23 Good Books I Have Bought For Under $3 Thanks To Book Riot’s Daily Deals
I love ebooks. I love them a lot. I’m also on a budget, a lot, and I get most of my ebooks from the library. Or, I did, until I bought (*counting*) at least 23 ebooks since September 2016. This is roughly 7 times the amount of ebooks that I usually buy in a similar timeframe.
What changed? Being a good Rioter who supports our site and also a greedy reader who likes cheap ebooks, I signed up for the Book Riot Daily Deals newsletter back in September. I am now a slave to its siren’s call of ebook sales.
“I’m not even that into ebooks and I’m still mad [I can’t get these deals in the UK], that’s how good they are.” — Rioter Rah
Just so you know, I 100% have nothing to do with this newsletter’s production. So even though this is definitely promote-y since it’s our site, I have a genuine passion for getting everyone signed up for this list because I legitimately buy these deals more than I can probably afford all the time. (I tried getting Jeff to give me a bonus for writing this, but he said no.)
(Just kidding, I didn’t ask for a bonus. Can I have a bonus? …No? Dammit.)
“The deals are so good that I legit delete them without opening when I need to not spend money.” — Rioter Amy, echoing my exact situation with this newsletter
These deals are good not just price-wise but also title-wise. These are books you want to read. These are books you already have on your TBR and authors you already know. These are not terrible books you’ve never heard of and have no interest in. I don’t know how Jeff manages to find all of these ebook deals, but I suspect he is a wizard.
The proof is in the purchases, so here are the books I have purchased, all for $3 or less. They’re (probably) not on sale now, but if you sign up and watch, books do come back around–or, you’ll find books that are just as good or better. You can sign up to get deals in your inbox right here.
1. Dawn by Octavia Butler
I had just been thinking “I need to read more Octavia Butler” and bam! This showed up on the site, on sale for two bucks. Bought.
2. The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam, Book 1 by Jasper Fforde
This was my gateway book. I love Jasper Fforde and when I clicked through, I saw that I could get these deals in my email. IN MY EMAIL.
3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
I didn’t own a copy of this and now I own a copy for anywhere I am.
4. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
I had given my paper copy of this away. I know, I don’t know what I was thinking either, but it’s fixed now.
5. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
This was a deal not just on the ebook but ALSO on the Audible book, so I was able to get both for around $7. Always check the audio add-on. (This still counts because the ebook itself was only $2.99.)
6. Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Working up to this one because I heard it is super scary.
7. The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight
(I’m sorry I didn’t pay full price, Sarah.)
8. The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
The click was strong when this book came up.
9. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
I mean, it won a Pulitzer.
10. We Love You Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge
This had been on my radar for awhile (since here, in fact) so I snapped it up at $1.99.
11. The Wangs Vs. The World by Jade Chang
*clicking furiously*
12. Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
*clicking intensifies*
13. Dietland by Sarai Walker
I think I bought too many ebooks in January, but I justified it by telling myself it was my birthday month.
14. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
This book was not actually on my radar, but I saw that it won the National Book Award so I clicked on through.
15. The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
I bought this one just because I thought the cover was neat.
16. What Ever Happened to Interracial Love? by Kathleen Harris
Again, taken by the cover. Which is maybe 75% of my reasons to buy a book.
17. Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson
YES! I needed this book! And now I have it. (I also could seriously have bought every book on that day.)
18. Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
Another book I really needed that I now have.
19. Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
Another award winner/cool cover eyecatcher that I snapped up.
20. Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon
You might not know that I’m super into punk and post-punk and proto-punk music but I am so I had to have a memoir by Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. I had been waiting to read this.
21. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
NO I KNOW, WHY HAVE I NOT READ THIS. Now I have no excuse.
22. All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
Do I have any idea what this is about? No. Did I buy it because it has a sweet cover? Uh-huh.
23. Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Vol. 1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates
I went ahead and bought the first three volumes of this. I’m so stoked.
Sidenote: While going through to verify how much I paid for these, I saw probably a dozen other books that I was upset I missed. The struggle is real.
