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446 Places for Free Books Online

Updated 28. May 2012 - 19:18 by mr6n8
Introduction

This is a listing of 446 sites that legally offer free books (eBooks) for download or for online viewing.

Some time ago I went looking for some free eBooks and was surprised to find that there are many resources for this.  I decided to put together this list of sites that offer free eBooks as a reference.  Originally, the list was for 50 sites (hence that number in the link) and I thought that was a lot.  I expect that this list will cross 500 sites in the near future.  Given the large listing, you may want to check out the various Genre pages that I have put together.

I have tried to make certain that all of the eBooks at these sites are legally available for viewing/downloading.  However, it is possible that I have made a mistake.  If you suspect any of these sites of illegally offering copyrighted materials, then please let me know through the comments below.

Putting this together was exhausting, but the list is not exhaustive, so I encourage you to post any sites that you know of that are not listed here.

The listing here is in alphabetical order. Given the size of this list now, it has been seperated into different sections alphabetically for hopefully easier access.  You may also search by genre. I have set up 17 pages here of different genres. If you do not see one that covers your interests, let me know and I may be able to put one together.

I have also put together a listing of sites that offer free and legal audio books at

These listings may be searched in the following methods:
Alphabetical Listing
446 Places for Free Books Online - Page Index
(or click here to view as one huge page)
Libraries

On the advice of anonymous poster that most public library systems offer free ebooks, audiobooks, and music downloads to their customers for free, I did some checking and found that there are a large amount of offerings available through online libraries.  It appears most, if not all, require a local library card.  These are sites that have links to local library sites.

  • LibWeb is a good search source for local libraries online. A good selection of US and worldwide locations.
  • Public Libraries very good for US, looked not as thorough as LibWeb on worldwide.
  • Internet Public Library also has some links, but I found the above two to be superior set ups.
Genre Pages

Because this page is becoming extremely long I have switched the genre sections to their own pages.  Please check these separate pages out if you are interested in a particular genre as they have some links that have not been added to this main list as of yet and they also have links to audio books.

 
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Tags

read free ebooks online, search free books online, best places to get free ebooks, top places to read ebooks free, download free books, top free ebooks, best free ebooks.

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Comments

by Rapunzel (not verified) on 20. May 2012 - 18:11  (93747)

Read Books Online Free: http://publicdomaine-books.blogspot.com/
by mr6n8 on 20. May 2012 - 18:47  (93749)

Thanks. I am starting a new round of updates and will add this in.

Steve
by Lari (not verified) on 14. April 2012 - 11:58  (92081)

Wow! Great resource. I'm sharing.

-Your Friendly Librarian
by Anonymous_144,000 (not verified) on 31. March 2012 - 22:02  (91508)

The link you provided for books on religion and spirituality at Google led to many non-English books. I modified the link to show books written in English.

I tried to post the link in a comment but it rejected both the default name of anonymous and the post with a HTML link in it. I will try to modify the link so that is not active.

books.google.com/books?lr=lang_en&rview=1&q=subject:%22+religion%22&as_brr=1&sa=N&start=0

You will need to add the HTTP colon and slashes at the start.
by mr6n8 on 20. May 2012 - 18:44  (93748)

Thanks I will change that soon. I have bookmarked the link you posted.

Steve
by AnonymousTammy Baker (not verified) on 14. March 2012 - 7:11  (90551)

Do you have books on the carpathians or jaguar people. I love those scifi series cant remember authors name.
by raoul lebeau (not verified) on 1. February 2012 - 2:37  (88116)

im looking for dvd or books on tai chi for senior for free
by RA (not verified) on 5. January 2012 - 18:55  (86631)

Put it on your list> goodreads.com
by Chris101 (not verified) on 16. December 2011 - 9:04  (85115)

Check out: http://bookboon.com.
It is an amazing eBook website I came across not long ago.
It has many free eBooks such as the topics of Business, computer studies, leadership, marketing, etc. It also includes basic, intermmediate and advanced eBooks on Ms Office products (i.e. word and excel).

Although it does say there is no catch, please bare in mind the following:
- To download an eBook you must give your name, email address and organisation.
- Just put in a fake email address from 10minutemail.com so they don't spam you.
by mr6n8 on 16. December 2011 - 10:38  (85119)

Thanks for the comment. That site is already listed.

They do insert ads into the books.

Steve
by Jan Lonner (not verified) on 6. December 2011 - 4:39  (84472)

What about http://www.hotfreebooks.com? It has a friendly interface and many books!
by mr6n8 on 6. December 2011 - 7:23  (84475)

Good one.
It will be added in next update.
Thanks

Steve
by pieter (not verified) on 23. October 2011 - 9:31  (81979)

WOW !!!!

thanx a MILLION for the effort you went to in order to compile this list

it is indeed a treasure to find

keep well

peter
by mr6n8 on 17. October 2011 - 12:58  (81591)

As of October 17, 2011, new sites have been added and all links have been checked.

As always, if you have any comments or new sites to suggest, please post here.

I appreciate all the "thanks", but do not respond to each individually as it adds quite a bit to the comments.

I am in the process of putting together "Best of" lists for this listing and the genre listings. Your input would be appreciated and helpful in compiling those.

Thanks again to all those who have posted.

Steve
by Sea Mac on 21. October 2011 - 19:56  (81885)

I'll be back in a month to resume editing that Sub-Page ...

In the Meantime:
KyngChaos Wiki http://www.kyngchaos.com/ebook/index has at least 4 more ebooks.

"These are reformatted editions of Project Gutenberg eTexts for iSilo 3 on Palm OS and iPhone. I picked iSilo over the simpler PalmDoc and text formats for reading because of the easy html conversions and support for formatting (text styles, font sizes and paragraph justification) and hyperlinks (for stuff like footnotes). To read these, you must have iSilo 3 on your Palm OS device or iPhone. "
by mr6n8 on 21. October 2011 - 20:09  (81886)

Good to hear from you.

When you are ready, contact MC and have him change the page back again to you.

I have been thinking about that page and I believe it needs a redoing. Not sure how, but am thinking of having a listing of the authors up top and links from there to anchors in the article. Too hard right now as people have to scroll down.

Anyhow, thanks for the link had look forward to your return.

Steve
by MidnightCowboy on 22. October 2011 - 6:38  (81899)

What he said ^ :) Pleased you'll be able to rejoin the team.
by Nonny mouse (not verified) on 16. October 2011 - 6:21  (81509)

Another excellent article/listing of ebooks.

Thank you for your hard work.
by rehaan (not verified) on 30. September 2011 - 7:02  (80604)

very nice.cool dude i wood like to share this web site with ALL MY FRIENDS.THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. BYE
by housemaid (not verified) on 28. September 2011 - 17:08  (80518)

I want to download a 1928 book from one of the sites here, but they mentioned that I should check the laws of my country. They said the book is no longer copyright in Australia, but does that mean it is legal to download it in the US? I don't want a SWAT team kicking down my door in the dead of night, nor do I want big fines or a prison sentence for something I think is legal, but who really knows?
by mr6n8 on 28. September 2011 - 17:56  (80519)

You would have to do some investigating on that book and author to determine the status of copyright in the USA.

In Australia any work that was published in the lifetime of the author who died before 31 December 1956, is out of copyright. Any work that was published in the lifetime of the author who died after 1 January 1957, will be out of copyright 70 years after the author's death.

In the USA generally any work published before 1923 is out of copyright. Thereafter it gets murky. This chart may help you figure it out:
http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

Steve
by gvanshka (not verified) on 21. September 2011 - 15:43  (80048)

Thank you so much for uploading all the websites! You have helped me a lot! So glad that I've found this site! :)

Keep up the great work,

Best wishes,
Gvashka
by YourBedtimeStory.Com (not verified) on 18. September 2011 - 20:58  (79858)

Check YourBedtimeStory.Com if you need to customize a bedtime story for your kid.
by mr6n8 on 19. October 2011 - 16:06  (81715)

Thanks-added here and on the children's genre page.

Steve
by Chieko Bossie (not verified) on 26. July 2011 - 16:41  (76263)

hi,its a nice and informative site.it gives me alot of information.Thanx
by Visitor from below (not verified) on 24. July 2011 - 21:41  (76180)

Hi,

Great list! Thanks.

Am curious though if you (or others) can list some sites for foreign language stuff (e.g., German, French, Spanish, etc.)? Am sure these sites must exist, but where?

Brent
by MidnightCowboy on 25. July 2011 - 6:52  (76198)

This is a good suggestion but as these pages would likely be in the native language only, we would not be able to verify the content.

by Ruth G. Ramos (not verified) on 9. July 2011 - 11:18  (75086)

Thank you so much for the information. Now, I can research the lessons for my students from these you have suggested.
by lala (not verified) on 9. July 2011 - 2:53  (75073)

Thanks!
here is the most awesome site that you forgot,
drumroll please:

WWW.epubbud.com

best site to read books!

....did i mention its awesome?
by mr6n8 on 19. October 2011 - 16:07  (81716)

Thanks again-added here and on the Children's page and on the Teens & Young Adults page.

Steve

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