On to plan B?
A follow up on using Booksfree (this is a service like netlifx, only for books--you pay a flat monthly fee for a theoretically unlimited number of books per month):
In theory it's a terrific idea. However, I've decided to cancel my membership. Media Mail has been super slow. The most books I'd ever be able to get through from them in a month is 2, due to the shipping time--at the basic membership rate I tried out, they don't ship the next two books until they receive the first 2 you've borrowed. It's been a 2 week turnaround per every 2 books so far. Of course, I could try a more expensive plan, but at that rate I'd just as soon purchase 2 or 3 mass markets as borrow them. To read four books a month, I'd have to turn them around in a day or two. For the basic monthly rate, I could purchase one mass market paperback and not have the stress of feeling like I need to rush through it to get my money's worth.
Also, I don't like that I have to send the books back together. If I rip through book A quickly, it'd be nice to send that back while I'm reading book B. Keep it rotating (netflix does this).
Plan B (for reading books I can't get through work) is to just be selective about how much I spend, and keep the books carefully until I've read the first three chapters. If I don't like it, I can return it. That will give me a chance to try more different things without worrying about throwing away money.
Also, it's a sad fact, Barnes and Noble and Borders are cheaper than local bookstores. The latest Harry Potter would have been too pricey for me to buy full price (that's a purely subjective opinion, there are other things where the cost is not an issue if you love it enough) but at Barnes & Noble it was deeply discounted and therefore seemed like a bargain for entertainment gained. Also, the big chains tend to have larger genre sections (my neighbhoorhood bookstores seem to focus on literary fiction and coffee table books).
Of course the whole question would be moot if the local library system had a) better funding b) better hours c) more copies of popular books and d) a wider selection of the type of books I read.