2017 Reading Challenge discussion
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Where to find ebooks & audio books????
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I get mine from the library as well. Unless I get a promotional credit from Audible I never use that site because it's way too expensive.
Shucks! It's so darn expensive for 1 credit. Then I'm always unsure if I want to "waste" that credit so I end up hoarding them lol. There's some audiobook sites but they all seem to be the same. I'll keep you posted if I learn of anything new :)
I get them through torrents and sometimes through audible or whatever service has a free deal. My problem is the same as with video and music streaming. You need a lot of different services to stay covered. I buy most books and if I've bought a book in paper format, I don't have any qualms about downloading a pirated audiobook version of that book. As far as I'm concerned, the market isn't meeting my needs, because it's in the stone age like the rest of the digital media providers.
I wouldn't know how to get pirated anything if it smacked me in the face lol. I am not the greatest with tech advances haha.
I would recommend getting a library card from the larger city in your state. Get multiple library cards from various cities/counties. I have cards from 5 different library systems and if I can't find a book from one library system, I'll usually find it from another system. Rarely do I need to borrow the physical book (there are two large libraries by me). I still do buy books from Amazon, but I'm no longer spending $2k/year on ebooks/audiobooks.
LY wrote: "I would recommend getting a library card from the larger city in your state. Get multiple library cards from various cities/counties. I have cards from 5 different library systems and if I can't fi..."I currently have two from 2 different states so I guess I need to drive around to the surrounding towns here to collect. Do you find though when you search through overdrive that it only searches one library and not the others....or is that just my luck lol?
Cristine wrote: "LY wrote: "I would recommend getting a library card from the larger city in your state. Get multiple library cards from various cities/counties. I have cards from 5 different library systems and if..."Ah, unfortunately, I have to search each library system individually. I too would like to know if there's an easier way to browse books from various libraries.
The best libraries I know of are NYPL and LAPL. Their collections are jaw-dropping. Unfortunately I don't have cards from either libraries.
OOOOO I used to have a card from NYPL but I'm guessing they probably changed it by now lol.
I get the majority of my books, ebooks and audiobooks (which I download onto my iPod) from my local library. Yes it is true that different libraries have different selections. I also get free ebooks from bookbub.com. These I put on my ereader or my iPad depending on the format that the book is offered in. It has a large selection of free ebook which change daily or books that are drastically reduced. You do have to register with an email address and they send you a daily list of ebooks as a recommended books you may be interested in and you choose the genre(s) which appeal to you.
Some of the ebook sellers post lists of free books. ARE https://www.allromanceebooks.com/ has a large freebie list. Kobo has a list (I don't like their site or terms, so I don't use them). And Smashwords.com is another I've visited. Amazon/Kindle...I also have 3 elibraries (2 local and the state capital), and echo what a great resource that is!
You can download free audiobooks (mp3) from Librivox.com. They offer books in the public domain, which are read by volunteers and the majority are read pretty well. There are also apps you can download, which will play audiobooks and keep track of your listening, let you set bookmarks etc. I have the librivox one installed on my mobile phone and I listen when I'm out and about or cleaning up!For ebooks, you can create a free account at openlibrary.org and borrow up to 5 at a time: you just search with the ebook checkbox ticked, borrow and download. You will need to download a specialised adobe reader though, as books are DRM (copy) protected. Openlibrary scans in library books and makes them publicly available as epub or pdf versions. Pdf versions are pretty cool, because you sometimes get notes in the margins, dedications at the front of the book or library stamps. There's a blog post on this, which is quite interesting: http://blog.openlibrary.org/ A lot of their books are classics, but they do have more modern ones too.
http://ebook.bike/ is also pretty good, but beware the popups and bogus links on the site which can be annoying, but pay the bills I suppose.
And finally... you can sign up at bookbub.com and get regular emails about free and reduced ebooks from Amazon, Kobo, Apple and Google. You can set up your reading preferences to make recommendations more relevant.
(Not forgetting local libraries of course.)
Hope that helps : )
Oh my, I'm just seeing all these responses. Thank you all for these great ideas. Annerlee I never heard of open library, that sounds pretty cool. Thank you again!!! :)
You're welcome Cristine.Open library is great. They also have obscure books you can't easily find as ebooks anywhere else.
Librivox is fantastic! Thanks for that!
I'm curious where everyone finds their free ebooks or audiobooks. I normally borrow my ebooks through my library or kindle unlimited but if they aren't there I am clueless where else to get them. For audiobooks, I also use my library's borrow feature and had an account with Audible but I feel like it's a waste of money. Any help would be appreciated....pretty please!
Thank you,
Cristine