Free Ebook Reads

I have bought quite a number of eBooks, roughly a couple of hundred. My favorite vendor for those is Fictionwise, which has a website that is easy to use, offers many books in various genres, and has many different formats, such as pdf, mobipocket, and html. Thus far, the “bookshelf” has kept every book I have purchased available, so if I lose one due to a technology breakdown, I can download it again. That has happened to me a couple of times, so I like that feature best of all. Fictionwise isn’t a good deal for authors, so I shouldn’t plug it, but I can’t help but like the service to readers.

However, some people don’t want to buy books or can’t afford to pay full price, even when that price is relatively low. Also, those who have never read an eBook might not want to risk much cash on this new technology. With the novice eBook reader in mind, I am going to list some links for free eBooks. I haven’t tried all of these, but I have visited the websites. Most of the sites offer downloads, which I prefer, and but one only allows readers to view the books online.

Manybooks.net [This may be the best deal for those who want to download books. The home page touts having over 20,000 books in a variety of formats. A cursory tour through the collection revealed a combination of classics which are public domain, plus freebies from new authors hoping to build an audience. I especially like the way this site is organized, with many genres and sub-genres.]

Arthur's Classic Novels [This site has about 4000 classics, in a format which works with a web browser, so you’ll need to read these online.]

Ebook Giant [Over 17,000 eBooks, in a compressed zip format for readers to download, make this a site worth visiting. Again, classics reside with modern titles, all categorized by author.]

Publishers are beginning to use the eBook format to entice readers to purchase print books. One of the best freebies around is at Tor. Just send them your email addy, and they’ll send a weekly newsletter with a link for a new release in eBook form.

Finally, if you are still wondering about the whole eBook concept, here’s a link to a column in the New York Times about eBook readers and why you might want to try this new way to read.