Downloadable books...free or Low Cost

Updated on August 24, 2016
T.H. asks from Philadelphia, PA
17 answers

Hey Ladies. My son asked me to put funds on his google play account. He wants new books to read. But he shared that he pays $6 per download. Any cheaper suggestions would be so helpful. I thought downloads were $1.99 the most LOL

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So What Happened?

Thank you! I've been to the library recently but failed to even inquire about downloadable books. I thinks it's because my son actually prefers hard cover. He loves reading series and has a nice collection he refuses to sell. I buy his books from eBay usually, but his dad has encouraged him to pursue online reading via his gifted Kindle.

I love the idea of going back to the library on this and looking into the sites shared. I'm excited to see what we find. Additionally, since he's 14, I'm thinking about introducing him to self-help books and books also on the mind and the power of thoughts.

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M.S.

answers from Portland on

I second Bookbub.com. I get all my books there too. but,I don't know how many kids books are offered.

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N.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I wouldn't know about download cost because I get all mine from the free lists. You can google books to read online free and there are thousands on each sites lists.

I get a bunch through Amazon, free. I've never paid a penny and I have a ton of classics.

Books for sale, that are a cost, are anywhere from $1.99 up to $30 or more. I haven't ever bought any but if there was one I really wanted I'd google it and find it on one of those lists for the least amount possible.

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P.K.

answers from New York on

BookBub.com free book site. My favorite!

4 moms found this helpful
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K.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

Many public libraries use the Overdrive system. You could probably even just search for it online at home and find the one for your local library. As long as you have your library card number and pin, you can create an account and start getting books right away.

Like another user said, I always put my kindle into Airplane mode so the books won't disappear from the kindle when my loan expires if I'm not done reading yet.

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M.M.

answers from Dallas on

The public library is the best place! You can also google 'free online books for kids' and a plethora of sites are available.

3 moms found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Boston on

Another fan of the library's e-book system. Also if you have Amazon Prime, you can download one free new book month (from a selection of 4-6 books that haven't published yet) and they often have Prime prices of $1.99 for a lot of books. And because he owns a Kindle, if you have Prime (or Prime student, which is free for 6 months and only 50% of the annual prime cost after that) he also would have access to the Kindle Owners Lending Library, where you can check out titles for free. I use a Kindle app on my tablet but don't own a real Kindle so I can't use that but it looks like it has a large selection of titles.

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M.D.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I download almost everything I read from the library for free. And I read a lot.

ETA: if you are in the middle of a book and your library loan is going to expire, put your ereader in airplane mode. It stops it from connecting to the wifi temporarily. The book won't disappear off the reader until you turn off airplane mode when you finish the book.

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T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Your public library. It's free and they offer several formats (kindle, nook, etc.) He can also still check out real books for free.

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M.G.

answers from Portland on

We do the library ebooks, but going to check out the bookbub site - thanks ladies!

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

I have a kindle. They offer some books for 1.99 as well as a few free books. However, they are usually not the books I want to read. Other books are often a couple dollars less than a printed book. I think $6/book is a good price if he reads the book.

After reading J B. Post I remembered that I get books from Amazon. Their books show up on the screen. It's been awhile since I used my kindle so I don't know if this is right: I think all of my books came from Amazon. I have Amazon Prime. I can look on the Amazon site directly where prices are listed for hardback, paperback and ebook. Sometimes a book does cost less than paperboy price.

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M.C.

answers from Chicago on

Go to gutenberg.org, it has a lot of free domain books/tons of classics. Try archive.org/details/texts for texts, books, and obscure readings. Also openculture.com/literature_free_courses has books as well as interesting online courses. Happy reading!

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K.F.

answers from New York on

My best friend gets her downloadable books through the local library. current books for only the fee for the library. Perhaps your local library has something like that to offer. I would check that out. Free or low cost is always great.

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S.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

I download epub books for free from my public library, and my ebook store has hundreds of free titles.

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G.♣.

answers from Springfield on

If you ever look at Barnes and Noble's website or Amazon's, you'll find that most of their ebooks are roughly the same price as a paperback (or a hardback, if the book is new). It seems like ebooks should be cheaper, as there is no printing or paper involved, but no one makes any money that way :-)

There are lots of cheaper books available, but it's kind of hit or miss whether or not it's a book you like. I've been lucky sometimes, but most of the books I've wanted I've paid roughly the same price as a paperback.

I have checked out ebooks at the library before. They automatically disappeared from my device at the end of the 2 (or 3) weeks. I'm just not always able to finish my books that quickly.

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B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/20-best-websites-to-download...

There are some good free books - you can get some old classics - Jules Verne, Charles Dickens, etc.
http://manybooks.net/authors/vernejul.html

There's a lot of junk out there too - and some sites have adult books - you want to steer your child away from that.

Google 'free ebooks' and you'll find plenty of sites.

Some people like ebooks - and that's fine - but I really like having a real book in my hands.
Our son is an avid reader - and some things he wants to read are series that are too old to be found in stores - and libraries only have so much sci fiction - the selection isn't always great.
We get a lot of 2nd hand books (visit used book stores) and we love Alibris!

http://www.alibris.com/

You can find 99 cent books - you often spend a few bucks on shipping - but it's way cheaper than buying new.

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S.S.

answers from Evansville on

Bookbub.com. you can free downloaded to device. They send a list of books every day. Some cost some are free. They based on what you put down as interest

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J.K.

answers from Wausau on

I use a Kindle for eBooks (there is also a free app) and use the Overdrive app to connect to my local public library system. In my system, I can have up to 10 checkouts at a time, with no limit overall, but I tend to stick to 1-3 at a time since they auto-return in 7 days.

One of my favorite email newsletters is from The Fussy Librarian http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/ because you can customize what types of books you see. Some are free, others are low cost / sales.

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