In the battle of e-readers, Kindle (from Amazon.com) may have come out first for the general population but Nook (from Barnes and Noble) has become preferred due to their colored screen and ability to borrow books from libraries. Regardless if you have a Kindle, a Nook, or another e-reader, everyone is able to download ebooks. Including those of you that do not have e-readers. This can be done by downloading an application for smart phones or computers to read free books via Amazon and Barnes and Noble. More good news for Kindle owners- later this fall Kindle will allow books to be borrowed from libraries through OverDrive. The information about this news announcement can be found here from Amazon.com (from April). Use this link to see if there have been any further updates, or to read what Amazon is currently saying about their Kindle Library Lending.
Please ask your local libraries about their rules and policies, as it will vary by e-reader, library, and distributor (whether the library is going through OverDrive or another company). Below is a list of websites that can be used to download free ebooks. Remember to make sure:
- The price is still at $0.00 because pricing may be free for a limited time only.
- Some libraries are able to lend e-readers. Feel free to ask if your local library have this available or suggest that they consider this option.
- When buying an e-reader make sure it is what’s best for you. Here are two reviews that can help before purchasing: From PC World, Top E-readers and from TopTen Reviews, eBook Reader Review.
Further tips can be found on Cnet.com here for "How to get books for your Kindle or Nook".
“2. Swap books with strangers. Some books are equipped with a "lending" feature. Amazon and B&N probably intended that lending would be used among friends, but clever Web sites like BookLending.com and eBookFling.com let users list their ebooks and swap inventory with anyone else.”
For information about lending Kindle books, click here.
And finally, if you do find a free ebook and wish to have it converted from one format to another, so you can read the book on your eReader, you can use converters such as Calibre. However, this will not work for all types and circumstances. For an understanding of the various formats of e-books please read Wikipedia's explanation, found in "Comparison of e-book formats". Warning: Wikipedia may not be a completely reliable source, please remember to use this link as a jumping point for research, as it is an open source that could change at any time).
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Free Kindle:
Amazon’s Free eBook Collections
Limited Time Offers: Limit search on the right by clicking: Kindle ebooks under Department -> Kindle Store -> Limited Time Offers.
Public Domain: Books that do not have copyright protection, usually older books.
SmashWords’s- Free Indie Books:
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Free Nook:
Nook Deals on Facebook
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Free eBooks (for various e-readers):
Internet Archive - Over 2.5 million free titles
Internet Archive is a non-profit dedicated to offering permanent access to historical collections that exist in digital format. Provides over 2.5 million free ebooks to read, download, and enjoy.
Open Library - Over 1 million free titles
“Open Library is an open project: the software is open, the data are open, the documentation is open, and we welcome your contribution. Whether you fix a typo, add a book, or write a widget--it's all welcome.”
Project Gutenberg - Over 36,000 free titles
“Free ebooks to download to your PC, Kindle, Android, iOS or other portable device. Choose between ePub, Kindle, HTML and simple text formats…We carry high quality ebooks: All our ebooks were previously published by bona fide publishers.”
ManyBooks.net- Over 29,000 free titles
“Browse through the most popular titles, recommendations, or recent reviews from our visitors. Perhaps you'll find something interesting in the special collections. There are more than 29,000 eBooks available here and they're all free!”
Google’s eBookstore
Like is to the eBookstore’s Best of the Free (ebooks).
FeedBooks: Free Original Works. *Parental Guidance may be required for some titles or collections.
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OverDrive: search for libraries in your area that use this distributor.
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