10 Sites Where You Can Find Literally Thousands of Free Books
Completely free or with a small monthly fee.
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During the pandemic, Americans read less than in the previous years. According to a January 2022 Gallup poll, instead of using their precious spare time reading, they spent it sitting on their couches binging Netflix series.
From the 15.2 books, a year read from 2006 to 2016. In 2021, the average was 12.6 per year, which means one book per month or $300, if you consider $25 for each book.
But if you read one book every week, you’ll have to pay $1,200 a year. Hence, paying a $15 subscription makes sense, but you will only get 12 books. This is why I started to look for other less expensive options, read or hear a book each month without going broke.
I divided it into two sections, the entirely free ones and those in which you pay a monthly or yearly subscription.
The free webpages
1. Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is an online library of over 60,000 free e-books you can either read on their webpage or download to your device, either EPUB, Kindle, or plain text. You can find the world’s great literature books here, for which U.S. copyright has expired. There is no fee or registration, but you can consider a small donation to help Project Gutenberg digitize more books.
2. Many Books
Since 2004, ManyBooks has gathered an extensive selection of books in digital format. Though early eBooks are from the Project Gutenberg archives, they have Classics, Romance, Mystery & Thriller, Science Fiction, Biographies, Action & Adventure, which you can read online or download in PDF format to your device or computer.
3. DigiLibraries
DigiLibraries.com offers a digital source of free e-books on Architecture, Bibles, Biographies, Cooking, Fiction, Language, Law, Medical, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, Technology, Travel, and True Crime, which you can download to your device on EPUB, PDF, or Kindle formats.
4. Barnes & Noble
The company is best known for its large books retail outlets, with a Starbucks coffee, where you can read, take a coffee and buy books, magazines, newspapers, toys, and music. But they also have a digital shop stocked with plenty of free e-books, magazines, and e-book classics.
5. Kobo
Kobo has a huge digital store with its brand of e-readers, plus an enormous selection of e-books for sale. It also offers many free e-books you won’t see anywhere in the romance and thriller genres.
6. Open Culture
If you are interested in authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia Woolf, Proust, or Tolstoy, Open Culture is a great place to find classic novels. Though this site doesn’t have books, it serves as a hub linking the user with over 800 free e-books for iPad, Kindle, and other devices. However, if you are into audio, you can find the link for over 1,000 free audiobooks you can download.
With a monthly fee
7. Perlego
Perlego is an online library specialized in academic resources, where students worldwide can get unlimited access to over 800,000 textbooks and non-fiction titles, ending the cost of buying them. There are two plans, a $6.00 monthly plan and an annual subscription of $48.00.
8. Amazon Digital Library
Kindle: Free Books though there is a monthly fee of $9.99 per month to read all the e-books in Kindle format you want. You can access a 10,000 free book classic selection on your device at no cost. This selection includes primarily classical books, but you can also find novels and no fiction books to read with the free Kindle Reading app.
9. Audible
Talking about audiobooks, this is one of the most famous sites. It has over 200,000 audiobooks, including classics, bestsellers, and new releases. For $8.50 a month, you get unlimited access to thousands of audiobooks and podcasts in the Audible Plus Catalog and a credit for a new book every other month. But for $14.95/month, you get access to the same catalog, plus a credit for a new book each month. They also have 2 credits and discounts for yearly payments. To subscribe or for more information, you can check the Audible webpage.
10. Scribd
If you listen to more than one audiobook per month or need access to e-books, podcasts, articles, or magazines, and you are not interested in owning them, your best option is Scribd. The rate is $8.95 per month to get unlimited access to their online catalog, including music sheets, from famous rock, classic, or even Disney tunes.
All things considered
If you are among the Americans who read on average one book each month, or a wacko like myself who reads one every week, you will have an option here.
I mix the books every week, from classics, novels, non-fiction, biographies, and bestsellers, to have more options and reduce the cost.
Remember that you will not own the books when you cancel your subscription on some options, and in other cases, you’ll need a special application to read or listen to your choices on your phone.
But if you are willing to accept these limitations, then I can assure you there will be an almost endless selection of books to read at your hands.
“You can never have too many books or too many hugs.
— Gina House
© Copyright Jose Luis Ontanon, 2022