number of them just the same. Of course, like most things that are popular, there is often a waiting list for bestsellers but if you don’t mind waiting, the e-book will eventually be yours to check out.
Amazon downloads
If you use a Kindle to read your e-books, Overdrive uses Amazon to deliver e-books to your device. When you are ready to check out the e-book, Overdrive sends you to an Amazon product page and you “purchase” the book and it’s delivered to your Kindle for free.
If you don’t have a Kindle, Overdrive offers books in the ePub format or you can read the book straight from your web browser. You can also download the Overdrive App to your device to browse and check out e-books. You can also download audio books from Overdrive.
Staying on budget
By using Overdrive to check out e-books this summer I’ll not only be able to get over my book envy but I’ll also be able to stick with my budget. If you want to curb your book envy and stay on budget, you can go to the Overdrive website to find out if your local library uses this service.