WEBSITE LISTS:
See the list of websites where you may download eBooks for free. Many of these sites can also be used for Nooks, Kobo and Sony Readers, as well as simply reading on your PC. There are several different types of formats available, such as: ePub, PDF, HTML, Mobipocket, and Txt. You will need to check to see if your device can read the particular format.
http://www.suite101.com/content/free-ebook-websites-a318293
This article lists several of the free sites.
http://ebook-store-review.toptenreviews.com/top-7-free-ebook-websites.html
Top Ten Reviews reviews seven free sites.
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/20-best-websites-to-download-free-e-books/
Hongkiat.com has a blog post listing the twenty best websites for free e-books. The blog also added another 16 extra listings. The post was updated about a year ago and a second set of websites can be found here.
INDIVIDUAL WEBSITES:
Here is a partial list of the sites where you can download free e-books, with an informational quote from each website.
http://www.gutenberg.org/
“Project Gutenberg is the place where you can download over 33,000 free eBooks to read on your PC, iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, Android or other portable device. “
http://www.free-e-books.net/
“Free-e-books.net is the Internet’s #1 online source for free eBook downloads, eBook resources and eBook authors.”
http://www.getfreee-books.com/
“Getfreee-books.com is a free e-books site where you can download free books totally free.”
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Free-e-books/379001668/
Claims to have thousands of free eBooks, but only about 100 or so are listed. Can be used on iPad, iPhone, Android, NOOK, and PC.
http://manybooks.net/
“There are more than 29,000 eBooks available here and they're all free!”
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/
“Listing over 900,000 free books on the Web”
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-e-books/b/ref=sv_kinc_1?ie=UTF8&node=1286228011
Look on the left under Special Features/Free E-Book collections. “Free classics and out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books, as well as limited-time free promotional e-books available for Kindle.”
http://www.smashwords.com/
“Discover Great E-books from Indie authors and publishers.”
http://www.kobobooks.com/
299 titles in multiple formats.
http://www.archive.org/details/texts
“The Internet Archive Text Archive contains a wide range of fiction, popular books, children's books, historical texts and academic books.”
http://books.google.com/e-books
“Read nearly 3 million free eBooks and hundreds of thousands of titles that are ready for purchase; you can read all of your favorite books using just about any device with an Internet connection. You can read Google eBooks on the Web, with Android phones, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and supported eReaders.. You can't use your Kindle to read any eBooks you buy from Google.”
Shared per listserv - thanks - W. 11th & Bluff, the official blog of the Adult Services Department at Carnegie-Stout Public Library, Dubuque, Iowa.
