If you love to read but are trying to reduce the clutter in your home, e-books can be a perfect solution. Digital titles are also great for those who want to keep their books portable and never worry about losing their place.
You don’t even need an e-reader to access them, as we detail in “This Trick Lets You Read E-Books Without an E-Reader.” You just need to know where to find them.
We’ve rounded up websites that collectively offer more than 1 million free e-books, covering virtually every book genre and every reader age.
1. Your local library’s website
Many public libraries allow their members to borrow e-books, as we detail in “Stop Buying These 11 Things That Are Free at Libraries.”
Check your local library system’s website to see if it offers this option.
2. Amazon
You’ll find free e-books for Kindle, which is Amazon's line of e-readers, on the e-commerce giant’s “Cheap Reads for Kindle” webpage.
Note, however, that Amazon says free books sometimes vary in quality or don’t support all Kindle reading features. The company recommends first checking out reviews and ratings for free books you’re considering downloading.
If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you have access to even more freebies via Prime Reading. You can also choose one free Kindle e-book each month through the First Reads perk.
3. Barnes & Noble
You’ll find free e-books for Nook, which is Barnes & Noble’s line of e-readers, on the retailer’s “Free eBooks” webpage.
To explore the offerings, click on any of the many genres listed under “Subjects” on the left side of the page.
4. Kobo
You’ll find freebies for Kobo, a line of e-readers from Rakuten Kobo, on the Kobo website’s “Free eBooks” page.
5. Google Play
The Google Play Store includes a “Top Free” collection offering a sampling of freebies in its books category.
6. Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg describes itself as the first provider of free e-books and now offers more than 60,000 free titles.
Its website explains:
“You will find the world’s great literature here, with focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired. Thousands of volunteers digitized and diligently proofread the eBooks, for enjoyment and education.”
To start exploring the Project Gutenberg website, try the:
- Search page
- Most-frequently downloaded books
- Top 100 authors over the past month or over the past week
7. ManyBooks
ManyBooks offers discounted and free e-books, with more than 50,000 free titles. There is some overlap with Project Gutenberg’s offerings, although the ManyBooks website is arguably more user-friendly.
From the home page, you can use the search bar or browse by genre or author, among other options.
8. University of Chicago Press
The “Free E-book!” page on the University of Chicago Press website offers one free title each month.
9. IntechOpen
IntechOpen considers itself the world’s leading publisher of open-access books. Its focus is scientific publications.
To check out the offerings, visit its books page.
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