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There are many ways to get bargains on books and audio books. The best is getting them free from your public library. You could also get them used online at such sites as Half.com. Even Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble (with a membership) have decent prices. I personally have a subscription to Audible.com to get digital audio books.

Here are two for travelers that you might not have heard of. They come from a past issue of Consumer Reports Money Adviser newsletter. (Oct. 2007)

1. By plane. Buy a book in the airport bookstore, read it and return it within six months to another airport bookstore to get half your money back. The stores must be owned by The Paradies Shops, which include The New York Times Bookstore, CNBC News and TravelMart. It doesn’t even matter what condition the book is in, as long as you have the original receipt. For information, see the Read & Return program at TheParadiesShops.com.

2. By automobile. If you like audio books on long car trips, stop at Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores. Buy tapes and CDs at one Cracker Barrel and return them to another. Your refund will be minus $3.49 for each item per week.