Downloading ebooks (for free)

[OutOfTheBlue]

At the risk of stating the obvious, there are many ways to find ebooks, papers or digitized physical books online, and should one have such inclination, it is often possible to do so for free.

For those who, for any reason, might need it, but are not necessarily aware of these resources, I'd like to share two online treasure troves where one can find access to such content.

Library Genesis or LibGen (some current mirrors are libgen.rs and libgen.is)

Digital shadow library which includes fiction and non-fiction ebooks and digitized books, as well as scientific articles, comics and magazines.

Search by author name or book title (do no mix both).

It might require VPN access depending on the location.

Z-Library (currently 3lib.net)

Mirrors Library Genesis content, plus some content from other sources. Limits the number of books downloaded per day (5). Creating an account (there is no email confirmation) provides more ample limits.

It might require VPN access (or TOR for some books).

[mountainFrugal]

https://standardebooks.org/ - nicely formatted public domain books.

[fiby41]

LibriVox is where volunteers can read a public domain book into an audiobook.

[shaz]

Public library. The Broward County, FL library offers a free library card to anyone in the US.

[Sandi_k]

If you have a library card and a Kindle (or a laptop with the Kindle app), you can use Library Extension to plug into your browser, and then enter your library credentials. Then when on Amazon, the Kindle page of the book will automatically check your local library, and tell you if an e-book is available - for free!

https://www.libraryextension.com/

[AxelHeyst]

According to the Broward library website, the non-resident card is $50/yr and you have to go into a branch to get it. The instant ecard has proof of residency forms you have to fill submit (it looks like).

[shaz]

@axelheyst I got a card with no hassles or fees whatsoever. I used my non-Florida address when I filled out the form for the instant ecard. The form was just name, address, and preferred library branch. I didn't read the instructions so maybe I wasn't actually supposed to do that. Apologies if it was bad advice.

[AxelHeyst]

Oh, cool. I'll give that a shot. EDIT: yep, it works to just sign up for the ecard with your nonFL information. I'd just assumed the next step was to upload PDF proof of residence documents. Thanks for posting this!