College life isn’t cheap—between textbooks, late-night pizza runs, and rising tuition, your bank account takes a hit fast. So we went straight to the source: Reddit. We scrolled through real discussions, sifted through hundreds of comments, and pulled together 19 of the most upvoted, creative, and student-tested ways on how to make money as a college student in 2025. These side hustles come from fellow students who’ve figured out how to juggle class, cash, and chaos—and live to tell about it.
Just like we’ve done to Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, we’ll now take a look at Boston and its places where you can donate your used books.
In today’s list, you’ll find local libraries and bookstores as well as charitable organizations that support the community and individuals in need. They accept donations of various items, including books, and will be glad to find your used books a new home.
At BookScouter, we know that textbooks can be one of the biggest expenses for students. That’s why we created the BookScouter Quarterly Scholarship—to support students by helping cover the cost of learning materials.
For our Q1 2025 Scholarship, we invited students to submit a short video sharing their experience with the most expensive textbook they had to buy. We received an incredible range of stories—some shocking, some inspiring, but all highlighting the financial challenge of higher education.

If you’ve ever bought the same book twice, forgot how a five-star read ended, or can’t find your TBR list because it’s spread across five apps, three notebooks, and a napkin…you’re in good company.
Book lovers tend to collect: books, notes, recommendations, wishlist titles, half-finished series. And while that’s part of the fun, it can also get a little… chaotic.
That’s why Notion is such a great tool for readers.

A while ago, we discussed the problem of restricted inventory on Amazon from the bookseller’s point of view and tried to understand how to solve it. Today, we’ll talk again about Amazon gating certain textbooks, try to understand why the issue is getting more and more serious, and discuss how booksellers can use the BookScouter tools to support their sales.
But before we get to the latter part, let’s once again go through the details of Amazon textbook restrictions and what they really mean.

College is about learning, growing… and budgeting like a pro. Between tuition, rent, and $7 lattes that feel like a necessity, the last thing any student wants is to drop $300 on a single textbook they’ll barely open after midterms.
But here’s the truth: you don’t have to buy your books at full price — or from the campus store. There are dozens of websites where you can find the same textbooks for way less — new, used, digital, or even rental. You just need to know where to look.

Have you ever forgotten a deadline, lost your class notes, or spent 30 minutes looking for your to-do list (only to find it stuck to the back of your laptop)? Chances are, you have…and you’re not alone. Being a student means dealing with a lot of different responsibilities: attending classes, doing your homework, working in groups, studying for exams, dealing with life…
And sometimes your brain just doesn’t want to be the calendar, the planner, the budget tracker, and the motivation coach all at once.

There is no better combination to make your heart race than sports and romance.
Sports romance books offer a window into professional athletes’ alluring yet conflictive world, adding a touch of intriguing romance, sensual protagonists, and more than enough spice.
The result? A trend that has taken over BookTok and will not go away anytime soon.
If you’re eager to dive deep into the world of sports romance books, here is your guiding light—a list of the best 19 sports novels the genre has to offer.

College Board reports that the average student at a four-year university spends over $1,200 a year on textbooks and course materials. That’s more than enough for a round-trip flight to Europe or a semester’s worth of groceries. To understand the factors contributing to high textbook prices, you can read our article: Why Are Textbooks So Expensive?. But there’s good news: you don’t have to buy every textbook brand new.