Free books are the best books, right? It’s easier now than ever before to get free books online (and in person!) for every member of your family.
From ebooks to hard copies, we’ve got the 10 best places to visit so you can score free books and cozy up knowing you’ve saved some serious cash.
Download the free KCL app and check out our Book deals page for more savings.
1. Download dozens of free Kindle books for you and your family.
Almost every day, Amazon Kindle releases more free e-books you can download and read. They often rotate the list of available books; what’s free today may not be tomorrow. Free books may be public domain titles like Pride and Prejudice and Walden, or they’re books that the authors have chosen to make free, such as textbooks and kids’ books.
These e-books can be read on your Kindle, but there are also many free Kindle apps available for mobile devices. You can also access these free books on your computer if reading from a small screen annoys you (like it does me!).
Just remember that Kindle e-book prices change pretty frequently, so when you’re placing your order, just make sure the price is $0 before you check out.
2. Use a book exchange to get new-to-you books.
Online book exchanges are great places to find books for any reader.
List the books you want to swap out, and then get access to books others are getting rid of. Only pay the cost of shipping.
Here are some of our favorites:
Book exchanges aren’t just online; check Craigslist and Google to find listings for book exchanges near you.
3. Visit Gizmo’s Best to download free e-books for the whole family.
The website Gizmo’s Best has more than 700 websites where you can download free e-books or access thousands of books to read online.
Gizmo details each of the websites, and each one is different. From fiction to biographies, math books to illustrated kids’ books, there are thousands of things to read on this list.
Library sites like the University of Maryland’s International Children’s Digital Library provide free access to thousands of titles, from classics such as Where the Wild Things Are to contemporary stories like Harry Potter.
The Digital Book Index is another valuable online resource for thousands of free, downloadable e-books for any age reader.
4. Find free books online at a Little Free Library.
While you’re not able to get books online with a Little Free Library, the website tells you where to find more than 90,000 book-sharing boxes in neighborhoods and high-traffic areas. So you can go on a free book scavenger hunt once you pinpoint some book boxes.
Little Free Libraries let you borrow or keep a book — but if you choose to keep a book, it’s generally expected that you’ll share one from your own collection. You’ll reduce your costs and your clutter!
Find a Little Free Library near you (or apply to set one up yourself for free).
5. Get 2 free I Can Read! children’s books for $1 shipping.
Head to the I Can Read! Book Club and receive two free children’s books (reg. $4.99 each) with some of the most beloved characters like Pete the Cat, Amelia Bedelia, and the Berenstain Bears.
Just fill in your information and pay $1 for shipping and handling. You won’t have to buy any other books, and you can cancel anytime.
Plus, you can choose to order two bonus books the first time for the price of one and save $4.99.
Check out our dedicated book deals page for the most up-to-date sales on books. We do all the work for you!
6. Download free digital books and enter giveaways at Goodreads.com.
Goodreads.com is a go-to website for book lovers and a good place to get free books for your family.
You can browse tons of free ebooks for kids and teens, and enter to win a wide variety of great books (including New York Times bestsellers).
They’ve also got a message board so you can get free books in exchange for a review.
7. Get 5 free ebooks per month from Free-ebooks.net.
Free-ebooks.net will let you download your choice of 5 free digital books per month (PDF and TXT formats) once you sign up for a standard membership. They have a massive library of genres like classic literature, children’s books, audiobooks, educational resources, textbooks, magazines, and fiction.
But, if you’re really into downloading e-books and don’t mind paying $25, you can get a lifetime VIP membership which gives you unlimited access to every e-book and audiobook they offer — for the rest of time. This offer will pop up as a one-time deal when you first sign up, so the only way to get it later is to make a new account with a new email address.
Normally, the lifetime VIP membership costs $50… so you’re basically paying the cost of a single hardcover book to gain access to 40,000+ digital books forever.
8. Get new kids’ books for free at FirstBook.org — just pay shipping.
Publishers have donated countless kids’ books to the First Book Marketplace. All the books in the Book Bank are free; just pay shipping.
If you see something you like, get it. Donated books are only available while supplies last.
9. Become a book reviewer to get free copies of books.
In this digital age, authors — especially new and independent authors — rely on good reviews. And they’ll give you their books for free in exchange for an honest review. These sites have many different types of books (not just kids’), so be choosy.
Here are some sites that offer free physical or digital books when you sign up to review:
10. Claim 12 free braille books each year for low-vision and blind children.
The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults has a wonderful Braille Books Program that gives kids one free braille book per month from popular children’s series. Register for the program, and check out their huge library of downloadable braille books while you’re there!
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