Wichita on the Cheap

Live the Good Life for Less & Never Miss a Deal

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How to Read e-books for Free

You don’t have to have an e-reader to take advantage of free e-books. Download free reading apps to turn your smart phone, tablet, or computer into an e-reader. Although some of us will always love real, made-from-paper books, ebooks have several advantages. Not only can you get them cheap, you can get them FREE from all over the Web. They’re available almost instantly if you have an Internet connection, they’re usually less expensive than traditional books (not always!), and they don’t take up much space on your nightstand. My two favorite places to find free and cheap ebooks are Amazon and the Wichita Public Library. I like Amazon because it has a huge selection of cheap reads and daily deals because I have the free Kindle app on my phone. And that’s not the only reason I love my Kindle app! The library lets me read ebooks for free on the app too! The Wichita Public Library has offered free e-books for years now–and not just books, but audiobooks as well. If you have a library card, you can access and download digital media any time of the day. You can read them in the browser or do what I do – download the FREE Kindle app and read library books on your phone or tablet. (Even though you load the library book onto your Kindle app, it still doesn’t cost anything!) Public library ebooks are always FREE, can be checked out for as long as three weeks, and – best thing ever – will never accrue late fees because they automatically ‘expire’ out of your device when they’re due. The selection is very good; some books may be checked out when you first see them, but you can just place a hold and you’ll be notified when the book is available. Visit the Wichita Public Library page here to learn more about how it works and get started reading books. The State of Kansas Library also has a very extensive library of free online resources for those who have a Kansas Library Card, including many that would normally only be available for a fee. One I was particularly interested in is Auto Repair Source. It has step-by-step directions & diagrams for repairing many different models/years of cars. But that’s only one resource available at the state library online. You could probably spend hours here tracking down all the different offerings. 
Download the free Kindle reading app here: Get the FREE Kindle Reading App from Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble also offers a selection of FREE Nook Books. The selection may change from time to time. The downside is that you have enter payment information (even though you won’t be charged for the free books) to be used as your default method of payment for future e-book purchases. If you’ve already purchased e-books from Barnes and Noble, you might already be good to go. Download Barnes and Noble free Nook reading apps for iPad, iPhone, Android, or PC. Project Gutenberg has digitized over 33,000 out-of-copyright (in the U.S.) books that are free to download. They are available in ePub, Kindle, HTML, and simple text formats. Because of the wide variety of formats available, you can read these with your computer, phone, tablet, e-reader, or other device. Free E-reading Apps Depending on the e-book formats available at these various sites around the Web, you will need to download an app to read the books on your device. The major e-book providers listed above all offer free apps for many different devices. The one I use and recommend because it works great for my library books and is compatible with the most services is the free Kindle app, which you can pick up from the link below:
Download the free Kindle app for your phone: Get the FREE Kindle Reading App from Amazon.com and begin reading library books for free on your phone or mobile device!
  P.S. Wichita on the Cheap reader Tracey just reminded me about Bookbub. It’s a service that sends you emails about free or discounted e-books in the genres you request. Worth a look. Related: New Advanced Learning Library opens in Wichita