How to Read More Books This Year (Without Spending More Money)

Most readers want the same two things: more books and a smaller bill. The good news is that these goals aren't at odds with each other. The readers who consume the most books per year are almost always the ones who've figured out how to reduce the cost per title, because removing the price barrier means you stop hesitating and start reading.

This isn't about depriving yourself of books you want. It's about building habits and using tools that make reading cheaper by default, so the budget question fades into the background and you can focus on actually reading.

Set a Reading Goal (But Make It Flexible)

A reading goal gives you direction, but rigid targets can backfire. "Read 52 books this year" sounds motivating in January and oppressive by March. A better approach is a pace target: one book a week, or two a month, or whatever feels achievable given your schedule. Track it loosely. The point is forward momentum, not a scorecard.

Apps like Goodreads, StoryGraph, or even a simple spreadsheet can help you track progress. The tracking itself creates a mild accountability loop that makes you more likely to pick up a book than open another app.

Combine Ebooks and Audiobooks

One of the fastest ways to read more is to read in more situations. Ebooks work at home, on the commute, in bed. Audiobooks work while driving, exercising, cooking, or doing chores. If you use both formats, your total reading hours increase without needing to carve out extra dedicated reading time.

The cost of running both formats can add up quickly if you're paying full price. But Whispersync for Voice lets you buy a Kindle ebook and add the Audible narration for a reduced price, often $1.99 to $3.99 on top of the ebook cost. When the ebook itself is already discounted through a daily deal or monthly deal, you can own both formats for under $5.00 total.

The two formats also sync your position, so you can switch between reading and listening mid-chapter without losing your place.

Use Kindle Unlimited Strategically

Kindle Unlimited costs $11.99 per month and gives you access to a rotating catalogue of over two million titles. For volume readers, especially those who read romance, science fiction, fantasy, or self-published authors, KU can reduce the cost per book to near zero.

The catch is that KU's catalogue skews heavily toward certain genres and doesn't include most traditionally published bestsellers. If you mainly read big-name thriller authors or literary fiction, KU may not be worth it. But if even half your reading comes from KU-eligible titles, the subscription pays for itself quickly.

A practical approach: use KU for volume reading and discovery, and buy the specific traditionally published books you want when they hit deal prices.

Don't Sleep on Library Apps

Libby (in the US) and BorrowBox or Libby (in the UK) let you borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your local library for free. The selection depends on your library's digital catalogue, and popular titles often have wait lists, but for readers who plan ahead this is genuinely free reading.

The limitation is availability. If you want a specific book right now, the library might have a six-week wait. For readers who maintain a long to-be-read list and don't mind reading whatever comes available next, library apps are unbeatable on value. For readers who want specific titles immediately at the lowest possible price, deal alerts on the books you actually want fill the gap.

Deal Alerts Reduce Decision Friction

One underrated barrier to reading more is the micro-decision of whether to buy a book. At full price, you weigh the cost, wonder if you'll enjoy it, consider waiting for a sale, and often decide to think about it later. That "later" turns into never.

When a book hits $1.99 or $0.99, that friction disappears. The decision becomes instant. You buy it, it's on your Kindle, and you're reading it that evening instead of deliberating about it for a week.

Setting up author-level alerts on ChapterDeals means you get notified when specific authors' books go on sale. You're not browsing deal pages hoping to find something interesting. You're getting a direct notification that a book you already wanted is now cheap enough to buy without thinking.

Try Reading Sprints

If your reading has stalled, a short sprint can restart the habit. Commit to reading for 20 minutes a day for two weeks. Don't worry about pages or books completed, just time spent. Most people find that once they're past the first few days, the habit sticks on its own.

Reading sprints work especially well when paired with a backlog of cheap ebooks. If you've been accumulating deal purchases, you already have a pile of books waiting. Pick the shortest one and start there. Finishing a book is motivating, and short books build momentum.

Manage Your TBR List

An overloaded to-be-read list is paralysing. When you have 200 unread books, choosing what to read next becomes its own obstacle. A few strategies help:

• Keep a short list. Maintain a "next 5" list separate from your full TBR. When you finish a book, pick from the short list, not the entire backlog.
• Rotate genres. If you just finished a thriller, pick a non-fiction book or a romance next. Variety prevents fatigue.
• Abandon freely. If a book isn't working after 50 pages, put it down. Life is short, and there are too many good books to waste time on ones you're not enjoying.
• Buy intentionally. Just because a book is $0.99 doesn't mean you should buy it. Only grab deals on books you'd genuinely read. A 200-book TBR of impulse purchases helps nobody.

The Cost-Per-Book Mindset

Reframing your book budget in terms of cost per book changes how you think about spending. If you currently read 20 books a year at an average of $10.00 each, that's $200.00 annually. If you switch to buying mostly at deal prices of $2.00 each and supplement with KU and library borrows, the same 20 books might cost $40.00 total.

That $160.00 saved either stays in your pocket or funds an extra 80 books at deal prices. Either way, the maths works in your favour. The key is shifting from impulse buying at full price to patient buying at deal prices, with a system that surfaces those deals without requiring daily effort.

Build the System, Then Forget About It

The readers who consistently read the most while spending the least have all built some version of the same system: a library app for free borrows, KU for volume reading if it suits their genre preferences, and deal alerts for the specific authors they want to own permanently. Once the system is in place, cheap books flow in automatically and the only decision left is what to read next.

ChapterDeals handles the deal alert piece. Paste a link to any author you follow, and you'll get an email when their Kindle books go on sale in the US or UK store. Combined with a library app and a bit of patience, it's entirely possible to read 30, 40, or 50 books a year without spending more than you do now on 15.