Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch
Ever since I learned how, I’ve always been an avid reader. My parents didn’t have a television until I was about ten years old. That never bothered me. The library always had a lot of entertainment. In later life, when I was in the Navy, I seldom watched the ship’s movie. I was busy finishing reading one more chapter before lights out. These days, I still read about twenty magazines each month. I am usually reading four or five books at a time. I’ve got my bedside book, bathroom book, digital book and an audio book for my morning walk.
I could not even estimate how many thousands of dollars I’ve spent buying reading material of one form or another. In the past three or four years, my reading has all become either digital or audio. I haven’t been in a bookstore or looked at a magazine display rack in at least two years. For me, it’s all been for the better. In this article, I’m going to tell you how you can do the same.
I’ve saved a lot of money with e‑books and audio books. One of the reasons is because it is so easy to check the material out from the Parish library. From my easy chair I can check out a vast number of books (both digital and audio), magazines, comic books, movies and much more.
There are many internet sites where electronic books can be downloaded for no charge. All the major booksellers offer some free books, but there are many other places where you can get a better choice. A good place to start your search is at Tech Support Alert’s Free eBooks And Audiobooks To Read Online Or Download. This is the launch page of categories. It links to other sites that list free e‑books with download information. The lists are sorted by genre. The title is somewhat confusing. It is actually a list of sites that offer free books. At the time of this writing there are 913 sites listed. These pages also have links to sites for downloading comic books, textbooks and online courses. Bonus tip: if you read the user comments, you will find many other sites.
Some other sites that I use to download free books (in no particular order) are:
• Project Gutenberg was one of the first e‑book sites. There are more than 59,000 titles. I t has by far the largest list of free titles for downloading and the site is easy to use.
• LibriVox is like Project Gutenberg except it is all audio books. Volunteers read and record books and upload them. There can be a large variance in audio quality.
• Open Library is a section of the Internet Archive. The goal is to have a web page for every book ever published. Most pages have links to where you can get the book. Some of the books are readable in your web browser. You can borrow others for a period of two weeks.
• Bookbub is a site that I check almost daily. It isn’t a download site but lists the latest deals on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Google and Kobo. Many of the books are for sale (usually $0.99 or $1.99) but it also lists many free books. Use the link I’ve provided, you won’t have to give them an e-mail address.
• eBook Reader is a review site for all things e‑reading. You can find information on both hardware and software. They have an extensive section of where you can download books (both free and paid). There are also several how‑to guides.
I hope this list of sites has piqued your interest and gets you started on e‑book reading. This is nowhere near a complete list of download sites for e‑books. If you’re like me and like to read, these links should get you started.
Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.