Amazon’s October Prime Day officially kicks off next week, and apart from stocking up on Christmas and Halloween essentials, it’s also a great time to build out your personal library.

CNET’s shopping experts have spotted tons of early book deals already live, and the discounts aren’t just limited to Kindle. You’ll find solid markdowns on both digital and paperback editions, with some starting as low as $2. Wandering about the Shire with Mr. Burglar Baggins, watching Super Frog save Tokyo, or unpacking the gritty truths through dystopias like 1984 — you are sure to find plenty worth picking up.

Selection is wide, but we do have a few standout picks you shouldn’t miss out on. First up, The Hobbit: 75th Anniversary Edition is down to just $2 for Kindle users. This enhanced edition includes all of Tolkien’s own drawings and colored illustrations, including the rare “Mirkwood” piece. The standard paperback is also more than half off, now just $9.

There’s a Kindle Edition of The Silo Series collection by Hugh Howey going for just $20, after a massive $40 drop. This one bundles Wool, Shift, Dust, and the Silo Stories in one. It’s a great pick for fans of the Apple TV Plus show, which is one of the best sci-fi TV shows you can stream.

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Then you’ve got George Orwell’s eerily relevant 1984 down to $2 on Kindle, while the paperback is $6 after a 50% price cut. The paperback version of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood has also dropped to just $9 — half off the usual price of $18.

There’s plenty more to discover, but note that most of these are limited-time drops, so you might want to act fast to grab what you like.

Why this deal matters

Why pay full price for one book when you can grab three for the same cost? These early deals make it easy, whether you’re looking for some solid non-fiction or a timeless classic.

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