Tinys World of Technology BS

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
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 used to read four or five books at a time.  I had a bedside book, a bathroom book, an easy chair book and one or two others laying around in various places.

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 for free.

Luckily with e-book readers, I’ve saved a lot of money.  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 borrow a vast number of books, 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.  There is also an alphabetical list on the same site at the Best Free eBooks Online.  The page 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 links to 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.  It has by far the largest list of free titles for downloading and the site is easy to use.

• 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 book are readable in your web browser.  You can borrow others for a two week period.

• Bookbub is a site that I check 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.  If you 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.

• Standard Ebooks is another free e‑Book download site.  There is not a large selection.  The titles mostly seem to be older classics.  The advantage is that book formatting is much better and easier to read.

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.

One last note.  All of the links in this article are for downloads of e‑books only.  Many of the sites also offer audio books, recommendations for reader software and other goodies.  Most of the sites offer downloads in various formats, so be careful and double check the links.

Thanks for reading.