Buying books was my kryptonite until I found out how to get the best free books!For many months, I drained my “fun money” budget each month on books.
I was spending nearly $50 a month on books, and most of them have still not been read.
I loved having a huge selection when I went to pick out my next book, but grew tired of never having any money for anything else I wanted.
There are hundreds of best free books and discounted books out there, and I had no idea they existed!
Plus, you can get free books to read online and you don’t have to spend any money on them!
So I’ll share with you my best tips on how to get free books so you can save more money this year!
Plus, with the best free books, you’ll still have enough to read until your heart is content!
So if you’re a bookworm like me or just need to save on reading materials for your family, here are ten ways you can get discounted or FREE books.
1. The Obvious Choice: Your Local Library
Most people know that the library has thousands of books to choose from, and the best part, they are always FREE.
But were you aware that if they don’t have the specific book you’re looking for in stock, you can ask them to transfer it from a different library? Yep! In about 2 days they’ll have the book you want waiting for pickup!
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And since a library card costs you nothing, there really is no downside to having one. Well, except late fees (connect your library card and use the “Library Elf” to automatically set up free reminders). Don’t mess that up, always put the due date in your calendar immediately (I always put it a couple days ahead) so you aren’t rushing to return them.
And kids always enjoy the library too! Having the freedom to choose and take home their favorite books can become a fun reading incentive. It’s the best way on to how to get free books!
2. Free eBook Websites
If you don’t mind reading books from your tablet, e-reader, or computer there are millions of of the best free books just waiting to be downloaded.
There are tons of sites dedicated to free ebooks! I always check these sites for my kids reading lists so that I don’t have to spend money on their school books when they are probably never going to read them again. (I’m sorry, but one reading through “The Yearling” and I never needed to read it again…).
Here are just a few websites I’ve used personally to get free books to read online:
3. Get FREE And Discounted eBooks From Amazon
You do not need a Kindle to read kindle books. They have a FREE App that allows you to read them on your phone or computer too! And Amazon offers hundreds of FREE Kindle ebooks that you can download .
Here’s how you can score free kindle books from Amazon:
- Go to Amazon’s Kindle Store
- Scroll down and click on the category that interests you
- On the upper right-hand side of the screen, you’ll see a drop-down menu that says “sort selection”
- Choose price: low to high. When you do this, you’ll be able to see all of the free kindle books listed first.
Check out all of the Kindle Daily Deals here and Kindle books for 80% Off here. I told you there were free books to read online!
4. Sign Up For A Free Trial Of Kindle Unlimited
Kindle Unlimited costs $9.99 per month for unlimited books to read on your device.
When you sign up for their FREE 30-day trial, you can quickly download a bunch of your favorites for FREE!
And just so you don’t get stuck paying the monthly fee, set a reminder on your phone so you don’t forget to cancel.
It’s a great way to get free books to read online!
5. Join Story Cartel
Story Cartel is a platform that allows authors to launch their book and receive honest reviews from real readers.
So you can get the best free books and all you have to do is leave an honest review.
Plus, the review is super easy to do, it’s not a survey or anything, you just leave your review on Amazon! And another way to get free books to read online!
6. Check Barnes & Nobles’ FREE Nook Books Area
Did you know that Barnes & Nobles offers FREE Nook Books!
They have a large selection to choose from and is one of the best options out there for Nook owners.
But the best part is that you don’t have to have a Nook Tablet to read Nook Books, you can also download the Nook App to read on your Computer or SmartPhone!
Don’t you just love learning how to get free books?!
7. Online Book Swaps
One of the best ways to get FREE books is by participating in a book swap. You could obviously swap books with friends, neighbors, and even co-workers. However, there’s also a number of great online book swapping services.
Here are a few book swapping sites:
8. Use BookCrossing To Give & Find The Best FREE Books
This is the geocaching for book lovers! Simply drill down to your state and a city near you and you can “go hunting” for books that are hidden in your area.
But what’s even more fun is that you can also hide books for others to hunt down and find!
Fun, right?! Learn more and start your book hunt at BookCrossing.
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9. Give FREE Audiobooks A Chance
When my kids were little, we didn’t have a DVD in our mini-van (crazy right!) so I would get audiobooks (on CD… I’m not THAT old, lol) and we would listen to suspenseful mysteries from Adventures in Odyssey as we drove around doing errands or toting back and forth from sporting events.
We also loved listening to historical fiction on CD. Then at dinner time, we would all talk about what we each thought the characters looked like, or the setting. Listening evokes a whole set of senses that reading (or watching) doesn’t.
Here are some of my favorite sites to get daily or weekly updates of free Audiobooks:
- Loyal Books
- Lit 2 Go
- Internet Archive
- Scrible
- Itunes PodCasts (and they even have the Adventures in Odyssey Podcasts!)
As a last resource, I also have to mention that my sister and her hubby LOVE Audible, the audiobook service from Amazon. It costs $15 per month but you can try Audible for FREE for 30 days here.
10. Take Advantage Of Amazon Prime Reading
I know I only promised 10 ways to get books, but I have to mention that if you have an Amazon prime account then you do not want to miss the FREE book resources you get with your membership (along with a TON of other options besides just 2-day shipping).
Prime Reading gives Amazon Prime Members unlimited access to thousands of the best free books, magazines, comics, and more. All you have to do is be a prime member, which means some of you may have this service already and not even know it!
Making a trip to your local library, borrowing or swapping, and taking advantage of online resources are all easy ways to have access to the best free books, feed your book habit AND save your budget!
Isn’t it neat that you can get free books to read online and you don’t have to spend any money on them!
So I hoped you learned my best tips on how to get free books so you can save more money this year!
Plus, with the best free books, you’ll still have enough to read until your heart is content!
YOUR TURN: About how many of the best free books does your family read in a year? Comment below for fun and let me know!
