Recently I saw a TikTok of a booktube reviewer taking his friend to a bookstore with $100 and picking out a bunch of starter books for the friend. It was a cute video and it got me thinking what books I might try to buy with a set budget of $100 and the only goal of “maximizing my return on book per dollar”. Not all of us have the disposable income to buy new books regularly. What would I recommend to someone who is counting every penny? So I scoured my collection of books that I love and checked numerous online prices to see what everything was going for and I eventually came up with the following list. Below are the 16 books I would purchase if I only had $100, and I do still recommend each independently as well.
1) Cordelia’s Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold – Approx $20 dollars – The most expensive item on my list, partially because it is out of print, coming in at a fifth of my budget. But boy, is it worth it. Cordilia’s Honor contains the first two chronological novels in the Vorkosigan saga and represents a fantastic way to break into the series. I really like these Vorkosigan Omnibi as they collect the novels in their ideal reading order and often contain the harder-to-find novellas that enhance the larger series reading experience. The two books contained in this collection were some of my favorite recent reads and at $20 dollars from most used booksellers is a deal. I highly recommend you check out this collection and we will be writing a guide to the Vorkosigan Saga very soon to further convince you.
2) Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook – Approx $14 dollars – The grandfather of Grimdark Fantasy and the first series we wrote a large piece on, The Black Company is something near and dear to my heart. The first three books of this powerful anti-war epic fantasy are collected in an omnibus called the Chronicles of the Black Company. That’s three of our favorite books for the low price of $14. With the news that Glen Cook is continuing to write more books in this universe despite his increasing age, there has never been a better time to pick up this story. They have incredible use of perspective, tell a story from the “bag guy” point of view without being needlessly edgy, and gives the reader a powerful and dissuasive taste of what it might be like to be on the battlelines. Plus, you get the added bonus of the cover being gorgeous.
3) The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – Approx $10 dollars – I feel like there isn’t a lot of explanation needed here. Yes, The Way of Kings is a very safe and obvious pick—but with the mass media paperback being only $10 for a 1000+ page beloved book, you are indeed getting a lot for your dollar. The real hesitation I had for putting this reasonably priced brick on this list is it will open the door to you wanting to buy all the rest of the Cosmere books and that sorta felt like it went against the ethos of the post. But, at the end of the day its hard to match Sanderson on the dollars-to-entertainment ratio and The Way of Kings is always going to be a safe bet.
4) The Book of Jhereg by Steven Brust – Approx $15 dollars – I suspect you might be sensing a trend by now at this point in this post. That trend being–old omnibi of lesser known but beloved classics are a great value. The Book of Jhereg contains the first three books of the 17+ book Vlad Taltos series: Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla. Each of these is a wonderful standalone adventure that all work together to build out a fabulous world with fun eclectic characters. Reading the first three books is a great way to gauge if you will love the rest of the series (most do), and at $15 it costs less than most paperbacks these days. Thankfully this is the last omnibus on this list and the next few entries will focus on individual books.
5) The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K. Le Guin – Approx $18 dollars – HA HA, GOTCHA. The fourth and truthfully final omnibus on this list, The Earthsea Quartet. Most people are at least familiar with Ursula K. Le Guin’s classic Earthsea books, but I have found not a ton of people have actually read them. I believe them to easily be on par with Lord of the Rings (which didn’t make the list due to price) in importance and quality, but this beautiful collection of all four books will only set you back $18. I assume this is likely so cheap due to it never reaching recent resurgent popularity like many other classics have been these days, but I suspect someone out there is working on a new adaptation. These books are fabulous and all of the writers of The Quill to Live never get tired of them. The Quartet is frankly a steal at this price.
6) Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler – Approx $7 dollars – With about $25 dollars left in the original budget, I found myself turning to some more varied picks to fill out the list. We have a bulk of wonderful reads, but what can we do to diversify into some more niche great picks for a low price. I originally turned to Octavia Butler’s Parable series because it’s incredible and I assumed (incorrectly) that there had to be a cheap collection of the duology. When I found out there wasn’t I was annoyed, but still put Parable of the Sower on the list because it is phenomenal and only $7. We have reviewed the Parables on the site, they are fantastic. At $7 you are basically stealing book one.
7) Mort by Terry Pratchett – Approx $10 dollars – I wanted something more light and fun to round out this list, but unfortunately those sorts of books tend to be popular and thus expensive. So, if we are going to have to drop a bit of budget to pick up one of these books why not go for something bursting at the brim with wisdom? Although Mort is roughly the same price as The Way of Kings, and only a fourth of its size, Pratchett’s writing is so densely packed with fun observations, witticisms, and characters that it feels like a much larger book. Mort’s page count is small, but its staying power is not. This will be one of the best $10 dollars you ever spend.
8) Armor by John Steakley – Approx $5 dollars – With $6 dollars left in the tank I turned to my shelves to find something that I could squeak in. What I eventually settled on was Armor; one of the first books we read for the Quill to Live and one that has stuck with me since that date a decade ago. As a standalone anti-war sci-fi story, Armor gets the job done. Despite its heavy content, it will feel refreshing among the many large fantasy series already on this list. Most importantly, a paperback version of the book is only $5 and it can slot nicely into the last space on this budget buy exercise.
So there you have it, with $1 to spare here is a list of 16 books you could get for $100. What other steals can you readers think of? Do any of you have a recommendation for a spectacularly cheap yet wonderful read?
