Project Gutenberg
The first name that pops up in the minds of people looking for free e-books to read is Project Gutenberg. Offering books in formats such as PDF, ePub and Simple text, Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitise and archive books. It is one of the oldest and largest libraries in the web with a collection of over 50.000 books. It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart.
ManyBooks
As the name suggests, this site has many books for you to read. With over 50,000 books across genres on offer, you can register with ManyBooks and download the e-books of your choice or read online. The site also has the latest bestsellers apart from the classics. The books on the site are compatible with Kindle, iPad and most e-book readers.
Wikibooks
If you are looking for textbooks and reference books, this is the site to visit. Hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, from Science to Languages, Wikibooks has a wide range of free books. All are catalogued and the text can be edited, similar to the content on Wikipedia. The site also has a Featured Books section that suggests books worth reading.
Librivox
Librivox is not an e-book site, but a site for people who find it more fascinating to listen to a story than read one. Librivox offers free audiobooks for people to listen to. The content on the site is available through a volunteer effort where people who consume the books can also lend their voice to record audiobooks. All you need to do is register, and get set to be mesmerised.
Open Library
Open Library has more than a million free e-books available for consumption. It is an open online project of the Internet Archive, which is a non-profit digital library. Apart from consuming books, users can contribute books that others can read.
Free eBooks
This website has a large repository of e-books. One just needs to register on the site to access digital books on a wide range of genres. Once you register, you can access the books in HTML format. However, if you wish to read them in PDF or TXT format, only five books are available for you to download each month.
International Digital Children’s Library
To take a break from all the heavy reading, you can visit this website to find a range of children’s books in different genres and languages. The site has award winning books of different lengths and reading levels to suit all age groups. You can register on the site and start your journey into the world of children’s books.
Picture Credit : Google
