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Intro
With summer in the works, leisure reading is the opportune, affordable activity for relaxation. However, books can be costly, deterring hopeful readers from cheaper options. If you like having your own copy of a novel to keep or write in, look no further. By the end of this blog post, you’ll have many affordable options to choose from.Â
Affordable Pricing- A Brief History
If you have kept up with your history, you’ll know that affordable books weren’t always a possibility for the common person. In actuality, before modern printing, books were copied by hand!Â
The Gutenberg Press
In 1439, Johannes Gutenberg was among the first to use machines that used metal pieces to stamp down the lines of text.Â
According to Social Studies Help and their article, “The Printing Press and the Spread of Ideas,” the Gutenberg press was
“a system that used individual, reusable letters and symbols made from metal. This technology allowed printers to assemble entire pages of text by arranging these movable types into a frame. Once arranged, the frame would be inked, and paper pressed against it, creating an inked impression of the text.”Â
Despite this impressive innovation, books were still unaffordable for many, keeping society predominantly illiterate.Â
Rotary Printing Presses
In the 19th century, Richard M. Hoe created the rotary press.Â
According to Britannica and its article “Printing Press,” this machine was a power-driven cylinder press
“which a large central cylinder carrying the type successively printed on the paper of four impression cylinders, producing 8,000 sheets an hour in 2,000 revolutions.”
Therefore, books could be printed faster and cheaper. As a result, books became affordable to the commoner, not just the wealthy or elite. Citizens grew more and more literate.
The Computer
By the 1950s, the introduction of the computer had changed the production of printed materials yet again. More steps in the printing process of printing were replaced with digital data.Â
Finally, print on demand became the new, affordable norm it is today.
Important Note
But, it is important to remember that your ability to read and have access to books is a great privilege, one that the common person could only dream of just two hundred years ago! So get out, support your local libraries/bookstores, and grab a book!
Benefits of Owning Your Books
For many, owning your own physical copy of a novel is the only way to read. Maybe this sounds outlandish, but there are many benefits to this strategy.Â
While using your library card and supporting your local libraries is always encouraged, sometimes you simply want to own a story.Â
Benefits include:Â
- Ability to read the story at any time
- You can take the copy with you anywhere
- No worrying about damaging the book
- Annotate and highlight at your own desireÂ
- Swap copies with friends and family
- Create bookshelves of your favorite literary works
- Take notes and follow along with the story more easily
- Personalize your books with your own thoughts and feelings while reading, so that you or others can read them while they enjoy the story
- Highlight quotes that inspire you
- Keep track of characters and their motivations in the margins
- Circle lines of text that are particularly interesting, confusing, or genius
- Identify recurring symbols, motives, and themes
Affordable Books
With the cost of necessary needs becoming increasingly more outrageous, you should be shopping for affordable books. But where to look?
Don’t worry, you’re in good hands. Below are novels under $10, ready for you to grab and read this summer.
Take a look at these affordable prices!
Notes From the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Odyssey and The Illiad by Homer
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
When, in 1512, Machiavelli was removed from his post in his beloved Florence, he resolved to set down a treatise on leadership that was practical, not idealistic. In The Prince he envisioned would be unencumbered by ordinary ethical and moral values; his prince would be man and beast, fox and lion.Â
$6.95
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Wurthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Read the full review of Strange Case Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the blog post below!
Conclusion
Affordable books should be the standard. However, that is not the case, and you must look for the affordable deals.
With the stress of modern pricing, your reading shouldn’t be what you give up! Grab a book and enjoy your summer!
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