Top Five Places to Get Free E-Books

This year a record number of e-readers will be sold. With the popularity of e-readers growing every day, it's easy to see that more and more books will be available in digital format. It would be expensive to create a new library in digital format, but with these top five choices for free e-books you'll find more than enough in free reads to keep the bibliophile in you satisfied.

Whether it's e-books borrowed from the public library, lent from a friend or copyright expired classics these top five sources for free e-books are sure to please.

#1--The Public Library

Your public library's changed with the times and they offer a plethora of e-books. No charge, just like the traditional method. You will need a library card, but that's pretty easily taken care of. Simply visit the library and apply for one.

Search the library catalog on site or online and download your favorite books to your computer or e-reader device. I'd recommend downloading to your computer and then moving them to your e-reader.

After you download a book from your library you can view your e-book for 14 to 30 days, depending on your library's loan period. After the loan period expires it disappears from your device. If you weren't finished simply borrow it again.

Most libraries allow access via Adobe Digital Editions and Overdrive. The set up will be very similar among all public libraries. View the You Tube tutorials below for more information about how to download from your public library.

#2--Amazon's Free Collection.

Amazon offer's readers free access to to classics. These e-books are books that have a copyright date before 1923 and now available without copyright limitations.

Amazon not only offers an extensive collection of these titles, they also provide links to several other free collections including historical collections and genre searching. They offer free apps for access through Kindle that syncs with your ipad, iphone, android device and many more.

As you are browsing Amazon's collection, be sure to watch that the item you choose has a price of $0.00, it doesn't happen often, but occasionally you'll run across one that has a price listed.

Barnes and Noble offers an large collection of free books. Some of the featured authors include such popular authors as James Patterson, Robyn Carr, Kenneth McDonald and more. The collection of free books changes, but there are always some prominent authors among the selection.

Mixed in with the popular authors are some less than popular reads and a few Harlequins as well, but all in all it's worth checking to see what's available, especially if you own a Nook.

Project Gutenberg began as a way to archive public domain works into digital collections. Currently the collection offers over 38,000 public domain works. (Works in the public domain are works who's copyright have expired, been forfeited, or were never covered under copyright law). These works include many great classics and are available for Kindle, Andriod, and various mobile devices.

Project Gutenberg offers all their titles free of charge, however they do appreciate small donations to keep the project moving along.

Open Culture is another great place to find classic free literature in digital formats. Their site offers 250 e-books. The e-books are organized by author and each title provides information on the type of download available. Downloads are available for Kindle format, e-pub, mobile devices and several other types of devices.

This site offers much of the same material as can be found at Project Gutenberg and often the link for the items will take you there directly. I like the easy set up and quick viewing for this collection. The complete collection is displayed by author and lists the formats so that you can determine if the copy is compatible with your device before even clicking on the item.

This site also offers free audio book downloads and more. Browse this one to find other interesting freebies.