So I recently got an e-reader and have started collecting e-books for it, but a lot of books seem to only be available through Amazon/Kindle. I don’t want anything to do with that company. Where do I even start looking? I have my local library apps and have scoured Project Gutenberg and some similar sites. While this is great for classics and older stuff, I want newer books too, specifically science fiction and fantasy. Have looked at author’s websites but they typically link to Amazon or physical copies.
Ebooks.com often sells drm-free ebooks, depending on if the publisher allows it
Thanks for the tip.
Also a friendly reminder to support your local library. Many libraries offer digital and audio books now that you can download! All for free!
Libby/Overdrive for ‘borrowing’ getting ebooks form your local Library. The Internet Archive is another good free source. When they aren’t being attacked by publishers and hackers anyway.
Yep, I’ve found some books on Libby and BookBites which is what my local library offers, but not everything I’m looking for.
The Internet Archive is great and deserves support!
Honorable mention must be made of Anna’s Archive. It’s a little slow, but you can probably download the books faster than you can read them.
Libgen is correct answer
Oh wow!
Also get any scientific paper/study basically
When you get tired of trying to pay for it and realise if they don’t want to make it easy for you to purchase then you should pirate it then check out myanonamouse :)
Thanks! I’m interested for sure. I can use this and then donate directly to the authors if that’s possible :)
No worries. Whilst it is a private tracker they have open registration most of the time and you just need to log in at a specific time to speak to someone and have a small interview thing to join. Really nice, friendly community. Hope you can find what you are after!
https://standardebooks.org/ for public domain works.
and other ebooks i own are most likely from https://www.humblebundle.com/
Ah, yes, HumbleBundle! I forgot about them. Thanks!
As an FYI, Some of the bundles lately have been fulfilled through Kobo, they’re still epubs and kobo’s drm is pretty easy to strip though.
As many users mentioned all shadow libraries, but also Google just search for the title with
type:pdfor epub and have direct links to that book. Ex: harry Potter type:pdfBookshop.org is a great spot. Directs money to small independent book stores from your purchase and you can even choose which book store gets the money.
I love the idea behind that site! Unfortunately they don’t seem to sell ebooks.
Anna’s archive https://annas-archive.org
Library genesis https://libgenesis.net
Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org
I’d like to add zlibrary to the list https://zlibrary.st/new-z-library-official-website-links
It is from rakuden the concurrent of amazon for ebook
My library’s app will install them remotely via overdrive. If it’s not on there, Usenet works as well as anything else.
I typically buy from Barnes and Noble for ebooks. They sell DRM laden ePub files, but the DRM is easy to strip with some readily available tools. Without the DRM I have a nice universally supported industry standard format.
Barnes & Noble used to be pretty inconvenient to strip the DRM, that was one of many reasons I switched to Kobo. That’s nice that it’s easy again.
Calibre and a plugin.
While you’re mainly looking for sources of new books, since you’re a fan of Fantasy and Sci-fi, I’d like to mention Luminist.org, which has the most complete archive of classic fantasy & sf fiction magazines and pulps available for free!
Its so complete that it is entirely overwhelming where to start. Personally I would suggest Galaxy, Fantasy & Science Fiction, IF, Destinies, Analog, and Asimov’s
Thanks! It’s about time I read Asimov for sure.
Depends on region… depends on what you want to read… depends on you e-reader.
For example a kobo or a kindle will only read from kobo and amazon respectively.
Kobo and Google Play Books is my first stop to shop, since it supports Adobe Digital Editions, along with their own apps.
Amazon is my second stop. Not because I like them, I’m I. The same boat as you. But believe it or not their encryption is based off of your devices serial number. And you can DeDRM your Kindle books very easily.
Then it’s from publishers directly if they let you, like J-Novel Club is pricy but they offer drm free books.
My last option is obscure, but cool if you are looking for a deal. Humble Bundle is where I go for textbooks and older series. Only issue is they sell only in Bundles, and you’d get a lot of stuff you may not necessarily want. But the deals are crazy if you don’t want to pirate.
Finally depending on value and how much I feel the book is worth, I may sail the high seas.
