Publishing companies have needed to do that in order for them and the authors to survive. Obviously the e-book should be much, much cheaper, but there’s also a point below which they can’t go and still pay the people who work at the publishing house and the author. It might be worth looking for books that are out of copyright? Standardebooks is a great site.

Another really good option is getting a library card for a library in the US and checking out e-books— NYC Public Library allows you to do this without being a resident of New York. If it’s a popular e-book, you might end up being on hold for it, but it’s free!