Let’s face it, books aren’t as cheap as they used to be. But that doesn’t mean you should give up reading altogether. Which brings us to the wonders of e-book websites, where they are made available for free. You can either read the books online or download them in a different format. Without further ado, here are the 8 Recommended Sites To Read Free Books Online.
1) Open Library
With millions of books available on the website, this non-profit e-library offers a wide range of subjects you can browse around. This includes everything from fiction to arts, history, textbooks and children’s books. For the former itself, they have various genres like horror, mystery and science fiction. Depending on its terms, you can choose to read them online or download the e-books in a different format such as PDF, Send to Kindle or DAISY (only available to the blind & visually impaired).
2) Project Gutenberg
Not to be confused with 2018’s award-winning Hong Kong crime thriller of the same name, Project Gutenberg consists of over 60,000 free e-books to choose from. And the good thing is, you don’t even have to sign up to access their e-book store as well. They update their e-books on a nightly basis, covering all types of subjects under a single platform. Not sure what to read? You can browse through their Top 100 EBooks or Top 100 Authors lists.
3) ManyBooks
Over 50,000 e-books to choose from and yes, they are “100% Free”. ManyBooks covers a diverse range of A-to-Z genres ranging from arts & biography to classic, fiction and short stories. In case you are uncertain what to read, they have various useful sections including Editor’s Choice, Trending Books and Popular Classics. You can select to read the books online or download them for free in a different format such as PDF and Mobi.
4) Scribd
“Read without limits”. That’s the promise you will get upon signing up as a Scribd member. But it comes with a catch: You can only read free for 30 days and also required to pay a subscription fee upfront (USD 8.99 or RM 38.36) via credit card or PayPal. Think of Scribd as the e-book version of Netflix, where you can cancel at any time before the free trial ends or choose to continue by paying the monthly subscription. It might be a turn-off for some people but it’s hard to deny Scribd’s reputation as among the web’s largest sources of published content.
5) Google Ebookstore
From fiction to memoirs and travel, Google Ebookstore has them all under one roof a single platform. They can be accessed for free (even though not all of them) and all you have to do is click on the title before proceeding to the “Read” button. You can choose to read the books online or on your mobile device, with the latter being made available on Google Play. And in case you are looking for some recommendations, simply click on the “Top Charts” and go to “Top Free” column.
6) BookBoon
Unlike the rest of e-book sites on this list, BookBoon is more niche in its content. They cover mainly textbooks and business books, with topics like human resource/career management, digitalisation & IT and engineering. All free e-books available are high-quality content specially written for BookBoon by industry-leading experts (business) and university professors (textbooks). But do keep in mind that business books are only free for the first 30 days. However, if you choose to continue, you only need to pay USD 5.99 or RM 25.56 a month. And yes, you can cancel at any time.
7) E-Sentral Ebook Portal
Here’s a local e-book store that offers thousands of popular Malaysian and international titles, with some of them available for free. All you have to do is register as a member before accessing the e-books. To date, they have 1,845 free e-books on their website, covering various genres from fiction to education and business.
8) Stories.Audible
Too lazy to read? How about listening to an audiobook and have the narrator read it to you instead? Simply head to Stories. Audible, where they offer free-to-listen storybooks for kids and teenagers. You can find the likes of “Winnie-the-Pooh: A.A. Milne’s Pooh Classics, Volume 1”, “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” and even “Harry Potter”. The audiobooks can be streamed via laptop, desktop, phone or tablet.
