How to Read Books for Free on the Internet

There are many sites on the internet where you can read books for free. Here's a list of things you can do and places you can go to read for absolutely free on any web-enabled computer.

Instructions

1

Get a card at your local library. Then navigate to their website and see if they have any web resources. Chances are they have an entire selection of downloadable books which you can check out using your library card. Search their archives for the titles you would like to check out. You will probably need to download the OverDrive Media Console if you would like to download audio books. Otherwise, if you're looking to read the books on your screen, you will probably only need your web browser or the latest version of Adobe Reader.

2

Navigate to the Project Gutenberg website. Project Gutenberg has archived over 25,000 books in its pages, all of which are available for free download or online reading. If you know what you're looking for, try the advanced search engine. If you're not sure what you would like to read, you may browse their catalog or check the bookshelf, which is organized by topic. There are seven subcategories, including Children's, Countries, Crime, Periodicals, Religion, Science and War. There is also a long list of articles, each of which makes author suggestions based on topic, genre or type of publication. Articles include Best Books Ever Listings, Children's Book Series, Detective Fiction, Early English Text Society, Pirates, Buccaneers, Corsairs, Etc. and Mystery Fiction. Keep in mind that many of the books in the Project Gutenberg archives are older texts which are in the public domain. This is definitely the place to look if you want to read a classic, but newer books will not be available.

3

Direct your web browser to the Free eBooks website. This site features newer ebooks which have been submitted by their authors for free distribution, along with some old classics such as "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain. The subjects range from advertising to eBay to health and web design. You can also read reviews on the site to help you determine what you would like to read. The ebooks are also rated by users to give you a better idea of what to download.

4

Check out the Internet Public Library. This site has a substantial collection of links to websites where you can access reading material for free. You can read on topics such as the arts and humanities, business, computers, education, leisure, law and government. You can also access reference materials such as almanacs, dictionaries and encyclopedias. They have many links to classic books, magazines and newspapers, as well as links to resources which are just for kids.

5

Go to Google Books and do a search for the book, topic or keyword you are looking for. Google Books has many previews of books which are currently on sale, as well as the complete text of many books which are in the public domain. Google Books has many very obscure and hard-to-find books which can be very helpful if you're trying to research a difficult topic. Use the advanced search engine to search on books in a specific language, or to search only in full view books or library catalogs. You can also search by title, author, publisher, subject, publication date or ISBN. The books date back as far as the 1400s, and have been fully scanned in so that you can read the original text in its entirety and look at all original pictures.