Raisie Speaks: 5 Tips to Scoring Affordable Reads And Saving Money Along The Way

You work hard for your money. Can you recall how many hours you put your effort into just to get the latest payslip? So even if you love books, you can still save money with these tips and still be a happy bibliophile who knows how to have good old fashioned entertainment at home or in any quiet corner-reading.

To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
The Book Depository

1 Buy Used Books or Swap!

Brand new books cost anywhere from Php 300-500 for Paperback and Php 400-800 for Hardbound copies, and you can always hear me complaining about new releases and their respective prices. If you could control yourself and look around your home for other books you have not read, you can wait for a month after and check out eBay or some friends who have finished reading the title you have been pining after and offer to buy the book for a lesser cost. Some bazaars will have secondhand books on sale that are also in great condition so you should set aside a budget for the next one in town. 

Swapping is also a good choice, all you have to do is ask a friend whom you know has the genre that you like or a specific title or author that you have not read yet, then you can arrange for a swap to take place without having to worry about your monthly budget for books. 

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

2 Borrow From A Friend Or The Library

All it takes is a phone call, text, Facebook message, Tweet or even your library card and a list of titles you have not read. Take the first step and you can have a couple of new books that you can start reading. Hey, if you "borrowed" that from ADZU library, return it at the end of the semester! Other students would want to read it too, okay?

The Darwin Myth by Dr Benjamin Wiker
God's Gold by Sean Kingsley

3 Invest In An Ebook Reader

Most e-book readers these days range anywhere from Php 6,000 -12,000. Even if it is tight for you right now, you can save a chunk of your bonus and stow away a little every month until you have saved enough. This way, you can easily download e-books and save them in your reader's storage. Most of the time, e-books are free. Be sure to select one that won't strain your eyes. 

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin

 4 Collect Only Authors That You Really Like

What's the use of having a huge collection of books and only read and just appreciate a few authors? You just might as well be throwing away your money. Yes, you can't avoid those times when you bought a book and thought that the author was promising only to realize that the writing style was childish and the story plot was off-but you can resell it, and learn to look keep away from that book altogether. Keeping only authors that you really like showcases your true bookworm's preferences and the collection can be called truly yours. No matter what genre it is, it's your time and money spent, isn't it?

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

5 Or Join A Giveaway

It still saves you money, doesn't it? Alright, no more questions asked . Head on here. 

How about you? How do you save money while looking for books? Is there anything that you do uniquely? Let me know in the comments below!

Book Review: The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

How fast do you think you can finish a book? My reading speed is all ups and downs but my friends at my reading group can read fast and even finish 4-6 books in a month, even more! Yeah, I am back with my book reviews. This one is a little overdue which got me thinking that I should review books as soon as I finish them. I've still got my eyes on new books from the supplier, and I am on a lookout for other book blogs that will be willing to exchange links with me, if you are interested, would you let me know? Hint: leave a comment below...

I have already mentioned that I started reading Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and didn't get beyond the introduction. I can't help feeling sad that I can't read it when I want to. It just won't load... I don't even know how this could happen, I have yet to figure it out. But I also think it comes at a reasonable time when I have a lot of projects to finish and both my parents are home, I have had a blast spending time with them together to make up for the bonding moments that we missed the past three months.

So on to the book review...

Highlights of the Book: Themes, Issues and Characterization
(Warning: May Contain Spoilers) 

Some issues and themes worth noting in this book is the balance of work and personal lives, as well as trying to maintain the professionalism in the workplace. As the correspondents strive to meet deadlines, there is the issue of a 50 year old publication staying afloat in the dot com era.

I liked that this came from the perspective of a staff operating an international newspaper. The issues touched were meaningful, and that these are the stories of ordinary people. Instead of a bulk of it being just one perspective, it is a breakdown of various characters and their relevance to their workplace. Tom Rachman gives a varied voice and style for the different characters, even just the supporting ones. It seems that this is a young author to look out for.

The themes that the book touches are love and family life, career and security, and faithfulness or loyalty. Each chapter in the book provides a glimpse in the life of each employee, and in between, there is the history behind the international newspaper, of how it started, but the true reason behind why it was founded is not revealed until the last two chapters. What goes on beyond the professional surface is more intriguing compared to how each correspondent and editor deals with in the workplace.

As for issues, enter the battle of the printed word and daily circulation of an international newspaper versus digital content that can be downloaded and shared in seconds. Usually the thin line is crossed between the relevance and truth of news reporting versus sensationalized stories. Here, the rich stories and challenges of being in the journalism profession is told. I can also personally relate to this side because of my involveent with the printed word having been a scriptwriter and editor in the past.

 The character I could truly relate with is Kathleen, the editor in chief of the paper because I somehow admire her drive and her ambition, being a tough woman in the workplace otherwise dominated by men, and the way she checks facts to protect the paper's credibility. Also, the obituary writer has quite a transformation as he transforms from a lazy but dedicated father to a work-committed editor but unfocused husband.

I also like that each chapter is titled with newspaper headlines which are parallel to each character's story and experiences-this is a novel way of introducing memorable characters to the reader.

Who Could Enjoy The Book 

This book is for people who are curious about what it means to be a print journalist in the midst of a dot com age where reporters from all over the world are facing, and how an international print newspaper can survive. Also, if you are curious as to how the balance between personal life and working life is achieved or rather in constant turmoil, then this book is for you. 

About the Author

People still write good books. 

That's what Discovery said about Tom Rachman and he is considered as one of the best discoveries of 2010, including Andrew Garfield. 

Tom Rachman was born in 1974 in London, but grew up in Vancouver. He studied cinema at the University of Toronto and completed a Master's degree in Journalism at Columbia University in New York. From 1998, he worked as an editor at the foreign desk of The Associated Press in New York then did a stint as a correspondent in India and Sri Lanka, before returning to New York. He was sent to Rome in 2002 as an AP correspondent where his assignments brought him to Japan, South Korea, Egypt and Turkey. He began as a part time editor in 2006 at the International Herald Tribune in Paris in order to support himself while writing fiction. He currently resides in London and is working on his second novel. 

What Other People Are Saying About The Book

It seems that I am not the only one who is quite happy about this book. Other book groups have shared their reactions and you can view them here

The New Yorker

Good Reads

Tom Rachman Site 

If you happen to like this book and pick up this copy, would you want to let me know? 

What types of books capture your interest? 

Kindle or Nook?

Haha.

I can't even believe I'm thinking about this now. I need. An E-book Reader. Not Want. Need.

It's because I'm doing some major book reviews and the best way to get books is by reading the e-books. The paperbacks can wait for the personal collection.

I know I will also enjoy an e-book reader. I've been thinking. Which one?

Amazon's Kindle?

(Photo taken from Amazon.com)

Or Barnes and Noble's Nook?

I have no problems whether or not it's colored. I just need to read.

Let's do a tabular comparison, shall we?

                                                             Kindle Touch                             Nook Simple Touch

Price                                                           $ 99                                                  $99

Color                                                          No                                                    No

Display                                                        6 inches                                             6 inches

Battery Life                                                  2 months                                           2 months

Wi-Fi                                                           Yes                                                   Yes

No Glare                                                      Yes                                                   Yes

Memory                                                     4 gb on device (30,000 books)         2 gb (1,000 books)

Dictionary                                                     Yes                                                   -----

Supported File Types                                   -----                                                   ePub, PDF

Free Books                                                (Through Special Offer)               (Through Nook Gift Cards)

This is just an overview comparison, I'm still thinking. You will find out though which one I will be asking for when one of my aunts arrive. Close competition right? 

Reminder: Features are taken from these sites- Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I am not being paid to compare the two e-book readers. Though I won't mind if someone would want to donate either one to a poor bookworm like me. Yikes!

This Ambition Would Work Only If...

I'm letting you in on one of my crazy childish ambitions.

I had this crazy childhood dream about being a proud owner of a bookstore. Nothing big, just a cozy bookstore, the ones where it occupies a country living room, or the old, quaint ones like in Notting Hill (1999) called the Travel Bookshop where Julia Roberts steps in to meet Hugh Grant, or the little book nook like in Before Sunset (2004) where Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke meet again.

The Travel Bookshop in Notting Hill, London

Yeah, this is similar to what I had in mind 

Shakespeare and Company in Paris

Inside Shakespeare and Company, curious which titles they carry

And my book shop would have tons of books on the floor, postcards and crazy bookmarks and all sorts of shenanigans, even outdated newspapers if it made any history at all. 

The bookshop of my dreams just might, just might have a flying bike somewhere

And as poor bookshop owner, I was willing to give up comfortable living just to be able to sell some more books and read books

You see, all was going well and fine, for me to have the bookshop of my dreams. As I've said, it's a childhood dream. All was going good, and I even had ambitions of more ladders leaning against more bookshelves reaching the ceilings to store some books, or even a cottage just to house some books, so yeah, you get the idea.

I repeat, all was going well and fine until those expensive e-book readers came along and made owning a library portable. I can't blame them. E-books help save the environment by saving the sheets of paper to be used and printed upon. And saves ink too. So you see my problem? I can't compete with being a book shop owner (even if it still all remains an ambition), when more and more people gravitate towards e-books these days which is even lighter compared to a hardbound book.

Do what you want with your e-book reader

And take it anywhere you want, read anywhere you want

But I feel defeated, armed with my childhood dream and fear for the future where everything these days is better on screen, I might be lucky to be able to sell novels for Php2 each as paperweights.

So yeah, I need another ambition. I thought of bookmark crafter, but who would even buy bookmarks from me thirty or forty years from now? Boohoo!

On second thought, I feel like being a book shop owner would put me out of business anyway since I would be hesitant to part from books acquired.

See what it takes to kill a childhood dream?


Got a better childhood ambition? Share them with me! =)