If you are like me, then it doesn’t matter how many books you own – physical or digital copies, there will always be moments when you will want to read something else and your library just won’t deliver the solution for this problem. It may just happen that your pile of hundreds or even thousands of books does not include that one book that you would feel like reading right now.
It may also be the case that the title that you are interested in at that very moment is not available for purchase.
Or maybe you’ve already used up your monthly budget for books and you need a new read as soon as possible.
Or maybe you simply cannot afford to buy certain books or any books at all for the time being.
That is when free online libraries and platforms that offer free books or books in the public domain segment come to the reader’s rescue.
Here are three great websites and platforms that I use to read books online. You can use them to either borrow digital books or to download and/or read books free of charge.
1. Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is by far my favorite resource of public domain books. With a catalog of more than 59,000 digitized books, the platform definitely provides some of the best options for book discovery, book download, and online reading.
You do not have to create an account to read or download the books.
What I like the best about the platform:
The books are available in HTML, EPUB, Kindle, and plain text formats and you can download and read them with your favorite apps.
What to read on Project Gutenberg | Book Recommendation:
Download EPUB version | Download Kindle version
2. Open Library
Open Library is an ambitious open project initiated by the Internet Archive. Its stated goal, to include “every book ever published” makes it an impressive catalog of both public domain and copyrighted books even at this stage in its evolution.
To borrow books from the Open Library, you will have to create a free account. If available, a book can be borrowed for 14 days by each individual. Since this is indeed a library environment, you may have to wait for some titles to be returned by the users who read them at the moment – waiting time is higher for newer or more popular titles, but several editions of a book may be available at the same time. You can borrow a maximum of 5 books at a time.
What I like the best about the platform:
It has a great variety of new books and textbooks on various topics.
What to read on Open Library | Book Recommendation:
“Foundation” series – Isaac Asimov
Borrow eBook or Join Waiting List Now
3. Open Culture
Open Culture is a project that puts together high-quality media content for people who want to advance their lifelong learning goals. The platform provides a variety of cultural and educational materials on many topics and in a diverse range of formats – audio books, online courses, massive open online courses (MOOCs), movies, eBooks, etc.
They are all free and they are great. Since the platform curates content from various sources, you may at times be redirected to the original source of content.
What I like the best about the platform:
The entire website is a great source of cultural information. You can easily discover new segments of cultural interest, hobbies, or learning opportunities.
What to read on Open Culture | Book Recommendation:
“Poetical Works” – John Keats
Read eBook Now [redirected from Open Culture to source website]
Browse the entire Open Culture eBook catalog.
This is it. These are my three secrets for reading great books online, free of charge.
Where do you read free online books? Comment below.