There have been an alarming number of posts linking to pirated copies of books floating around lately, so I thought it’d be productive to share some of my own legal ways of accessing books instead of fighting the posts themselves.
If you would like to know more about book piracy and discussions surrounding the issue, here are some links:
25 thoughts on book piracy
Book piracy - an insiders perspective
Why I stopped pirating and started paying for media
The ethics of internet piracy
The real problem with piracy
Piracy is yesterday’s worry for today’s ‘artisan authors’
Kindle e-book piracy accelerates
John Green: Why libraries are different from piracy
Across the digital divide
Now on to some free books!
Libraries are wonderful. A collection of books that people want you to take home and read. What could be better?
If they don’t have a book you want, have a chat to the librarians. They are usually all very helpful and would love to hear suggestions of books, and even get the book you want in stock for you.
Library cards are a wonderful resource, but depending on your library you may need a permanent address - if you can’t supply this that’s fine! You don’t need a library card to use libraries. Go in, grab a book, read for a while.
Many libraries now have e-book borrowing services available. It is well worth checking whether your library offers this if you prefer reading e-books or even listening to audiobooks.
Overdrive is a marvelous program that partners with many libraries to provide e-book lending, check the site to see whether any libraries near you participate!
Books in the public domain can be accessed for free in many formats
Project Gutenberg offers a huge selection of public domain books in html, epub, kindle, and plain text format.
Books in the public domain can also be found directly through the Kindle or Kobo stores. Both stores offer free apps for mobile devices and computers.
LibriVox has an impressive collection of audiobooks of public domain books read by volunteers.
PulseIt features different young adult books every week that you can read online for free.
If you enjoy reviewing, recommending, or blogging about books you might want to check out some sites offering review copies e-book copies of books. I personally use Netgalley. I’ve also heard good things about Edelweiss.
Giveaways are another way to source free books, even if there is no guarantee of winning, what’s the harm in trying? Goodreads has a staggering number of book giveaways all the time, and there are always a few circulating in the Tumblr book community.
Kindle and Kobo also offer free or heavily discounted books often, so it is well worth checking them every so often to see if any of the free books catch your eye.
These are the only completely free and legal ways to source books that I know of - feel free to add your own ideas.
Go forth and read responsibly!
janainaart
baratheonpilled
pixelskylines
