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25 Free Websites to Download Books, e-Books, Research Papers and Literature

25 FREE Websites for Thrifty Bookworms to Download Free Books, e-Books, and Literature

Today a reader, tomorrow a leader –Margaret Fuller

It is commonly said that books are one’s best friend and a book in hand can make the person forget the world. Regretfully, today it seems like the world is almost done with the papers and is moving towards digitalizing every possible thing, and similarly, books do not have any exemption. Yes! There is nothing like having a book in your hand and reading it, but adapting to the situation is the need of time. Willingly or unwillingly we all have entered the world of e-books. However, this has also resulted in a lot of conveniences.

We can now carry thousands of e-books in our smartphones, and can read whatever we want and whenever we want. Hence, the only question is where to download e-books and more importantly free e-books? And the goal of this article is to simply answer this question and let you know the top websites you can download free e-books from.

List of Free Websites for Downloading free Papers, Ebooks, and Literature

Let’s get started with the list of all the websites from where you can get free ebooks:

  • Open library

This website acquires the number 1 spot for a reason. The objective of this website is to simply provide all the books ever published. The website offers millions of books, which can be read online or downloaded in PDF format. Its main feature is its ‘search option.’ Besides the title and author’s name, it lets you search the book by writing a single line from it.

  • Bookboon

It is the website where you can download books of all types. Bookboon is the platform where you can easily find the textbooks or books of any particular type you want. The site offers you to read online or download thousands of books free of charge. All you have to do is to enter the free segment and give the website the book title.

  • PDFBooksWorld

This is the go-to option if you are looking for a website where you can effortlessly download books in PDF format. The website creates a digital version of the books which has achieved the public domain and makes it available for us. The best part is it’s clean and easy to use user interface.

  • Feedbooks

The most attractive feature of this website is its user interface. When you click any book, the page lets you know the book features such as reading time, word count, etc. interestingly, it allows free download without any registration or sign up. It also has separate portions for best-sellers and new releases.

  • Free-Ebooks

This platform provides a variety of genres- fiction, history, academics, etc. Apparently, the user interface seems a little complex. However, all you need is to spend some time on the website to become familiar. The website has sections where it enlists the best books of all time and the best-sellers. The only downside is the download limit; you can only download five books per month.

  • ManyBooks

It offers a collection of 50,000 free e-books for all the bookworms who want to satisfy their appetite for books. The site allows you to download books in many formats like PDF, TXT, EPUB, etc. The website makes book search easy, as it has separate sections for all the genres.

  • Project Gutenberg

The site is famous for its large collection of books; 60,000 according to the website. The name suggests what this platform is like. It is a volunteer initiative to digitalize the books whose U.S. copyrights has ended. The website claims to offer the world’s great literature! Hence, it is worth a visit.

  • Get Free Ebooks

The website claims to have the mission of providing free legal books to all who want to read. It offers direct downloads and does not require you to register or sign-up. Moreover, the website also posts blogs about the developments happening in the reading world.

  • Online Free Ebooks

The website offers a variety of free book PDFs. The genres it provides are technology, health, and medicine, gadgets, sports, engineering, etc. The user interface is simple and lets you search the book easily.

  • Overdrive

The websites claim to offer millions of free e-books! It has the most straightforward and cleanest user interface. However, there is some twist. You will need an active library card or you should be a student to get free access. Overdrive has a working relationship with over 30,000 libraries in more than 40 countries.

  • Centsless Books

The goal of the website is to provide you the free books available on amazon. However, remember that it’s free for you when you have subscribed to kindle unlimited. So, it is now all your choice!

  • PDF Books World

The website is especially for you if you are a PDF fan. The website has a collection of thousands of e-books in PDF format. Besides all other famous genres, it specializes in the classic collection. And no worries if you are not a PDF user, you can convert the PDF into any other format by simply using online or offline tools.

  • Librivox

Librivox is your option for thousands of free audiobooks. The site is provided audio versions from volunteers who put the effort to deliver you a high-quality audio version of the books. Librivox is the ultimate free option for all those folks paying handsome money for audiobooks.

  • Authorama

Authorama gathers a variety of books written by famous authors. It gives you free access to its books; you can read either online or offline. The site generally provides public domain books. It has a very simple user interface allowing you to easily access the books you need.

  • Read Print

It is your online library, providing you a collection of thousands of free e-books. Registration is not necessary, but it lets you keep a record of your readings. Its search engine is super-fast and lets you search the book by keyword, book type, title, etc.

  • org

The eBooks and text section of archive.org allows you to access a large collection of famous books, children’s books, scholarly and historic literatures. You can also see the view count to identify the most popular books. You can read the books online or download them in PDF or EPUB formats.

  • WikiBooks

On Wikibooks, you will find a vast variety of textbooks. WikiBooks is your option if you are looking for engineering, medicine, humanities, and science and technology books. It is recommended that you should download the book in PDF format, as the online reading experience on this website may not be pleasing.

  • Sacred Texts

It is the best online collection of texts related to religion, theology, mythology, etc. The author’s name or the title will directly take you to the book you want. All the books available are free, you can also save the pages you want to read offline.

  • The Online Books Page

A collection of over three million books, created by the University of Pennsylvania. Apparently, the site looks boring. Nevertheless, the wide range of books available will make you forget everything. Moreover, the books are available to be downloaded in a large variety of formats.

  • Scribd

An appealing collection of a large number of books, magazines, audiobooks, etc. But it is free for the first 30 days only. Unlike other websites mentioned in this article, you will have to pay Scribd every month after the first month.

  • Google Books

Not every book on Google books is available for free. However, it offers a lot of free e-books in its ‘Free’ section. The free section offers a wide range of books besides the best-sellers and many more. You can also see the ratings and reviews each book has achieved.

  • FreeBookSpot

For all book lovers, FreeBookSpot is a reliable option to access free e-books. The website offers thousands of books, hence giving a good variety to choose from. It doesn’t require any registration, just download the book you want and enjoy it!

  • Baen

Baen offers almost all the books you want to read, but not all books are free. Baen has a separate section of free books where you can read all the available books absolutely free. The books are downloaded in Zip format, hence get the unzip tool ready before visiting Baen.

  • Issuu

Issuu is an online publishing platform where you can find thousands of free magazines, books, tutorials, etc. You just need an account to access every available thing on the website. Issuu is provided content by independent writers, therefore not every available book is free. Nevertheless, no worries! A large number of books are available for zero cents.

  • FreeTechBooks

FreeTechBooks is all you need if you are looking for books related to computer science. The website is home to books, tutorials, and even complete lectures on topics related to computer science. The website simply gathers all the material legally accessible on the internet.

The list mentions almost all the big names delivering free e-books. Thus you won’t be running out of required books from now on!

Yousaf Saeed

I'm Dr. Engr. Yousaf Saeed, founder of the AScholarship Education Portal. My academic path includes 3 prestigious international scholarships — Australia Awards, CSC, and HKPFS — for my higher studies. I am also an IChemE affiliate whereas I've also worked for companies like Aramco and BYCO oil refinery as an production engineer at the start of my career. I completed MS, and PhD with major research publications in leading SCI journals (details on my Researchgate Profile). This aScholarship.com reflects my commitment to educating and therefore i started it for the purpose to guide aspiring international students for find scholarships for their higher education dream. As an experienced educator and mentor, I specialize in navigating the intricacies of research and patent and write useful articles on these topics too.