However, if you have a Kindle, which only accept the AZW format, you won’t be able to borrow from your library.Although you shouldn't take reading on digital devices with backlighting for granted (it can hurt your eyes), all software that simplifies the distribution and reading of books is welcome. The service is compatible with most ebook reader devices including iPhone, iPad and Android tablets. To read ebooks you’ve borrowed from your local library, you’ll need to download a free application – the Overdrive Media Console. Libraries also artificially restrict the number of copies available of each ebook. Many libraries offer ebook lending facilities, although the loan period varies from about 7 to 14 days. Everything you ‘purchase’ is available to read online or via the Play Books app for iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets. The Google Play Store has free ebooks on offer alongside a huge, and growing, range of paid-for titles, though the free books are the same style of out-of-copyright classics and tasters you’ll find elsewhere. Users of Apple iBooks on iPads and iPhones also have access to around 30,000 free ebooks, largely those offered by Project Gutenberg. Bestselling free ebooks are listed in the iBooks app, in a similar way to those on the Amazon Kindle Store. On the Gutenberg website there are author and title search facilities, to help search through its collection of novels, poetry, short stories, non-fiction and reference books. These are available in ePub, Kindle, HTML and simple text formats so you can read them on any ereader or tablet. The ‘first producer of free ebooks’, Project Gutenberg boasts more than 40,000 free ebooks. As the Kindle Store’s ebooks are available in Amazon’s proprietary AZW format, they aren’t readable on non-Kindle devices. This is because their copyright has expired and they can be distributed openly. 1) Amazon’s Kindle StoreĪll sorts of literary classics such as Pride and Prejudice, Dracula and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland are all available for free on the Amazon Kindle Store. We explain how to find and download free ebooks without spending a dime. Fancy reading novels on your ebook reader free? If you own a Kindle, or even a tablet like the iPad, then a world of zero-cost classic literature awaits.Īlthough the majority of free ebooks tend to be out-of-copyright, plenty of modern authors offer taster texts from their most recent books to pique reader interest.

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