Friedbeef’s Tech

When we were reviewing 10 of the best online resources for free books, we had a LOT of readers chime in with their own favorites as well.  Thank you for all your helpful contributions!

In fact, we had so many suggestions, we have enough to compile a huge list from them, so here they are in no particular order:

1. ManyBooks - Free eBooks for your PDA, iPod, or eBook reader - Thanks Tony Bryan & abben
2. BookCrossing - Where real books are released into the wild to be found by others - Thanks Engtech
3. LibraryElf - The perfect companion to a public library system - Thanks Engtech
4. Scribd - Open library to publish and discover documents online - Thanks CincauHangus
5. Word Public Library - 400,000 PDF ebooks for download - Thanks Ellen
6. Free Tech Books - Free computer science and engineering books (+ lecture notes) - Thanks Ellen
7. Bookins - Swap real books with other readers - Thanks Jimbob
8. WellToldTales - Free short story podcasts (like audiobooks, but shorter) - Thanks Kevin C.
9. Wowio - Public domain, free legitimate copyrighted materials & one of the only with a selection of Comic Books - Thanks Jane and Art Dardia
10. BizBooktalk - Free book giveaway contests on Fridays - Thanks Brandon
11. MoochMuch - Organize your book lending with your friends - Thanks Bobby
12. CHMPDF - A collection of general interest and technical ebooks - Thanks Manish Garg & Brian Di Croce
13. Realtime Publishers - free IT eBooks by many of the world’s best authors - Thanks Kevin
14. FrugalReader - Trade Books for free - Thanks Brent
15. TitleTrader - Swap books, movies, and music - Thanks Brent
16. ZunaFish - Trade your old media and books items for new titles you’d rather have - Thanks Brent
17. SwapSimple - Swap your used books here - Thanks Brent 
18. SwapThing - Community of users who swap items including books - Thanks Brent
19. BookCart - Internet paperback exchange - Thanks Brent
20. SF-Books - Exchange Sci-Fi Books here - Thanks Brent
21. PaperbackSwap - Swap books for free - Thanks jane dough, IBelieveInFairies, & Lauren
22. PinkMonkey - 450 Study Guides / Booknotes / Online Chapter Summary Notes and Analysis - Thanks Spellchecker
23. eBookWorld - Technical resources - Thanks 5n7p3r
24. Flaxx - IT and computer books - Thanks tejinder
25. Baen Library - Free science fiction and fantasy novels - Thanks lanthus & Glen Davis
26. LibraryThing - Social networking and free books - Thanks Michael
27. Online Books Page - Facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet - Thanks Aman
28. Podiobooks - free audiobooks that you can subscribe to with iTunes or any other podcatcher - Thanks KJToo
29. BookRags - Research material in the form of eBooks - Thanks Henry Delany
30. Technical Books Online - Old tech books from the “vacuum tube age” of electronics- Thanks obiewiz
31. ebookSearchr - Google powered Thanks Rico & Rokker
32. Internet Archive - The Intenet indexed - that includes a vast text library - Thanks jojo
33. BookYards - Books, videos, education materials- Thanks Victor
34. Memoware - Free books for your PDA - Thanks Doug

The items below were taken from my original Top 10 list with full reviews (here and here)

1. Gutenberg Project Top 100 - Popular books from the oldest producer of free ebooks on the Internet
2. BookMooch - Community for exchanging used books
3. ebookSpyder - Specializes in technical books ranging anywhere from C# to AJAX
4. Google Book Search - Read the classics online
5. Dwalin - plain text novels
6. Free Computer Books - Technical resources about computers
7. Librivox - Audio works and podcasts of books
8. CliffsNotes - Get the notes to cram for the exam
9. WIkibooks - Free textbooks
10. DailyLit - Receive small parts of books via email

This list will be updated regularly. If you want to add to it - please leave a comment!

[tags] free books, ebooks [/tags]

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In Part 1 of this series, we covered some fantastic resources for digging up free books online.  Here are 5 more great sites - each with it’s own distinct flavor.

6. Find Specialized IT Books With FreeComputerBooks.com

I think the name of the site says it all.  What I like about this site is that all their books are very specifically tagged so you can zoom down on whatever topic you want very quickly.

7. Get Someone to Read Books to You at Librivox

Too lazy to read?  Get Librivox to read it to you!  These guys are undertaking a collaborative project and working with volunteers to make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the Internet.  They also offer podcasts for their recent work too, so you can get books on your MP3 player with a snap of your fingers. 

8. Skip the Book and Get Free Study Notes with CliffsNotes

Yes - CliffsNotes, the all time favorite resource for literary study guides, are now GIVING away their a lot of their literary material.  A truly excellent resource if you’re cramming for a test.

9. Save Money on Textbooks With WikiBooks

WikiBooks is yet another awesome project by the Jimmy Wales and the WikiMedia team (The same guys who brought you Wikipedia) with a mission to create a free collection of open-content textbooks that anyone can edit. 

They currently have more than 25,000 books on a variety of topics, and can rival many public libraries.  One thing to be wary off is that the books can be edited, defaced, or maliciously changed by anyone.  While this same possibility is true for Wikipedia, their large base of editors and volunteers ensure that any bad behavior is kept in check.  This project would have a much smaller base, and thus may not correct mistakes as fast.

10. Receive Books In Small Parts via Email Using DailyLit

No time to read?  DailyLit breaks down big books into smaller chunks so you can read it in palatable parts.

Why read books by email?

“Because if you are like us, you spend hours each day reading email but don’t find the time to read books. DailyLit brings books right into your inbox in convenient small messages that take less than 5 minutes to read. This works incredibly well not just on your computer but also on a Treo, Blackberry, Sidekick or whatever the PDA of your choice. In the words of Dr. Seuss: Try it, you might like it!” via Daily Lit FAQ

Get more excellent resources in part 1 or look through the ultimate list of free books

Know any other good book sites? What’s your experience with books online?  Tell us in the comments! 

[tags]ebooks, freebooks [/tags]

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In our fast paced world of email, and RSS feeds, sometimes it’s best to just slow down and read a good book…but if you’re unwilling to shell out big bucks for the latest bestseller - try out these great resources, and read to your hearts content!

1.Find Popular Public Domain Works With The Gutenberg Project Top 100 List 

This site is the oldest producer of free ebooks on the Internet.  Their collection, pieced together by thousands of volunteers, now amount to over 20,000 works which have fallen into public domain.  With great numbers however, comes the headache of picking true literary gems from the fodder -  That’s why this Top 100 page is so valuable.

2. Exchange Used Books With BookMooch

Want a real physical book for a change?  BookMooch is a community for exchanging used books.  Under a points system, it lets you give away books you no longer need in exchange for books you really want.

3.Get Technical Books With ebookspyder

This site specializes in technical books ranging anywhere from C# to AJAX.  Many commercial works can be found here though.  This makes the legality of this particular site questionable… but we of course assume you own these books before you download them :)

4. Read the Classics Online with Google Book Search

This service has been giving Google a fair bit of copyright headaches, but has moved forward quite well in spite of the circumstances.  It comes with a book-like interface which many people like - I am unfortunately not one of them.  Maybe it’s just me, but I like to download my books rather than read it of a website. If you’re going to use this service, select ‘full view books’ under the options page for best effect

5. Download Plain Text Novels With Dwalin

This is as basic as it gets, and consists of an open directory with plain text files for download.  Don’t be fooled.  Their library is comprehensive, and plain text would be the most portable file format around. 

Get more resources in Part 2 of this series or look through the ultimate list of free books….

Know any other good book sites? Had any good/bad experiences with books online?  Tell us in the comments!

[tags]ebooks, freebooks [/tags]

• Please leave a comment... (155)