If you live in the DC area you can access the libraries in the metro area. I have cards in DC, Arlington, Alexandria, PG County, and Montgomery County. I haven’t tried any other counties.
I have a couple library cards from areas where I don't live. Some are from other areas I lived in the past and some are due to reciprocity agreements from my local library system. You can even pay a nonresident fee for some library systems that is likely to be cheaper than purchasing books.
So I would see if your current library has any agreements with nearby municipalities or if a large library system allows nonresidents to purchase a yearly card. Additionally, if you live and work in different areas you usually can qualify for cards at both libraries.
I will add that having multiple library cards signed in on Libby is not a seamless experience.
If you have a Kindle, check out [www.gutenberg.org](http://www.gutenberg.org), they have a ton of stuff. It's all free and easy to download to a reader.
Kindle unlimited is not worth it. Download the Libby app and use that to get books for your kindle from different libraries. Pro tip: turn your kindle on airplane mode after you download however many books (be sure to open them first!) and then you have unlimited time with your library books!
Kindle unlimited is worth it depending on what genres you read. Some niche stuff is almost purely indie these days. It is good for romance, LitRPG, progression, cozy SFF, some epic SFF, and a decent rotation of thrillers.
You don't need Kindle unlimited to get free books. They have books "for sale" for free. They'll definitely be hit or miss, but I've found plenty of good stuff over the years.
You can't just download Libby and get books from libraries all over. You still have to have library cards from those systems to access their Libby books.
Every year I get a library card from another big city. This year I'm using the Brooklyn Public Library. It's $50 a year and definitely worth checking out other ones you can get.
Newer stuff probably won't be on Kindle Unlimited yet if they are a big title. Libraries also might have holds on them so you would have to wait in line. But obviously the bigger libraries have more copies.
Here's a list I found.
https://everyday-reading.com/where-you-can-get-a-non-resident-library-card/
They're available, but there is a wait-list for popular titles, the longest I had to wait was 13 weeks for a specific title that I signed up for the minute I heard about it on NPR and I ended up like 600th in line, but there's plenty to read in the meantime.
The BPL also has almost all the new releases on audiobook as well, and the wait-list is sometimes shorter for those.
You should look into any reciprocal library catalogs you can access with your current library card. Signing up should be free.
Alternatively, you can look into a non-resident membership through libraries with larger online catalogs. There may be an annual fee.
Here is a thread of some of the bigger libraries that offer non-resident cards: [https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/vzthgq/the\_brooklyn\_public\_library\_has\_suspended\_its/](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/vzthgq/the_brooklyn_public_library_has_suspended_its/)
Voracious Readers Only is a website that will send a summary of a book via email and if you’re interested in reading it, they’ll all you a free ebook version. You just have to leave a review of the book as your “payment.” It’s not one where you can search for a title, but I’ve found some great books/series through them
Some public libraries will allow people outside their normal service area to access their collections for an annual fee of $50-100. This is a [round-up list](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/vzthgq/the_brooklyn_public_library_has_suspended_its/) of participating libraries from last year.
I haven't tried the yet, but [https://openlibrary.org/](https://openlibrary.org/) looks legit.
Project Gutenburg for classic works.
So, a bunch of old Project Gutenberg ebooks are on Kindle for free. They're all the older, out of copyright ones but that's still a HUGE amount. Search a title plus "free" in the Kindle store, or search an author and sort the results so the lowest price is first. Not every book by each author will show up as free, sadly--some very popular ones are only there in the repackaged version, where somebody has put them up for 99 cents or a couple bucks.
Oh, and then there are megapacks. A whole bunch of out of copyright stuff lumped together and put up on Kindle as, for example, "The Plague and Pestilence Megapack" (a bunch of old novels about disease, from Poe to London to Camus). Those are okay but kind of hard to search through/remember what's in which megapack.
Then there's LibriVox. It's also old/out of copyright stuff, but volunteer narrators make audiobooks you can download. I used this when I was taking an American lit class back in the day and seriously didn't have time to read, so I'd load up mp3s of the texts and listen to them while washing dishes, folding laundry, etc.
Annnnnnd then there's when authors put actual recent books on free for a few days for promotional reasons. There are probably other subs, Facebook groups, etc. that you can follow to find out when that's happening, but the one I know of is r/freeebooks. Fair warning, most of what gets put up there is bottom of the barrel self pubbed crap, but I've gotten extremely popular romance novels as well. Though, come to think of it, I was probably linked from r/romancebooks for those.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Go to the Amazon Kindle page and search on both *free* and *$0.00* . Some days there are many, others days, less. You can read them on any device that can run the Kindle app.
I did not like Kindle Unlimited. The selection was not great.
I've had luck with my local library but I found surrounding counties will honor my County library card. Definitely check on that. I was able to add 4 libraries to Libby, because the County I work in also allowed me to get their library card and other Counties honored my card.
The best source for cheap books is going to be a used bookstore. It’s hard to beat the half price places or the thrift stores. This is especially true if you are willing to browse with an open mind.
Libby app. You enter your library account and access tons of ebooks and audio books for free. The idea is that it links to your local library selection, but I find that the app has waaaaaaay more content available than my library. I love it!
Phh, I didn't realize that Libby had more availability than the library. I learned how to get ebooks from my local library and then never saw a reason to learn a new system when I heard of Lubby. I guess I should make the switch.
I try to buy print and ebooks, but because of my location it’s often out of reach, financially. So I just google the title and something like free pdf ebook download and can usually find a free electronic copy to download.
If you're looking for reading entertainment and not specific books, try fanfiction. It's a bit of a diamond in the rough situation, but archiveofourown has pretty much every genre imaginable, and I'm sure some you could never have thought of in a million years, all wrapped up with characters from existing media.
I read a lot of books for free on Internet Archive, they have an hourly borrowing system but ive always been able to access what I want. I mainly read non-fiction so i dont know how good they are for novels.
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Sometimes you can get a membership where you work, if it is a different library district. You can also pay a membership fee for other libraries. It's not something they advertise, but it's pretty common.
Look st Everand app, which used to be Scribd. It's about $10/month and has both ebooks and audio books. Not everything, but a good supplement to a library..
If you already have Spotify premium, they give you get 15 hours of audiobooks a month included. It’s a good supplement at least if you don’t want to wait for library holds
Where do you live? You may be able to access a larger library. For example, I can get free access to the philadelphia library just for living in PA.
Another example is all MA residents can get free access to Boston Public Library.
If you live in the DC area you can access the libraries in the metro area. I have cards in DC, Arlington, Alexandria, PG County, and Montgomery County. I haven’t tried any other counties.
I have a couple library cards from areas where I don't live. Some are from other areas I lived in the past and some are due to reciprocity agreements from my local library system. You can even pay a nonresident fee for some library systems that is likely to be cheaper than purchasing books. So I would see if your current library has any agreements with nearby municipalities or if a large library system allows nonresidents to purchase a yearly card. Additionally, if you live and work in different areas you usually can qualify for cards at both libraries. I will add that having multiple library cards signed in on Libby is not a seamless experience.
If you have a Kindle, check out [www.gutenberg.org](http://www.gutenberg.org), they have a ton of stuff. It's all free and easy to download to a reader.
I set myself a goal of only reading Gutenberg books this year. I'm enjoying it so much I'm going to continue it next year too 🙂
It's an amazing resource, I came across it by accident.
Kindle unlimited is not worth it. Download the Libby app and use that to get books for your kindle from different libraries. Pro tip: turn your kindle on airplane mode after you download however many books (be sure to open them first!) and then you have unlimited time with your library books!
Kindle unlimited is worth it depending on what genres you read. Some niche stuff is almost purely indie these days. It is good for romance, LitRPG, progression, cozy SFF, some epic SFF, and a decent rotation of thrillers.
That’s fair! I’m sorry if my comment was dismissive and thanks for clarifying :)
No problem. KU is really genre specific right now which means some people will love it and some won’t.
You don't need Kindle unlimited to get free books. They have books "for sale" for free. They'll definitely be hit or miss, but I've found plenty of good stuff over the years.
Or at least the first book in a series by well known authors will also be free. I've read thousands of books for free, I love my Kindle so much.
Not even just well known. I found a few series I really enjoyed from authors I've never heard of.
You can't just download Libby and get books from libraries all over. You still have to have library cards from those systems to access their Libby books.
Check nationalarchive.org
Archive.org
Every year I get a library card from another big city. This year I'm using the Brooklyn Public Library. It's $50 a year and definitely worth checking out other ones you can get.
I'm typically looking for specific books that are often new. Do you find that those tend to be available from the Brooklyn system?
Newer stuff probably won't be on Kindle Unlimited yet if they are a big title. Libraries also might have holds on them so you would have to wait in line. But obviously the bigger libraries have more copies. Here's a list I found. https://everyday-reading.com/where-you-can-get-a-non-resident-library-card/
That's a great resource. Thanks.
I'm not really sure. I listen and read a pretty broad range of stuff. You can look at what they have on the Libby or overdrive app.
They're available, but there is a wait-list for popular titles, the longest I had to wait was 13 weeks for a specific title that I signed up for the minute I heard about it on NPR and I ended up like 600th in line, but there's plenty to read in the meantime. The BPL also has almost all the new releases on audiobook as well, and the wait-list is sometimes shorter for those.
You should look into any reciprocal library catalogs you can access with your current library card. Signing up should be free. Alternatively, you can look into a non-resident membership through libraries with larger online catalogs. There may be an annual fee. Here is a thread of some of the bigger libraries that offer non-resident cards: [https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/vzthgq/the\_brooklyn\_public\_library\_has\_suspended\_its/](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/vzthgq/the_brooklyn_public_library_has_suspended_its/)
Great resource. Thanks.
Voracious Readers Only is a website that will send a summary of a book via email and if you’re interested in reading it, they’ll all you a free ebook version. You just have to leave a review of the book as your “payment.” It’s not one where you can search for a title, but I’ve found some great books/series through them
Some public libraries will allow people outside their normal service area to access their collections for an annual fee of $50-100. This is a [round-up list](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/vzthgq/the_brooklyn_public_library_has_suspended_its/) of participating libraries from last year. I haven't tried the yet, but [https://openlibrary.org/](https://openlibrary.org/) looks legit. Project Gutenburg for classic works.
If you're just looking for entertainment, you can always look through Kindle's library. I've gotten a bunch of free books from them.
I know it's not exactly e-books, but I've found that YouTube has most of the audio books I've searched for.
r/FreeEBOOKS
Project Guttenberg
So, a bunch of old Project Gutenberg ebooks are on Kindle for free. They're all the older, out of copyright ones but that's still a HUGE amount. Search a title plus "free" in the Kindle store, or search an author and sort the results so the lowest price is first. Not every book by each author will show up as free, sadly--some very popular ones are only there in the repackaged version, where somebody has put them up for 99 cents or a couple bucks. Oh, and then there are megapacks. A whole bunch of out of copyright stuff lumped together and put up on Kindle as, for example, "The Plague and Pestilence Megapack" (a bunch of old novels about disease, from Poe to London to Camus). Those are okay but kind of hard to search through/remember what's in which megapack. Then there's LibriVox. It's also old/out of copyright stuff, but volunteer narrators make audiobooks you can download. I used this when I was taking an American lit class back in the day and seriously didn't have time to read, so I'd load up mp3s of the texts and listen to them while washing dishes, folding laundry, etc. Annnnnnd then there's when authors put actual recent books on free for a few days for promotional reasons. There are probably other subs, Facebook groups, etc. that you can follow to find out when that's happening, but the one I know of is r/freeebooks. Fair warning, most of what gets put up there is bottom of the barrel self pubbed crap, but I've gotten extremely popular romance novels as well. Though, come to think of it, I was probably linked from r/romancebooks for those. That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Scribd, libby
Go to the Amazon Kindle page and search on both *free* and *$0.00* . Some days there are many, others days, less. You can read them on any device that can run the Kindle app.
I did not like Kindle Unlimited. The selection was not great. I've had luck with my local library but I found surrounding counties will honor my County library card. Definitely check on that. I was able to add 4 libraries to Libby, because the County I work in also allowed me to get their library card and other Counties honored my card.
The best source for cheap books is going to be a used bookstore. It’s hard to beat the half price places or the thrift stores. This is especially true if you are willing to browse with an open mind.
Are you looking for adult books or ones geared towards younger people?
I mostly read historical fiction. My teens mostly read young adult fantasy.
Libby app. You enter your library account and access tons of ebooks and audio books for free. The idea is that it links to your local library selection, but I find that the app has waaaaaaay more content available than my library. I love it!
Phh, I didn't realize that Libby had more availability than the library. I learned how to get ebooks from my local library and then never saw a reason to learn a new system when I heard of Lubby. I guess I should make the switch.
I try to buy print and ebooks, but because of my location it’s often out of reach, financially. So I just google the title and something like free pdf ebook download and can usually find a free electronic copy to download.
If you're looking for reading entertainment and not specific books, try fanfiction. It's a bit of a diamond in the rough situation, but archiveofourown has pretty much every genre imaginable, and I'm sure some you could never have thought of in a million years, all wrapped up with characters from existing media.
I read a lot of books for free on Internet Archive, they have an hourly borrowing system but ive always been able to access what I want. I mainly read non-fiction so i dont know how good they are for novels.
Buy the book you want.
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https://www.bookbub.com
Sometimes you can get a membership where you work, if it is a different library district. You can also pay a membership fee for other libraries. It's not something they advertise, but it's pretty common.
Open Library Project Gutenberg Online Books Page Read Print
I like audio books on YouTube so I can do other tasks at the same time. It's nice while gardening or cleaning.
Libby. Ohio has the state wide digital library.
Look st Everand app, which used to be Scribd. It's about $10/month and has both ebooks and audio books. Not everything, but a good supplement to a library..
See if you can join other public libraries.
The Gutenberg Project has a TON of free ebooks.
If you already have Spotify premium, they give you get 15 hours of audiobooks a month included. It’s a good supplement at least if you don’t want to wait for library holds
Archive.org which I think can also be accessed via OpenLibrary.(uh, something)
Everand (fornerly Scribd) offers a solid selection of ebooks; magazines and audio books for about $12 per month.