Not just this Covid-19 induced lockdown, anytime is actually good for reading books (or hearing books, now that audiobooks are also popular.)
In these stressful times, many online platforms, bless them, have thrown open free their e-libraries for people to read or download select books. And these books cover a wide spectrum from education to entertainment to classics.
So when you're stuck at home and looking to spend time away from OTT platforms, you can do well to check out some of these sites that offer free e-books.
Kindle and Google: The obvious places to start off would be the biggies: Amazon and Google. Both Kindle and Google Play have a variety of titles that you can read and keep yourself engaged for long.
Audible: Amazon's audiobook platform, with plenty of offers on multiple languages, should be a must try for most of you if you are of the listening type.
Gutenberg Project: It has on its list around 60,000 titles that you can dive into for free. Books here are available in multiple languages. Being a literary archive project, you can donate to it if you feel like.
More the merrier
PDF Books World: The books are, as you can guess by the name, are available in PDF format here. There is an excellent collection across genres and they are well indexed.
Many Books: One of the popular e-libraries, it has over 50,000 books that are up for grabs for free. Again, the genres are exhaustive.
Internet Archive: The American digital library has released the National Emergency Library in the wake of the pandemic, which has made 14 lakh e-books readily available for reading without membership.
Cambridge: The famous Cambridge University Press is now offering access to over 7,000 of its books that range from history to law to economics.
Listen & enjoy, too
Scribd: Scribd, the American e-book and audiobook platform that hosts tons of books and documents, is offering 30 days of free trial for its premium subscription.
Spotify: The audiobooks playlist on Spotify is free of cost. It has plenty of interesting options, and the premium category offers are without any ads.
Open Library: Run on voluntary donations, the Open Library offers plenty of books by big-ticket writers like J K Rowling, Stephen King. Certainly worth a try.
Springer: Springer Publishing, the journal and textbook publisher, has made over 400 ebook titles available for free download. The books run the gamut from social sciences to astrophysics.
So, happy reading!
