Where to Get Cheap and Free Books Online
How to Find Inexpensive Novels and Free Books On the Internet
Sep 8, 2009
Book lovers rejoice, even in tough economic times the greatest source of enjoyment for bibliophiles is still an affordable pleasure. The Internet offers plenty of opportunities for book lovers to acquire cheap books, almost free books, and even books for free.
Get Free Books Online By Book Swapping
One way readers can get free books online is through book swapping. Book swapping is a great way to get books for free and to give away books that are no longer needed. If friends and family don't have the books you want or want the books you have, never fear, because online book swapping is here.
- BookMooch is a popular book swapping service with cute graphics and a user-friendly interface. How it works: members give away books to earn credits and use those credits to get free books. The service is free, but you pay for the shipping on the books you give away. Bookmooch claims it has approximately 500,000 books to choose from.
- Get free books from PaperBackSwap: Like other book swapping sites, members give away books to earn credit and use those credits to get other books. Members pay for shipping (typically $2.13USD according to the site) and there are about 1.3 million books to choose from.
- Find free books at ReadersUnited, which operates the same way other book swapping sites do : members get credits for giving away books and they use their credits to get books. Members pay shipping on the books they give but shipping on received books is free.
- Free books and more can be had at FrugalReader , which is just like the book swapping sites above, but in addition to free membership they also offer a paid premium membership with extra perks. FrugalReader also has a store where you can buy fan-ware.
- Find free books online at Bookins, a site which is similar to other book swap sites, but with one major difference: it's free to send books (you print postage-paid labels from their site) and costs $4.49 to receive your books.
- WhatsOnMyBookshelf is similar to the book swapping sites above, and they offer a selection of around 20,000 books.
Get Free Books by Book Hopping
Book hopping is similar to Book Swapping, but without the points system. Members list the books that they want to give away and they agree to ship any of the books requested. In exchange they can request the books they want from other members.
- BookCrossing offers a very cool way to book hop. Book lovers read a book, label it with a unique Bookcrossing label and identification number, then leave the book in a public place (this is called “releasing it into the wild'). There are designated release areas that members can check out to look for for free books (or “released” books) or they can release books in any public place and track their book's journeys online.
- BookHopper is a book hopping site which is similar to other book swapping sites, except there are no credits. The more books members list the more free books they can request.
Other Ways to Get Free Books and Cheap Books Online
- BooksFree works like Netflix, except instead of movies, it's a service for books. For a monthly membership fee, users can check out multiple books at a time. When they're done, they send them back (there's no charge for shipping) and they get the next books on their list. No late fees.
- Half.com is a branch of the online auction website “e-bay” where you can buy and sell books at big discounts.
- Bookcloseouts.com offers 50-90% off publishers prices and a dizzying selection of books in every genre.
With no more than an internet connection and a desire to share the love of reading with fellow readers, book lovers everywhere can connect, swap, and buy books online for a fraction of bookstore retail prices.
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