Reading is one of the best hobbies around. You can travel to a distant location or time, become someone else, perform deeds you would never dream of committing in your real life, the excitement abounds. Perhaps one of the best elements of reading is the fact that you can gain countless hours of entertainment all for little or no monetary cost.

Take me for example. I usually read four novels per month. I can read about a page per minute, and the average length of books I read is approximately 400 pages. We multiply 400 by 4 to obtain a total of 1600 minutes (or roughly 26 hours) of monthly enjoyment due to reading. Since I rarely purchase books, let’s assume that these 26 hours of entertainment are completely free of cost.

What are some alternate ways I could entertain myself for these 26 hours? I could see 13 new movies in the theater, which would cost about $130 dollars for just me, $260 if I took my husband along, and even more, if we are in the mood for some popcorn and sodas. I could go shopping, but for 26 hours? That would do some major damage to the pocket-book! How about the bar for 26 hours? That’s damage to the pocket-book, the liver and my social inhibitions! What about television? That only costs as much as your monthly cable bill. It also has many of the same benefits as reading, doesn’t it? Perhaps, but reading can also widen your vocabulary, help you to become more articulate both in writing and in speech and provide an awesome outlet for relaxation. The television can provide peace, but not quiet!

Hopefully, I have made a case for reading in my own simple way. Now let’s talk about ways to indulge this favorite of hobbies for little or no cost.

You can always peruse your local library. The Ann Arbor District Library has five branches, so if the location nearest to you doesn’t have what you are looking for, chances are another branch will. I personally enjoy using the online catalog system to search for and place holds on books (and even movies). When the holds are ready, I drive over and am in and out with my newest reading selection within minutes. Easy!

Another way to obtain books for little cost is to visit a used book sale, like that hosted by the AAUW. Many charity organizations, like Good Will and the Salvation Army, also have a large supply of inexpensive used books in their store fronts. Although they don’t offer used books, major book stores, like Borders and Barnes & Nobles, offer clearance sections where one can purchase slightly damaged or overstocked books. I once scored the complete works of Jane Austen for $10 by perusing this section at Borders!

Yet another great way to get your hands on more reading materials is to use the books you already have as barter. Ann Arbor Classics Book Group recently hosted a book-swap social. Everyone brought in as few or as many books as they desired. Texts were arranged by category (for our purposes these categories were non-fiction, self-help/ how-to, classic, chick lit, detective/ legal, poetry, sci-fi/ fantasy and other); one by one each pile was laid out in front of the group. We went around the circle of swappers, giving each person the opportunity to select a book or pass. At the end, everyone left with the same number of books that they brought.

Of course you can always trade with a friend of yours tit for tat, but massive book-swaps are the best. They give you the opportunity to trade with a large group of people rather than just one or two. Maybe Susie really wants your copy of The Kite Runner, but you don’t want to trade that for her copy of A Tale of Two Cities because you’ve got your eye on John’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. That’s okay! It all works out in the end. If you are able, why not get together a large group of friends for a book-swap party?

Are you not the hosting type? Does throwing a shindig seem like too much work? Maybe you spend all of your time with your nose in a book and don’t really have enough friends to make the concept work. If this is the case then you should look into an online book-swap site. One site, Bookins.com, works something like Netflix. You order online, receive your ordered item in your mailbox and mail-in any items you no longer need. You can easily create a list of books and other media that you would like to trade on the site. When a swap is arranged, you will be sent an email notification. From there you ship out your old book and receive by mail your new book. You can either add your new selection to your permanent library, or, once you are through with it, swap it on the site for yet another new book! Bookins.com does all of the work for you, unlike more traditional sites like PaperbackSwap, Swaptree, and TitleTrader, which require contact between individual trading parties.

So there you have it, many great new ways to enjoy your favorite hobby!

Photo Caption: clip-art image of a book from Barrysclipart.com

Melissa LR Handa is the founder and organizer for the Ann Arbor Classics Book Group and the Lead Books Contributor for AnnArbor.com. If you would like more information or to join the group, please feel free to send an email her way.