You don’t need to spend a dime to get an ebook. There are plenty of free and legal ways to get them, so you can keep reading to your heart’s content.
1
Libby
Libby is the absolute best way to access ebooks for free. Basically, Libby lets you borrow ebooks from your local library. The app is completely free to use and all you need to get started is a valid library card (digital or physical).
First, download the Libby app for your device. It supports iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Windows, Mac, and Chromebook. It can send books directly to your Kindle too.
If you don’t have a library card, you can request one from your local public library within the Libby app. You just need your phone number to sign up. Alternatively, you can reach out to your local library directly.
Once you have a valid library card, you’ll sign in to the Libby app using that card. In the first step of the onboarding process, Libby will ask if you have a library card. Select “Yes, I have a library card.”
If you know your area zip code, tap “Search For A Library,” type in the zip code, and select your local library. Alternatively, you can run a fuzzy search by tapping “Guess Your Library” and typing your city’s name.
Libby will take you directly to the dashboard, featuring your library card details and its current status. You can link multiple library cards with your Libby app at the same time.
That’s all. Now you’re ready to borrow an ebook from your library. Mine offers a selection of 86,000 titles (audiobooks and ebooks). You can search by title or browse by category.
Once you’ve found your book, tap the “Borrow” button next to it. My library card lets me borrow it for 21 days. When you first open the book, Libby will ask you how you want to read the ebook. You can read it on your phone or computer using the Libby app or, if you have a Kindle, you can tap the “Read With” and then “Kindle” button.
If you pick the Kindle option, the Libby app will redirect you to Amazon. You’ll have to log into your Amazon account (the same one you have on Kindle) and tap “Get Library Book.” Amazon will deliver it to your Kindle.
You can also set up notification reminders to finish the book before the due date. Libby will automatically return the ebook on the due date.
2
Open Library
The Open Library is another awesome resource for downloading and borrowing all kinds of ebooks. The Internet Archive built this library, and it offers millions of books.
Many of these books are free to read and download. Just press “Read” to view the file in the web viewer or download it in the format of your choice. If you’re reading on Kindle, these free books are your only option (you’ll see why in a moment).
The rest can be borrowed. You need two things to borrow books from the Open Library and read them:
- An Internet Archive account
- A book reader that can load encrypted ebooks
First, log into the Open Library with an Internet Archive account, so you can start borrowing books. Click “Borrow” on a book, and it should open in the Internet Archive’s default document viewer. This viewer works on an auto-lending system, meaning it will keep renewing your loan as you read on.
Downloading a Borrowed Book
If you want to read the book somewhere else, download it in EPUB or PDF formats (you can borrow it for 14 days). Just press the caret icon next to the big red “Return Now” button and click “Borrow for 14 days.”
The download options for your borrowed book should now become available.
Reading a Borrowed Book
You’ll notice that these books are in an LCP format. You’ll need a special ebook reader app to read these downloaded files (they auto-expire when the book is due, which is why they don’t work on the Kindle).
Download Cantook if you’re on Android or iOS, and Thorium if you’re on the desktop.
When you open the downloaded EPUB or PDF with one of these apps, it’ll ask you to enter a password. The password is the email address you used to log into your Open Library account.
Once the book loads, the app will show you how many days are left until the book is automatically returned.
3
Amazon
If you didn’t know, Amazon offers a lot of free ebooks, even without a Kindle Unlimited subscription. These offers are often limited-time only, but at any given time you can access a big library of free ebooks on Amazon. You just have to know where to look.
First, you can always just search for “free ebooks” or “free Kindle books” or something like that in the Amazon search bar.
Also, you can subscribe to the subreddit r/FreeEbooks. It’s pretty active with almost a million members who regularly post books freely available online, mostly direct links to Amazon.
EReaderIQ is a site that keeps track of cheap and free ebooks on Amazon. Unlike the cluttered and messy design of r/FreeEbooks, this site catalogs the books neatly with covers, descriptions, the most current price, and a button for instantly downloading the book.
Freebooksy is another platform that tracks free ebooks across multiple stores, including Amazon. It sends out a daily newsletter, and you can browse the collection by genre.
4
Public Domain
If none of these resources have what you’re looking for, you can always dive into the public domain. You’ll likely find something good to read here.
Standard eBooks
Standard eBooks is a public domain resource with a collection of proofed, well-formatted, and easy-to-download ebooks. If you’re looking for a book in the public domain, check here first. Their formatting is careful, and the covers are lovely.
You can download the books in bulk, or browse their curated collections. I love the short story collection in particular. You need an account to download books in bulk, but not for regular downloads.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg offers some 74,000 ebooks and 600 audiobooks. You can search Gutenberg’s catalog by author, title, and so on or browse their curated bookshelves. The books can be downloaded in pretty much every format. Their formatting is neat and clean, but the covers can be pretty basic.
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive hosts a seemingly endless collection of ebooks but browsing it will test your patience. The filters are messy and there is no way to browse by genre. If you’ve ever rummaged through a yard sale, the book collection on the Internet Archive is the online version of that. Nevertheless, it’s worth checking out, particularly if you are searching for a specific book.
PlanetEbook
PlanetEbook is a tiny collection of classics, freely and easily available. You don’t need an account.
Literature
Literature is another small collection of classical authors. You can browse by author and download the books with a single click.
5
Manybooks
Manybooks features a decent collection of 50,000 free ebooks. You’ll have to create an account to download the books, but thereafter the books are freely available in almost every format, just a click away.
6
Baen Free Library
Baen posts annual collections of free stories and non-fiction reads. Worth checking out if you can’t pick anything good to read and just want to be surprised.
7
Textbooks
Open Access is for researchers and students. I haven’t used Open Access myself much, but it features a huge collection of free textbooks and academic works. You can download them with a single click, no account needed.
There’s no need to spend money to build up your library of ebooks, especially if you have a library card. And now that you have your reading material, grab a suitable ebook reader app.
