According to a recent Harris poll, reading is America's favorite past time. But with popular books often costing $24 or more, this past time can easily strain any budget. We'll share little known secrets for buying books at dirt cheap prices, both online and offline.

Friends of the Library Sales

Where can you get a $24 bestseller for only 50 cents? A $30 self help book for $1? Try your local Friends of the Library Sale. These sales are absolute goldmines for savvy book readers looking for bargains. Not only can you get books dirt cheap, but you also help your local library.

Here's how it works. Local libraries accept donations of gently used books from the community. These books are sorted, stored, and once or twice a year they are sold to the general public. Prices generally range from 25 cents to $1.

Book sales are handled by volunteer organizations called Friends of the Library. Profits from the sale are used to improve library services or to buy books and equipment for the library. Everyone wins. Gently used books that would be collecting dust are recycled, your local library makes money for new books and services, and you take home great books at a bargain price! The yearly nature of book donations ensures that you'll find plenty recently released books at these book sales.

To locate a Friends of the Library Sale near you check out the website booksalefinder.com.

Tip: Most booksales last two to three days. Go early to get a crack at the best books.

In addition to Friends of the Library sales, some libraries have Friends of the Library bookstores where patrons can get great book bargains year round. Again, check booksalefinder.com to locate libraries near you that may have such a store.

Amazon Third Party Sellers

While most people believe Amazon.com offers the rock bottom prices on books, few know that you can buy books for much less at the very same website! This is because Amazon allows third party, or independent booksellers to sell books on the Amazon website.

These third party sellers represent individuals, organizations, independent bookstores, and wholesellers who offer their books at a discount over the Amazon price. Often this discount can be significant.

To locate third party sellers, find the "Add to Shopping Cart" button on the product information book for any book. Just below this you'll see a "More Buying Choices" button. Click here and you'll see a list of third party sellers.

Third party sellers offer both new and used versions of books with the general condition of the book listed along with the price being charged by the seller. To ensure the best buying experience, Amazon provides feedback ratings for each seller and also allows you to see comments left by previous buyers.

To enjoy the best buying experience, we suggest only dealing with third party sellers who have a 98% or better feedback rating. In addition, its often a good idea to check recent customer feedback for the seller. By doing this you can enjoy great deals on books!

Zooba - A little known website gives shoppers the absolute best prices for new books.

We've found a little gem that let's you purchase best-selling hardcover and paperback books for one of the lowest prices possible. National chains often discount bestselling books by 30% bringing your price to $17.50 for a typical best selling book. Shop online at Amazon and you'll get the typical book discounted 40% to $15.00 but have to pay for shipping and handling which could easily raise the price to $18 or more.

Smart consumers are getting these books for even less!

Zooba.com is the newest website by Book of the Month Club (in business since 1926). What's fascinating about Zooba is that it allows you to purchase popular and bestselling hardcover books for only $9.95 each with FREE shipping.

Here's how it works: (1) You pay $9.95 a month. (2) You create an online list of great books you would like to read. You can modify (add, delete) books form your list online at anytime. (3) At the beginning of the month Zooba sends you the number one ranked book on your list. You pay NO shipping charges.

With Zooba you can cancel your membership after the first month, or after you've purchased a total of three books.

Visit the Zooba website to find out more.

Check out your local chain thrift store

Thirft store are great sources for used books. Just any old thrift store will not do. We've found that chain thrift stores provide the best bargains. These chain thrift stores have gone upscale lately in an effort to look and feel more like mainstream department stores. As a result, you can now frequently find a nice selection of books for a low price, usually 50 cents to $1. To locate chain thrift stores check your local phone book.

Tip: These chains usually replace their stocks of book each week. Ask the manager when, and how often they re-stock their books so you know when to arrive to enjoy the best selection.

Did you know that you can listen to popular books on your iPod? Top fiction, business, political, religious, and self-help titles - even listen to newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. The best part is that this option is cheaper and more convenient than buying the physical book.

Audible.com is the leader in this type of downloadable audio content. The Audible website is easy to use. Simply select and download the audio book to your computer. From there you can either listen to the book on your computer, burn the book to a CD, or transfer the book to your iPod or other MP3 player.

There are three chief advantages to using Audible.com to listen to books on your ipod:

• You can listen to your book anywhere, turning downtime into productive time. Listen on the train commute to work, while jogging, at the gym, or on the airplane.

• With Audible.com's monthly subscription program you choose two audio books a month for a total of $21.95. This is less than the price of two new books a month.

• You download your book instantly! No need to drive to the bookstore or wait days for your book to arrive in the mail.

Currently audible.com is offering a special introductory deal for first time users. Click here to get more details.

Check Out Your Local Library

Have you visited your local library recently? You may be pleasantly surprised. An increasing number of libraries are going to great length to please their patrons. This includes stocking the latest bestsellers for your to borrow. In addition, many libraries also loan popular DVDs as well. The only drawback is that many of these DVDs and books are so popular there is often a waiting list to borrow them.

Rent books the same way you rent DVDs

In the same way people rent DVDs instead of buying them, you can save money by renting your books. Booksfree.com is the Netflix of the book world. For one low monthly price you can borrow any two paperback books at a time. When you're finished with a book, you simply return it in its prepaid postage envelope. Booksfree.com then sends you the next selection form an online list you create. You're allowed to rent as many books in a month as you like and never pay shipping for either receiving or sending back your books. This is a huge money saver, especially for heavy readers. If you love listening to audiobooks on CD, booksfree has a similar type of rental program for you.

Take advantage of secret discounts at your local bookstore.

If you're the type that prefers buying books at your local bookstore instead of shopping online, you can save as well. Signing up for rewards program at your local bookstore can yield impressive savings.

We prefer the Border's reward program because it is free to join. When you sign-up for the Borders reward program you receive a free weekly members only email newsletter with coupons and other specials on selected merchandise. While these coupons can be helpful, what we have noticed that is really nice is that once every two or three weeks or so you recieve a coupon good for 30-40% off of any item in the store (usually just new hardcover bestsellers have an everyday discount). This "secret discount" can be great if you buy books that are not hardcover bestsellers. You can join the program! online or at the store.

Barnes and Nobles has a similar rewards program but we are less enthusiastic about this one as it requires a $25 yearly fee. However, if you buy a lot of books this could well pay for itself as members get 40% off of the list price of hardcover bestsellers, 20% off list price of all adult hardcovers, and 10% off of already discounted items.

Use book summaries.

With so little time its difficult to read all the best books. Several services now offer comprehensive written summaries that distill the most essential points of selected books. This allows you to save both time and money.

Capitol Reader.com, for instance, provides 10 page concise summaries of the most recent political books (both books with right and left wing slants). These summaries allow you to quickly obtain the key points and arguments made by political leaders, satirists, pundits, and journalists.

Each week you receive a email with a new political book summary from Capitol Reader. In addition when you first sign up your instantly receive 20 of their most popular book summaries. The service costs $19.95 per month. Click here to for a free 30 day trial.

Similarly, Soundview Executive Book Summaries provides 5,000 word, eight page summaries of the best business books. Each month Soundview sends its members 2-3 summaries of the most recent business books. You can download a free sample of one of these summaries at the Soundview website .