I can borrow e-books from my library, nearly as fast as buying them from Amazon.
I can borrow physical books by hitting their site, putting a hold on it, and then next time I'm in town, I pick it up. It's not UPSd to my door, but it's not that big of an investment. (or, more likely, Wife + kids pick it up next time they bring home 40 books from the library. We sometimes have a good couple feed of the holds shelf.)
You're saying that the middle cost is significant. That suggests that the latter cost is also significant. Therefore lowering the dollar price of the book has little effect on the total in the above equation.
Let's put it another way. When do avid readers start reading a new book? When they finish or get bored of their previous book.
Even if we agree that the total cost (including time) of acquiring and reading a book is high, that does not indicate that demand is inelastic.
The fact that people are choosing an efficient way to get the books they want is hardly evidence of inelastic demand.