Welcome to my list, where you can find free and discounted books in 2023. If you find yourself spending more money than you would like on reading material, this list is for you. I read for pleasure, education, and research for work, so having places I can find the books I need at a price I can afford is important. If I missed a good source, drop me a line, and I’ll add it.

Libraries

Your local library is one of the best resources for using and reading books for free. Whether you need books for reference or want a story to enjoy, your library should be one of the first places you look. Fun fact: libraries also pay royalties to writers, but it is a one-time fee and not paid each time the book is checked out. There are also digital libraries available online. Most local libraries have a digital version available where you can borrow and download digital copies to your computer or a digital reader.

Digital Libraries

Internet Archive

Internet Archive has over a million free books, movies, music, and more. If you’re looking for out-of-print books in different languages and formats, this non-profit digital library has you covered. The Internet Archive is also where you can find historical and academic books.

OverDrive

OverDirve is used by over 43,000 libraries and schools worldwide. If your library participates, you can check out ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines from its digital bookshelves. And if you’d rather read on your phone, be sure to download OverDrive’s mobile app, Libby.

World Public Library

World Public Library is the world’s biggest repository of free digital ebooks. Books can be read online or downloaded in a multitude of formats. Book genres range from classics to some of the hottest fiction of the millennia and include academic research articles. All you need is your library card!

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is a digital library of over 60,000 documents and books. It may be freely used in the United States because most are not protected by U.S. copyright law. (Note, they may not be copyright-free in other countries.)

International Children’s Digital Library

The International Children’s Digital Library is a free online library for children ages three to thirteen. The site offers its titles in over 59 languages. It’s also a good source of reading material for adults who are learning a new language.

Sister Libraries

Most avid readers know their local library is one of the best places to read books for free, but did you know some libraries also offer free cards to resident cardholders of ‘sister’ libraries in their area? Using sister libraries is a great way to gain access to more free books.

Pratt Library in Maryland

Anyone who lives or owns property in Maryland is eligible for a free Pratt Library card! In addition to checking out books and other materials, your Pratt Library account gives you access to a range of online resources and services. https://www.prattlibrary.org/library-cards/standard-library-card

New York Public Library

The New York Public Library will issue cards to any person who lives, works, attends school, or pays property taxes in New York State free of charge. Use of a New York Public Library card is non-transferrable, i.e., it can only be used by the person whose name appears on the card. https://www.nypl.org/help/library-card/terms-conditions

Other States

You can find out more about your state library and sister library programs by contacting your state library directly. https://www.lib-web.org/united-states/state-libraries/

And there are libraries that issue non-resident library cards to US citizens for a flat fee. I love that I can check out digital copies from most of these libraries online and don’t have to return them. Some even let you check out books through the mail!

Non-Resident Library Cards For US Residents

If your local library and its sister libraries have a limited selection of books available you can pay for a non-resident library card. Here is a list of libraries that issue non-resident library cards.

Florida

Orange County Library System $75/3 months, $100/6 months, or $125/year. Note: To stop spammers, they ask a question on the form about what county OCLS is in. The answer is “Orange” since OCLS stands for Orange County Library System.

Maryland

Non-Maryland residents can still enjoy access to books, audiobooks, DVDs, and other materials in the Pratt Library’s physical collection. Use the forms below to apply for an out-of-state Pratt Library Card. A $50 annual fee is required. To apply, email crc@prattlibrary.org, fax (866) 676-0061, or mail a completed Library Card Application

New York

Brooklyn Public Library: $50/year
Monroe County Library System: $25/year
Queens Public Library: $50/year

North Carolina

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library: $45/household/year or $35/year for adults 62 & older
Chapel Hill Public Library: $65/year

Texas

Houston Public Library $20/6 months or $40/year

Virginia

Fairfax County Public Library $27/year

Non-Resident Library Cards For Residents Outside of the US

I’m thrilled I was able to find two library systems that allow people from outside the US the chance to borrow books.

Florida, Orange County Library System
$75/3 months, $100/6 months, or $125/year Note: When applying, select the check box next to “Out of Country” to enter your address. They may ask a question on the form about what county OCLS is in to stop spammers. The answer is “Orange” since OCLS stands for Orange County Library System.

New York, Queens Public Library
$50/year Note: This is not a part of the famous New York Public Library.

More Digital Options

While libraries are the best places to find reference materials and many do offer digital copies, they don’t always have all the latest indie author titles. Below are some of the best places to find free and discounted books.

Amazon Kindle Store

Amazon’s Kindle Store has some of the best online selections of free and discounted books. It has two sections listing free kindle books: its Free Popular Classics page and its Top 100 Free Best Sellers. If you don’t own a Kindle, you can download the Kindle app for free. Note, Kindle Unlimited is a monthly subscription, so it’s not free, but you can try it out free for 30 days. I didn’t find it worth it, and I read from 4-6 books per month. Most books I read are not part of the Kindle Unlimited, but were available from my library.

Apple Book Store

Apple Books’ free section is a great option if you’re looking for free fiction, suspense books, and speculative fiction.

Baen Books

Baen Books is a wonderful hub for SFF readers and writers. Many writers list the first book in their series on Baen Books’ free ebook list, making it a great place to find a new favorite author.

Barnes & Noble Online

Barnes & Noble’s online store carries plenty of free and discounted books. It also has a “Staff Picks” list at the top of B&N’s Free eBooks page. This list includes children’s books and magazines. Note, some books can only be read on Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Reading App. It’s free to download.

BookBoon

BookBoon is a great resource for students site that provides free e-textbooks. Their free ‘Student Plan’ offers 1,000+ full-length textbooks.

BookBub

BookBub has a great selection of Free and Discounted Books. It is also an excellent promotional tool for authors and a quality source of free and discount books for readers. Authors list books for free to expose their work to new readers. You can access BookBub’s page here: Free Ebooks. Their free titles have links to download on retail sites like Amazon for free. BookBub’s category pages mix both 100% free and discount promotions.

BookRix

BookRix is a popular self-publishing platform and hosts thousands of book freebies. Most works in BookRix’s online library are original stories from brand-new authors. BookRix is more like Wattpad since ebooks can be of any length, and fanfiction is allowed.

Ebooks.com

Ebooks.com has a large collection of free books, mostly classics. Note, Ebooks.com requires you to install Adobe Digital Editions first (It’s a free program, but it takes up a good deal of storage space).

Free-Ebooks.net

Free-Ebooks.net has thousands of ebooks available to download. The site has many lesser-known indie authors.

Feedbooks

On Feedbooks, you will find ebooks to purchase, free public domain ebooks, and free original books. Feedbooks offers some books that mainstream retailers do not. Like PDF Books World, Feedbooks allows those who sign up for an account to download many free e-books.

Freebooksy

Freebooksy is a popular book promotion site for authors. It’s a hub, linking to free books on various retailers’ websites. What makes Freebooksy unique is that it only features free ebooks.

Get Free Ebooks

Get Free Ebooks isn’t an ebook hosting platform, but a website that links to other sources. However, this is the place to be if you’re seeking helpful literary lists divided by genre and subject. Check out their top compilations of ebooks for tons of interesting titles, or select a genre under the “Top Categories” list at the bottom of the page.

Google Play Bookstore

Google play carries both free and discounted books. You can find free books by searching for them on Google Play. They have lesser-known authors as well as a good selection of test prep and self-help books.

Kobo Bookstore

Kobo offers free and discounted books, some titles you won’t find anywhere else. They have a great selection of romance, thrillers, and a list of #ownvoices authors. The term #ownvoices refers to books about characters from underrepresented or marginalized groups in which the author shares the same identity.

 LibriVox

Want to listen to books instead? LibriVox features audiobooks. LibriVox has thousands of free audiobooks, including classics, out-of-print books, and historical texts, like all of the State of the Union Addresses by United States Presidents.

Lite2go

Lit2Go is a free online archive of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format. 

ManyBooks.net

All of the more than 29,000 plus ebooks on ManyBooks are free.

The Online Books Page

Speaking of academic resources, the University of Pennsylvania’s Online Books Page is a clean, accessible hub for over three million ebooks and digitized papers — some originally published more than two centuries ago. For the historically inclined, this site (which also has a pretty good search engine) is a veritable fountain of knowledge.

Open Culture

Open Culture is another good source for classic novels. Note Open Culture doesn’t host ebooks; they’re a hub promoting free online resources.

Open Library

Open Library is a division of the long-running Internet Archive. Any ebook on Open Library can be borrowed with a single click; however, the site has a narrower selection, and most recent releases aren’t available.

PAHarper.com

Readers can also find free short stories by me here on my site.

PDF Books World

PDF Books World has a vast collection of classic public domain books in PDF format.

Planet Ebook

If the refreshingly minimalist design of Planet Ebook doesn’t instantly convince you of its merits, its sizable catalog of public domain books certainly will. And because it’s based in Australia, Planet Ebook pulls from a wider public domain than in the US, so you may be able to find titles there that you couldn’t find elsewhere. To survey its full list of books, click here.

Radish

Radish is an app that offers serialized fiction from established bestselling authors and emerging new voices. Users can purchase “coin” to read the latest chapters at their time of publication or wait a week and read them for free. With so many amazing titles in every genre imaginable, you might find it hard to wait that week!

Reedsy Discovery

For those who like to properly digest their free ebooks and then share your thoughts with an audience, consider becoming a reviewer on Reedsy Discovery! You’ll receive a free ebook copy of every title you pick up for review, plus you’ll gain followers and can even get tipped for your work. If that’s not a great bargain, we don’t know what is.

Riveted

Riveted, a young adult imprint of Simon & Schuster, offers one full-length title each month that visitors can read for free on its website. In addition, several multi-chapter excerpts are available for its new releases. You might find yourself spending hours perusing these engaging titles, ranging from laugh-out-loud romantic comedies to action-packed dystopian sagas. This is a great place to read free books online for kids.

Smashwords

Many authors use Smashwords as an aggregator to distribute their ebooks; it hosts 86,000+ books available for free. You can browse them all here and select a category to make your search easier.

Standard Ebooks

Standard Ebooks is another site that’s easy on the eyes, mainly for the beautiful book covers that accompany each title in its library — perfectly in line with the project’s mission to provide free ebooks that “meet or exceed the quality of commercially produced ebooks.” Indeed, here are 500+ books that aren’t just “standard,” but exceptionally formatted. Readers in constant search of nice-looking classics, make sure to bookmark this site.

Swoon Reads

Swoon Reads is devoted to discovering new writing talent. Readers can create a free account and access hundreds of free, unpublished books. You vote for your favorites, and highly rated authors have a chance at a book deal from Macmillan Publishers!

Tor

Tor offers free original science fiction, reprints, and comics on its website. New material is added weekly. Their blog brings fans the latest science fiction and fantasy genre news.

Wattpad

Wattpad is an inviting community of 65 million users who love all things books! Amateur and professional writers across the world publish their short stories and full-length novels on the platform. There’s also a community feature where you can interact with your favorite authors, enter writing contests, and more.

For Indie Writers

Many places listed here are also good places for indie authors to offer a few of their book titles for free to open their work up to new readers.

#IndieWritingPromoHack #FreeBooks #TipsForReaders #Reading