100 ways to get free or crazy cheap books, Part 2

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December 2, 9:06 AM

by Michelle Kerns, Book Examiner

 

 

Now, let's leap even farther into the delights of frugal book hunting.

eBooks

The internet is exploding with sites that offer free ebooks on every subject from computer instruction manuals to the classics, just good old fiction. Cast your eye over some of these offerings.

23. gutenberg.org - There are so many ebooks available on this site, they use a Top 100 Downloads list for different days just to give you some way to orient yourself. You can find just about anything under the sun here. For instance, yesterday's Top 100 downloads include Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Emily Post's Etiquette, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Henry Stanton's Sex. Interesting.

24. manybooks.net - Contains 22,336 ebooks freely available for your PDA, iPhone, or eBook reader, conveniently divided into genre categories.

25. feedbooks.com - At this site, you can not only download thousands of free ebooks, you are able to publish your own stuff and even make a customized "newspaper" for yourself using the RSS feeds and widgets of your choice.

26. booksinmyphone.com - This if for the truly devoted book fiend: books you can download and read on your phone! What is amazing is that the all time most downloaded phone-ebooks at this site include heavies like Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and War and Peace. Wow.

 

27. onlinecomputerbooks.com - Need free computer, technology, internet, business, physics or science ebooks? This site is a great resource.

28. Munseys - Tons of categorized downloadable books. Hours of bookish fun available here.

29. Planet eBook - Plenty of free classic literature.

30. Mobipocket - Although most of the titles on this site are for sale (actually at very cheap prices), this link will take you to the free ebook download section which contains some fun, off the wall selections.

31. Fictionwise - Again, this is an ebook selling site that has a nice selection of free ebooks available.

32. Witguides - Features free eCookbooks, eHealth books, eGardening books, and a bunch of other how-to types.

33. Memoware - Tons of free ebook titles for your PDA from every imaginable category.

34. World Public Library - Requires an Annual Membership fee of $8.95 but it boasts over 500,000 PDF ebooks in over 100 languages.

35. Free-ebooks.net - Large selection of free ebooks covering a wide range of categories.

36. BookRags - A great resource for high school or college students: plenty of free educational ebooks to choose from.

 

Get Used

When it comes to cheap book buying, do not underestimate the power of the Used. Here are some of the best places for extra cheap books.

37. Library book sales - Most libraries hold monthly used book sales (some around me hold them weekly). The prices at these are to die for: you can easily come away with a shopping bag full for $3. OK, so you certainly won't be able to get too choosy since the books on offer will be different every time. However, I've found that you can nearly always find a thing or three that catches your fancy or a few items that can be squirreled away against a birthday or Christmastime, hint, hint. Also, if you're incredibly lucky, the library will simply give away the books they couldn't sell at the end of the sale and believe me, many of these are definitely worth a look. I've come away with boxloads of high quality books and magazines simply because the library couldn't store them any longer.

38. Thrift stores - Like the library sales, you might not be able to find exactly what you're looking for exactly when you want it, but if you make it a bi-weekly ritual to swing by and eyeball the pickings, you'll be amazed at what you'll find.

39. Yard sales - These are particularly good if you just happen to come by near the end of the afternoon. By then, the owners are so sick of seeing that crate of paperbacks and imagining themselves hauling it out to the dump, they will often be more than pleased to give it away.

40. Amazon.com and other used book sellers online - Before you buy ANY book full price, always take a look here!

41. Used book stores - Some used book stores are so-so; others are simply fantastic, like Nirvana contained within four walls. If you're ever in the Northern California area (Huzzah Sacramento Kings!) stop by the Almost Perfect Bookstore in Roseville. It is so big you could get lost in it and patrons can trade in their books for credit. Delightful! The best used bookstore I have ever been in, hands down.

Books by email: DailyLit

42. DailyLit - Sign up with DailyLit and you can get books emailed to you in brief, easily digestible snippets. Imagine finally getting through War and Peace simply by reading your email every day! DailyLit offers a large selection of free emailed books as well as some current and bestselling titles for an affordable fee. Take a look at Give us this day our DailyLit for more information.

The classic book freebie place - the library

43. Your local library - If you've been avoiding your local library because you have bad memories of Ms. Thingummy taking you to the principal's office when you threw a pencil in the library of your elementary school, you've got a lot of catching up to do. Modern libraries are every bit as well-stocked and cool as your local Large Bookstore. I don't live in a tremendously huge city, but the libraries around me have huge audiobook, DVD, graphic novel, and magazine collections, not to mention televisions and video game stations (and, thankfully, a do-it-yourself checkout so that I can pay my overdue fines in solitary solemnity). Make it a habit to visit the library every week with your family and I guarantee you'll be so glutted with books to read you won't need to hardly buy anything at all.

eBook libraries 

While these work like normal libraries they are, obviously, for ebooks only. Many require membership or annual fees, and lending limits. After the time allowed for your checkout is up, the ebook will become unreadable.

44. Australian eBook library - For $11.95 per year, you can borrow up to 3 books at a time.

45. KnowBetter Lending Library - Membership fee of $19.95 per year.

46. Loqui SF eBook Library - All free and all sci-fi, dark fantasy, or classic literature.

47. Physical libraries (at universities and public libraries) that offer ebook checkouts - While most of these require that you have a resident library card, there are several notable libraries, such as the New York Public Library, that sell non-resident library cards. You can find a list here under "Limited Access"

Interested in more ways to get free or cheap books? Take a look at Part 1 of 100 ways to get free or crazy cheap books and SUBSCRIBE to the Book Examiner for Parts 3 and 4.

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