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ZDNET's key takeaways
There are plenty of reliable places to find free ebooks online.
Your library likely offers digital books you can borrow anytime.
Find new authors and genres without spending a dime.
Amazon recently killed the ability to download Kindle books as files on your computer, meaning you can no longer back up your Kindle library or prevent changes from being pushed to titles you've already bought.
But Amazon isn't the only place to get ebooks, and the Kindle format isn't the only one your e-reader can read.
Whether you read for fun, to learn, or to unwind at night, ebooks can get pricey fast -- especially if you burn through a few every week. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to find quality reads for free or cheap. From public archives and libraries to lesser-known digital platforms, you can easily expand your collection without spending much or anything at all.
If you're not sure how to convert or add ebooks to your Kindle, check out these guides first:
Now, let's take a tour of some of the best sites and marketplaces where you can find free and affordable ebooks to fill your library.
1. Amazon
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
I might as well start with Amazon. For those who have registered Kindle devices, there are a couple of options for downloading free and kind-of-free e‑books.
Kindle Unlimited falls into the kind-of-free category. The program costs $11.99 per month and gives you access to more than 5 million digital books (as well as some audiobooks and magazines).
To be clear, like all things online, the "unlimited" in Kindle Unlimited is a doublespeak euphemism for "limited." You're technically borrowing the books from Amazon to read, and you're only allowed to "check out" 20 at a time. Essentially, Kindle Unlimited is a digital library you join for a monthly fee.
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There are two tricks you can use to read some free Kindle Unlimited books. First, all Kindle Unlimited users get a free one-month trial -- so download and read within that month. Also, some new Kindle purchasers get Kindle Unlimited free for three months. So if you're buying a Kindle, you might be able to take advantage of that deal.
Prime subscribers also gain access to Prime Reading, which offers a select rotating group of books. If you're a Prime member, check it out. Prime members can also subscribe to Amazon's First Reads newsletter and get a free book each month.
While we're at it, click here, and you'll get a search string that looks for free Kindle Classics, even if you're not a Kindle Unlimited member.
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
Finally, here's a trick for finding cheap Kindle books outside of the Kindle Unlimited program: Point yourself to the Kindle Store. Then type in "0.99" in the search box. I found that if you try to find free Kindle books, Amazon keeps recommending Kindle Unlimited books, but if you search for "$0.99," you'll get a ton of cheap content -- including the always-great Father Brown mysteries.
2. Your local library
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
Did you know that your local library may lend out e‑books? Here in Central Oregon, the libraries are part of a regional group that coordinates their collections together. If I wanted to read Neal Stephenson's awesome Cryptonomicon, I could just check it out from one of the libraries.
Of course, typical library restrictions apply, including due dates and late fees. But just because you're now reading digitally doesn't mean you can't use your local library. How cool is that?
3. Project Gutenberg
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
Our next must-stop on our tour of free e‑book resources is Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg was actually started way back in 1971, beginning by posting digital scans on a mainframe connected to the old ARPANET.
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Today, Project Gutenberg provides more than 75,000 free e‑books. Most of them are older works that have been released into the public domain. If you want the complete works of William Shakespeare or you want to read The Great Gatsby, this is the site for you.
Another nice thing about Project Gutenberg is that most books come in a wide variety of formats.
4. Archive.org
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
Archive.org, home of the Wayback Machine, maintains an archive of tens of millions of e‑books. Not all books are downloadable, and the Internet Archive's approach to copyright can be controversial. For example, while I did release three of my books to be downloaded for free, one older book of mine was published by a company that never provided a digital release -- and yet it's still on Archive.org.
Oddly enough, Archive.org also has a bunch of my 3D printing STL files as well. I don't really mind that they're distributing my output because they do good work. Still, they seem to be playing it somewhat fast and loose with copyright.
My advice for this resource is to simply search and dig around. There are a lot of treasures to find, but you do need to work at it a bit.
5. Open Library
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
Open Library is another service of the Internet Archive. Unlike the free-for-all search options above, which are fairly unmanaged, Open Library works on a traditional library model -- you can borrow a book for a period of time. Some can be put on your Kindle, some can't.
In addition to its library of millions of books, Open Library has a very powerful cross-referencing mechanism that can help you find digital versions of out-of-print and very hard-to-find books, and can point you to external library networks where you can check them out.
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I wouldn't necessarily use this site if you want to read a copy of Wicked, but there's an amazing amount of information available to the intrepid searcher.
6. Smashwords
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
Smashwords is a platform for authors and indie publishers to self-publish their works online. That means you're not likely to find highly publicized mainstream books like Wicked, but you are likely to find some really good reads that haven't had to pass through corporate gatekeepers. (Smashwords is where I purchased Potus, an entertaining read by fellow ZDNET writer Jack Wallen.)
Smashwords reports it has published nearly a million books in total. Of those, more than 93,000 are free. Those free books are also easy to find -- on the main screen, simply toggle the Free selector, and you're good to go.
7. Manybooks
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
ManyBooks offers free and inexpensive e‑books. Most books on the site are free, with a few priced at a dollar or two at most. The service acts as a Project Gutenberg mirror (so books you find on PG will also be found here on ManyBooks).
They also have a selection of books that are not from Project Gutenberg. I particularly like their Editor's Choice feature, which surfaces free books you might not otherwise know about, but which are definitely worth reading.
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You can browse by selecting from a very wide range of genres, as well as many of the world's languages. It's a cool site to get lost in -- and isn't that one of the best feelings you get from a good bookstore, too?
8. BookBub
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
BookBub is a site that helps surface good book deals and makes personalized recommendations for books you might like. Back in the early days of the Kindle, BookBub sent out daily emails that were chock-full of free and super-cheap books. I think I filled up half my Kindle library via their recommendations!
Today, there is still a Free books section that surfaces some interesting titles. But while their mailings do offer deals, the days when they highlighted a ton of bargain-basement book offers seem to be gone.
Still, feel free to visit their site and click on the Free and Deal sections. There are some gems there.
9. Baen's Free Library
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
If you're an avid science fiction reader, you're no doubt familiar with the name Baen. Baen Books has been publishing science fiction since the early 1980s. Baen now offers a selection of books, mostly short story collections, for free download.
It's not a huge selection (around 80 titles at last count), but considering Baen's decades-long talent for picking great science fiction authors, every book or short story collection is bound to be a great read.
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This is one of those times when doing my job nets me something cool. I didn't know about Baen's collection until I started researching this article. Now I have a whole selection of short stories and some books that I can download for free -- and I'm looking forward to reading them.
10. Obooko
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET
Obooko is a free, ad-supported site that provides a very nice selection of online books, all appropriately licensed for distribution. While you do have to register, the company does not charge for membership. Unlike some of the other resources I spotlighted in this guide, Obooko is a not-for-profit platform.
It's not a huge selection, but all the books are safe to download. They're all distributed with the permission of their authors or publishers. It's not the biggest resource for free books, but it's certainly a nice place to visit with a hot cup of coffee and your favorite ereader.
Much more dubious sites
There are a number of much more dubious sites that have libraries of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of scanned and uploaded PDFs as well as e‑books, including current best-sellers. Some of my readers love these as free resources.
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But these sites are essentially pirate sites. They steal the work of creators and publishers and distribute their hard work for free or for a monthly fee. They're out there, but I'm certainly not going to facilitate their rip-off practices by sharing their names or web addresses.
Still more to discover
Once you realize you can read e‑books in a wide variety of formats on your Kindle (as long as you convert them), the possibilities are endless. Here are a few more sites to check out:
Planet Ebook : A hundred or so classics for you to download for free
A hundred or so classics for you to download for free Free-Ebooks : Not exactly free. If you pay a one-time fee of $25, you can download five books a month.
Not exactly free. If you pay a one-time fee of $25, you can download five books a month. PDFBooksWorld : Another fee-based membership site ($25). Despite the name, it also offers EPUB and other formats. Plus, it has some academic texts as well.
Another fee-based membership site ($25). Despite the name, it also offers EPUB and other formats. Plus, it has some academic texts as well. Cantook : Another site with free and paid ebooks, along with book loans. I particularly like their section on banned books. Formerly known as Feedbooks.
Another site with free and paid ebooks, along with book loans. I particularly like their section on banned books. Formerly known as Feedbooks. E-Books Directory : A site that links to specific ebooks and collections of ebooks. Worth browsing around for an hour or two.
A site that links to specific ebooks and collections of ebooks. Worth browsing around for an hour or two. Standard Ebooks: Beautifully formatted public-domain titles.
Beautifully formatted public-domain titles. Wikisource: For older or historical works in the public domain.
Have you explored alternative sites for free or affordable ebooks? Do you prefer borrowing from your local library, or do you rely on digital stores? Are there any hidden gem ebook sources you recommend? Let me know in the comments below.
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