Where to Find Thousands of Free & Bargain Books for Your Digital Bookshelf

Avid readers know that there is nothing worse than not having something good to read when they want to read it. In our digital age, we are fortunate that there are many outlets for building a digital library that does not require spending much (if any) money. With a smartphone, iPad, or other reading devices, there is a wide selection of purchasing choices. 

Whether you enjoy the Classics, nonfiction, or want to read new Inde authors, these websites will help you find what you’re looking for. It’s also a great resource for homeschooling!

Where to Find Free eBooks

The best place to start is OverDrive, an online public library with thousands of books accessible with your local library card. The Libby app from Overdrive allows you to read on your portable devices. Just as in the library, books are available in all genres, including new books, children’s and middle-grade books, and audiobooks. If you see a book that is checked out, waiting lists are available just like the brick-and-mortar library. Reserve a book, and when available, you will be notified. This service is free, simple to use, easy to browse, and provides an introductory tour.

If you enjoy classics, then head over to Open Culture that boasts 800 Free eBooks available for download. They say their collection “includes great works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, including works by Asimov, Jane Austen, Philip K. Dick, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Neil Gaiman, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf & James Joyce. Definitely worth a look.

Are you one who likes browsing the library? Open Library lets you explore digital shelves organized like a physical library. They have “millions of books available through Controlled Digital Lending.” Create an account to check out and access reading logs and lists to organize your reading.

eBooks.com has “assembled 400 of our most popular classics for you to read, free of charge. Add any of these titles to your bookshelf and they’re yours for life.” eBooks are in PDF or ePub format.

Visit the Gutenberg Project with “a library of over 60,000 free eBooks. Choose from among free ePub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online. You will find the world’s great literature here, with a focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired. Thousands of volunteers digitized and diligently proofread the eBooks, for enjoyment and education.”

PDF Drive is a search engine for PDF files, which includes eBooks. There are no ads, and no download limits. They only ask that you “share the love.” There are many genres to pick from, and you can find some bestsellers.

And don’t forget about borrowing books for free through Prime Reading if you are an Amazon Prime member. Accessible through your Kindle app, click on “Discover” at the bottom of your Kindle library screen to see current Prime reading choices. Another bonus as a Prime member is First Reads, an opportunity to see Editors Picks and choose a FREE Kindle book each month from a choice selection.   

Try eBooks by Membership

My favorite way to read books right now is with KindleUnlimited, offering many more excellent book choices than Prime Reading. (Although as a Prime Member with a Kindle Unlimited membership, you have access to both). With this service, you’ll wish you had more hours in the day to read! Kindle Unlimited offers a free one-month trial, with $9.99 each month after that.

Where to get eBook Bargains

To purchase digital books, check Kindle Deals for popular books offered for a low price for a select time. Scope deals by genre, and even use the “low to high” filter to discover any free books in that category. I recommend signing up for the newsletter (link at the top of the Kindle Deals page).

BookBub is another opportunity to build up your digital book library. Sign up for a free account, select your interests, and get the daily (or weekly) email with the latest deals. Book sale prices range from free to about $3.99.

Early Bird Books, like BookBub, lists free and bargain eBooks that match your interests. Sign up for free, read the books on any device, and the books are yours to keep.

If you write reviews and blog about books, NetGalley may be fun for you. The more social media influence and reach you have, the more opportunities to access new book previews to review. If you don’t qualify to read the book before its release, there is often the opportunity to download an advance reader’s copy to read and review after the book’s publication.  Read “NetGalley for Members” to know what’s required.

Rakuten-Kobo is a site all its own for digital books. They offer some books for $5 and under (accessible from the main page). There are also incentives when you sign up for membership, including their Super Points program.

If you want to venture further, ManyBooks has the vision of providing an extensive library of books in digital format for free. Books are catalogued by genre, with Editor Choice selections and list of free and bargain eBooks on the main page.

With all these choices, you can easily fill your digital bookshelf with titles you have been wanting to read! 

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Disclosure: As an Amazon Affiliate, there may be links in this post, which if you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission that helps support this blog. You are in no way obligated to use these links.

Photo courtesy of James Tarbotton via Unsplash.com