5 Easy, Proven Ways You Can Get More Books at Home Right Now

Right now I've got all four of my kids learning from home. We've opted for remote learning through their usual schools. For my middle schooler, Benjamin, this means working independently to complete 2 assignments per week in each of his 7 classes. He logs on twice a week for a video chat with an eighth, advisory class. My elementary schoolers, Levi and Jubilee, are logging on for short lessons from their teachers 4-5 times a day, and doing some independent work in between. My preschooler, Sam, is enjoying a bag of books and craft supplies that the leader of our city's School Readiness initiative offers for pick up every month or so.  

We're spending a lot of time at home. So, how can we get more books at home right now?

1. Library holds- If your library is open at all, the librarians are just wishing and hoping for your patronage. Our library is open with limited hours and with restrictions (no restroom access, mandatory masks, traffic stickers on the floor) and our librarians are thrilled to see us when we come in. If coming in isn't an option for people, they're offering a curbside pickup. When I get to the library I call and they will bring my checked out books to my car. I highly recommend looking into your local library as an option. My library is keeping all books returned to them in quarantine - untouched for 3 days. They've also ceased charging any fines. Look into what your library is doing. 

I definitely use library holds to get more books. Every so often, maybe once a week, I log on to my library's catalog and put books on hold that my kids want. I look up the books we want in the catalog and click to place a hold. Whether the book is coming from my home library or from another library in the system, I know it's coming. Then, when I go to the library, I browse for whatever looks good. The librarians put a lot of work into making books look good, letting you see the book covers, etc. So I grab what sparks some interest, and then at the checkout desk, I pick up my holds. 

I definitely end up getting more books with the help of holds. Sometimes I go expressly for picking up holds, but often I visit the library to browse and find I have holds that have come in. Putting books on hold eliminates the effort of remembering what book it was we wanted, and the effort of finding the book on the shelf. 

And hey, here's a cool tool -- the catalog of library catalogs -- called WorldCat. Find out what libraries near you have any given book in their catalog. 

2. Book Subscriptions- I've looked into several book subscription boxes, but so far I've stuck with my first love, Bookroo. It's great. They send you two books, wrapped as gifts. A small paper comes with them to tell parents the titles and summaries of the books. For the chapter book box, the card notes anything a parent might want to watch for -- tense scenes, usually. 

I like that the books come as a surprise. I like that I don't have to choose whether or not I want this book or that book, it's just "set and forget." They're vetted books, and I've liked all of the ones we've received in the picture book and chapter book boxes. There have been a couple of board books that I felt meh about, but a couple that have become absolute staples in our house. So, I'm hot and cold about the board book box, and very warm and loving toward the picture book and chapter book boxes. I've written more about Bookroo, I like them well enough that I've become an affiliate. You can see my other posts about Bookroo here. 

I like that Bookroo is a small business started by three book-loving sisters-in-law. So relatable. Subscribing right now seems like a great way to enjoy some books and support a small business. We gifted my 2nd grader, Jubilee, a 3-month Chapter Book Box subscription for her birthday. 

3. Digital libraries- I've tried two digital libraries recently, Kindle Unlimited and Epic. 

Kindle Unlimited left me feeling meh. That may be because I wanted it for the kids mostly, and it wasn't until after my free month trial ended that my 7th grader won a free Kindle from the library summer reading program. I found it somewhat difficult to browse, and any title I searched for wasn't on it, but the Amazon page to buy it would come up. Using it felt more like browsing Amazon than visiting a digital library. Perhaps if you have a Kindle for your kids, it will suit your family better.

Epic is the digital library that the kids' schools signed up with when distance learning started last March. The kids found plenty to read on it, enough that I had to decide to what degree reading books on Epic counted as "screen time." Jubilee read a lot of Snoopy and Charlie Brown in the spring, and is currently reading the Phoebe and her Unicorn series. She was disappointed Epic didn't have the first Harry Potter book; our copy is missing at the moment. Levi has also found plenty to read for fun (Cat Ninja!) and completed reading assigned by his teacher on Epic as well. From my parent screen I can see that my kids have read over 100 hours and more than 150 books on Epic, already. My kids can only read during school hours, but parents can pay $10/month for unlimited access, and any parent can sign up for a free 30-day trial. Also, a subscription can be gifted. 

4. 4. 

4. Local bookstores- We've got Books-A-Million nearby; they're a chain bookstore and man am I glad they are around! If you've got a local bookstore, support it! Get their membership. Books-A-Million has a "millionaire's card" and at $25/year it gives me free shipping and 10% off everything, as well as access to some special sales. It hits the sweet spot for me because it's the closest to my house AND it's easy to order online AND it appeals to my frugal side with its sales and membership benefits.

 A little bit further away we've got a local independent book store, Bank Square Books. Talk about charming! The place is everything I want a bookstore to be: full of books, also cute stuff, knowledgeable staff, and places to sit. Well, I haven't been in 2020, so I can't say whether or not the places to sit have disappeared. But the thing I love about local independent bookstores is they're most likely to host awesome author events and bring authors and speakers to town and to the schools (and to virtual settings, too). In my experience, you'll end up paying sticker price (or close to it) for the books you buy at a non-chain bookstore, but when you do, you're sprinkling literacy benefits into the whole community.  

5. Online bookstores- 

I mean, when I say "easy and proven," even a local shopper like me has to admit that Amazon belongs on the list. The online bookstore that turned into an online "everything" store has made it SO easy to buy books. I regularly use Amazon for its detailed book information features. Reading levels, page counts, publication dates, all in one easy space! If you're on Amazon and you're ordering something anyway, you can run a quick search for the best deals. Type "children's books" or "YA books" in the search bar, then when the results come up, click the box on the left hand side for "Today's Deals." Then sort by Price: Low to High.  

    

Books-A-Million also sells online, and they seem to have more variety in kids' books on sale (maybe because they stock physical stores). I shall make getting to their online bargain bin easy for you: First, go to the website. Then click on Bargain Books (it's a dropdown menu, but just click it, don't pay any attention to the dropping down. Also, don't be distracted by Sale. You want Bargain Books). Then scroll down to the third row and along the top of the row click the tiny link "Shop All Kids Books Starting at $3.97". Enjoy scrolling the deals! 

Happy reading! And hey, how does school look for you right now?

Bookroo Unboxing, Update and Coupon

Hi guys!

Recently Jane Tanner over at Bookroo reached out to me and said they had loved working with me and would I like to review another Bookroo box for them?

Yes! I would! I loved working with Bookroo, too.

I asked which kind of box they'd be sending, because now they send three kinds and I have kids that would be interested in all of them:

1. Board Book Box (3 per month)
2. Picture Book Box (2 per month)
3. Junior Box (2 chapter books every two months, still in beta testing)

They sent picture books! Woohoo! Right answer! (There really wasn't a wrong answer.)

So, when I got my Bookroo box this time I did something SUPER FANCY and turned on my phone camera for an unboxing! Hahaha. Oh, you guys. I do have aspirations to actually be super fancy, but right now we're just workin' with what we've got.

Here's the video:


We had fun making this video, and we've had fun with the books, since then. The books they sent were Rock-a-Bye Room by Susan Meyers, illustrated by Amy Bates, and Land Shark by Beth Ferry, illustrated by Ben Mantle.

Land Shark is about a boy who wants a pet shark for his birthday. It really got all of us laughing, ages 4, 7, 9 and adult. And Rock-a-Bye Room is a super sweet bedtime poem. The illustrations are beautiful and imaginative, and I've enjoyed reading it many times to Jubilee at night. After I started my Creativebug class, I noticed all the gingham that was painted in this book and I was like, "Wow. I respect that so much more now."

But. I feel like a book subscription box has to be about MORE than just sending me good books. I have to be getting good books at a good price.

So. It's time to find out if this Bookroo box passes the "cheaper than Amazon" test. (I'm hopeful, because the last one I checked did.)


Here's the link to Rock-a-Bye Room on Amazon. At the moment, it costs $16.88 in hardcover.



Here's the link to Land Shark. At the moment, it costs 11.48 in hardcover.

Add it together and this box would cost $28.36 + shipping from Amazon.
From Bookroo, you'd get it for $17.99 + shipping. And the price only gets cheaper if you subscribe for multiple months! And it comes with the cutest gift wrapping and awesome extension ideas.

Gah! No wonder Bookroo loves working with me! I get started talking about them and I gush! There's more:

I recently went through all of our books and got rid of ... probably 100 or 150 of them? I don't know you guys. Two diaper boxes full, plus a big reusable grocery bag, ok? I just was running out of room on my walls and walls of bookshelves. And these were good books, so I donated them to our local book bank (which gives them to kids for free). Did I donate either of these two? No. Did I donate either of the last two? No! These guys pick gooood books! "hidden gems" is how they advertise it, and they're right. 

Ok, I've got to stop talking about Bookroo now. The baby needs a dry diaper for the third time during the writing of this post.

priorities

Oh shoot I almost forgot to give you the coupon code! Ok here it is for 15% off. code:BOOKS2LOVE

Have a lovely day! And if you know anyone who edits videos in exchange for books, let me know. ;-)

Bookroo book subscription: A Free Coupon and a Funny Story

Good morning, friends! Today I have something fun to share with you. Jane Tanner, one of the co-founders of Bookroo, is going to share some stories with us.

But first let me introduce Bookroo. It's a book subscription box, like Kiwi Crate or something, but instead of being filled with crafts, it's filled with books! 

all photos via Bookroo

This idea is so good. I will brag that I had the same, excellent idea once; I just didn't do a single thing about it. The Bookroo team, on the other hand, has made my dream come true.

So. You can order an ongoing subscription, or pay in advance for three or six months and get a discount. What kind of books do you get? You can choose whether you'd like to get board books or picture books. If you choose board books, you'll get a box with three board books in it. If you choose picture books, you'll get a box with two picture books in it. And, the best part, the books are wrapped up like presents. I just love that! But then, receiving gifts is one of my strongest love languages, second only to words of affirmation. :)

Anyway, Jane reached out to me about collaborating on something and I think we're kindred spirits: we adore books, we read to kids, we cheer for the BYU Cougars. No surprise then that we decided to swap guest posts on each other's blogs.

Since I had once fantasized about starting a kidlit subscription box, I asked Jane to write about "something funny or embarrassing or amazing that happened in the very earliest days of Bookroo." I wanted something to make me laugh, really, and Jane delivered. Her post starts out with the two brothers who started it all. . .

Bookroo was Kesler and Tayler’s brain child. They’d worked on a couple of entrepreneurial endeavors in the past together, and when Tayler was looking for fun ways to get new books for himself to read but couldn’t find a program he liked, he called Kesler. They batted the idea around and then realized that doing a book subscription service for children would be way more fun. And so Bookroo was born.

They shared the idea with their older brother, Chandler, and soon the three of them were having discussions about it. First, Kesler just enlisted my help with the logo, and the imagery for the site, but since reading to children was something I so passionately believed in, soon I had officially joined the Bookroo team, followed shortly thereafter by Chandler’s wife Tiffany, and Tayler’s wife Becca. It was just such a FUN idea to work on! And thus our team was formed. Three brothers (or “bro-lers” as we sometimes call them since all 8 brothers in the Tanner family’s names end in -ler) and their wives, out on an adventure to make reading accessible, convenient, and affordable for parents and exciting for kids and parents alike.

Since some of us live in Utah and the rest in California, Bookroo has given us a wonderful opportunity to keep extra in touch and work together even though it’s long distance. We’ve perfected the Google Hangouts team meeting and use a number of tools to keep us coordinated throughout the week. Unfortunately, with all businesses there’s the occasional snafu, especially if you’re coordinating long distance. Probably the funniest moment thus far was when our supplier sent us the wrong book! We’d been debating between these two different books to be the last one included in the month’s shipments--they were both great books--but we’d ended up deciding to go with Book A rather than Book B. The books arrived, our Utah contingency wrapped and shipped them out, and everything was great--pictures were pouring in and people were loving the books!

Then at our Google Hangouts sync up a week later, we were talking about how things had gone that month. Someone mentioned the books we’d sent out at which point Kesler said, “Wait, I thought we sent out Book A.” It came out that we had in fact sent Book B, because that’s the book that the supplier had sent us! The Utah crew had assumed the California crew switched the order on them, and the California crew assumed the right books had shown up! To this day, we still aren’t sure how the supplier even knew we were considering Book B, and why they thought it was ok to switch our order, but we had a good laugh about it, and are glad that we liked both books so much!

To us, Bookroo is an exciting opportunity for families--both ours and yours. Bookroo boxes unite us behind a common mission--to improve the world and the minds and imaginations of children through reading! Come check out our site, and start sending Bookroo boxes to the children in your life--it’s an investment in their future!

Thanks, Jane! I definitely chuckled about "bro-lers" and about the mix-up!

Time for coupons and special offers, yes? If you order through my Bookroo booster link, you can get 15% off with the code BOOKS2LOVE . What's in it for me? If you order through the links in this post then I get a commission. So hey, thanks! Books all around!

How does checkout work? (updated 2/1/2018)

1. Click over to Bookroo. 
2. Select whether you want board books or picture books. 
3. Select how long in advance you want to pay. The longer you go, the cheaper it is per box. One month prepay is 17.99/box. Three month prepay is 16.66/box. Six month prepay is $16.33/box 12 month prepay is 15.99/box. Shipping is $5.
4. Fill in shipping info, billing info, and create a login to track your orders.

Hooray! Surprise book presents once a month!

But what if I already have a lot of books and I get one that I already own? No problem; send a photo of you giving the book to a friend and get $5 off your next box. Bam!

But what if I can't decide between picture books and board books? No problem; tell them and they'll switch off between the two, month by month. So easy!

More info and FAQ's on the Bookroo site of course, those were just my two big questions.

To me, Bookroo sounds like the perfect thing for grandparents to send to grandkids. (Feel free to send them my post via email. Copy and paste: http://www.evereadbooks.com/2015/08/bookroo.html)

It also sounds like the perfect thing to gift at a baby shower. 

It also sounds like the perfect way to get cousins in a book club together. Sign both families up for Bookroo and then have a little Skype session once a month. Baby book club. I'm dying of the cuteness.

___

Ok, I think that's all I've got. What questions do you have? Of everyone you know, who would be most excited to learn about Bookroo? Share this post with that person and you'll bring a little more "hey that's cool" into her day.

UPDATE: I've received and reviewed a Bookroo box! Check out my thoughts here.