Physical books are dying. Many people find that it’s easier to carry around one device and read eBooks than it is to use physical books. The Internet is like your library, but it’s open 24/7. You can find a lot of eBooks for free online. You just have to know where to look.
Keep in mind that if you find eBooks of a proprietary file format, such as AZW or KF8 for Kindle, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you need the device to read them. You can install Amazon’s Kindle Reading apps to read Kindle books on most of your devices.
Searching Google for other file formats will likely guide you to other free eBook readers that support those formats. However, most eBooks are in PDF format, which can easily be viewed on most devices using a PDF viewer.
Now that you know how to view eBooks, here are the 8 best places to find them for free:
1. PDFGeni
Many people know which book or which type of book that they want to read. Using an eBook search engine, like PDFGeni, is the easiest way to find a specific book. PDFGeni is as easy and intuitive as Google. All you need to do is type in the book or type of book that you want to read and then skim through the search results. If you aren’t sure exactly what you’re looking for, you can check out the top 100 book categories or trending books pages, which can be accessed by clicking the links at the bottom of the home page.
2. Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is the oldest eBook library, having been founded in 1971 by Michael Hart. Project Gutenberg has over 43,000 free eBooks, all of which were published by established book publishers. Most of the eBooks that Project Gutenberg offers are public domain books, or books for which the copyrights have expired. So if you are looking for an older book, Project Gutenberg is a great place to start. Volunteers proofread the Books, so you’re guaranteed high quality.
3. Amazon
Amazon has over one million eBooks, thousands of which are free. Along with the older, classic eBooks that websites like Project Gutenberg have, Amazon has a large variety of current eBooks. You can easily view and download the top 100 free eBooks overall or by genre. One nice aspect of using Amazon to get eBooks is that you can read Amazon reviews about an eBook that you are considering downloading.
4. OverDrive
Your public library or school may have a subscription to OverDrive, which will make it possible for you to borrow eBooks, like how your library lets you borrow physical books. OverDrive has over 1 million eBooks from over 2,000 publishers, and over 22,000 libraries and schools use it worldwide. You can contact your public library or school to see if this resource is available to you, or you can use the search function on the site.
5. Barnes and Noble
Barnes and Noble has a selection of free eBooks that is similar to Amazon’s. They have nearly two million books to select from in their free eBook store. Their interface is easy to use. Different categories can be selected on the left of the page. Barnes and Noble often has some sort of free eBook promotion, like their Summer Reading program. Remember that if you download an eBook in a proprietary NOOK format, you can download a free eReader app to read your eBook on most devices.
6. Scribd
Scribd is the world’s largest digital library. It’s even bigger than the Library of Congress. Users of Scribd upload content, including eBooks, and other users can view or download them. A lot of free eBooks can be found here. Scribd requires a little more work than most eBook websites, because you have to know what you’re looking for. To find free eBooks, just use the search feature and type in the book that you want. There is no guarantee that you will find it, but a lot of free, copyrighted eBooks can be found here.
7. DailyLit
DailyLit is different from most free eBook websites. You choose a book that you’re interested in, and you receive daily excerpts of the book in your email. You keep receiving these daily emails until you finish the book. You don’t necessarily have to wait a day. If you want to read more, you have an option to get the next day’s excerpt sent to you immediately. DailyLit is a good option for you if you aren’t interested in using an eBook reader and if you only want to read a small amount every day.
8. BooksInMyPhone
BooksInMyPhone is a good choice for people who want to use their phone to read eBooks. BooksInMyPhone allows users to adjust font sizes easily, has a night-vision mode, and has other features that make reading more pleasant. They have hundreds of Creative commons and public domain books to choose from. All that is required is that your phone can run Java.
These are some of the best places to download free eBooks on the Internet. If you find yourself unsatisfied with your selection on these websites for whatever reason, like if you’ve already read all two million books that they offer, a quick Google search will guide you to even more free eBook resources. You may never have to pay for a book again!
Top image via Good E-Reader
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