Tag Archives: free

How I find tons of LEGAL free ebooks (without returning a single one)

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Like anyone who pays attention to book spheres online, I’ve been hearing a lot about people who habitually buy and return ebooks on Amazon. And I don’t mean cases where someone doesn’t like a book and returns it or hitting a hard limit topic and returning it. That’s a different thing. People are serially buying and returning books…or using Amazon like a library. I’m not going to break it all down. A quick google search will probably bring up hundreds…thousands of tweets, blog posts, Tiktoks, Instagram or Facebook posts about it (from both sides). It’s pretty much all over social media right now.

And I don’t honestly believe I need to say that this is a really shitty thing to do. Everyone knows you’re not supposed to buy a dress, tuck the tags, wear it to prom, and return it the next day. But people still do it. I feel like this is the same thing. Readers may rationalize it a hundred different ways, but all I see is a lot of ‘doth protest too much.’ We all know this is a shitty thing to do. Period. But people still do it.

I do not. But I happen to have thousands of ebooks available to read at any given time, many of which I didn’t pay for. So, I thought I might take a moment to highlight some of the ways I find LEGAL free books. Now, there are certainly tons of other services out there. It would take me all night to try and list them all, and I’d almost certainly still miss some. But these are the ones I have tried and/or use regularly. (But if you have others that you use, please add it in the comments. Let’s get as many as we can in one place.)

The caveat to this is that these are usually how one finds a book to read, not necessarily that one book webster groves library digital contentyou want to read at any particularly moment. Though I have a few tricks for that too. The biggest, though, is just suck it up and buy it (and don’t return it).

Do I really need to say, “Go to the library?” Your taxes pay for it. Why not get some use out of it? Most libraries have some form of digital catalogue now days. You don’t even have to leave the house to check anything out. Mine has Overdrive (AKA Libby) and Hoopla, for example. And between the two of them, I have literally thousands of digital and audio books (not to mention movies, comics, music, and TV shows) available to me 24/7.

However, if you live in the US, but somewhere that doesn’t have a huge digital selection, there are several US libraries that are still open to you. Some for a small yearly fee and some totally free!

@jovie.dura.author

Re: the book pirating and returning debacle on booktok and authortok. #booktok #authortok #books #freebooks #booktokdrama

♬ Coffee & Books – JerryJeyy

But there are still options beyond libraries. I, like these serial returners, am a Kindle user. So, I keep a keen eye on Amazon’s daily freebies. If you go to Amazon Books, and order the books lowest to highest price (up in the right-hand corner), all the freebies will sift to the top. You can even search within genres. It’s super easy and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of free books everyday. (Though I don’t use Kobo, Google Play, or Apple Books, I’d bet the same is true there. Not to mention Smashwords always has freebies and seasonal sales, when tons more books are reduced to free.)

As an aside, though not free, you can then use Audible Match Maker and Amazon will tell you which of the ebooks you now own (that you picked up free) are available at a discount to those who’ve ‘bought’ the ebook. So, then you can end up with both the ebook and audio book for, like, $1.99.

There are no shortage of email services available to send you curated freebie lists as often as you want. (Bookbub, is a big one, for example, or Free Booksy.) Again, google is you friend. But my favorite is ereaderiq. Not only for the daily freebie lists, but because it allows you to follow authors and ASINs. “EReaderIQ is a price tracking service for Kindle books.” It takes a little patience, but this is what I use to track certain books that I’m hoping will come up free eventually. I especially like to put whole series together over time.

ereaderiq

You just pop the ASIN or Amazon URL into the form and set the price you’re willing to pay. If that’s $0.00 then that’s what you set. And ereaderiq will email you a notification if or when the book’s price drops to zero. It is super satisfying (and easy).

Then there are just all the sites that gather legitimately free books into one place. I admittedly haven’t used all these, but these are sites like: Many Books, Project Gutenberg, Get Free Ebooks, or Baen.

If you’re willing to write a review in exchange for a free book Netgalley and Edelweiss are great resources. I’ve had more better luck with Netgalley than Edelweiss. But that’s personal preference more than anything else. Then there’s Book Sprout, Book Funnel, and StoryOrigin. I was also recently invited to join Reedsy, though I’ve yet to request a book from them.

Further, go anywhere authors gather—Goodreads, Library Thing, Bookbub, Facebook groups, etc.—I promise you, authors will be giving away books in exchange for reviews at some point. [Just don’t be a dick. If you accept one in exchange for a review, actually review it.]

Speaking of Goodreads and Library Thing, both have hundred of ongoing book giveaways, ebooks and physical books. You won’t win every one, obviously, but you’ve a pretty good chance of winning some. And on a smaller scale, there are literally thousands of book promotion blogs (like my Sadie’s Spotlight) that have tons of book giveaways (and even more with gift card giveaways, with which you could buy any book you choose…and not return it.)

Giveaways

As of the time of posting, there are 27 giveaways on Sadie’s Spotlight. And there are SO MANY other blogs of the same sort with similar giveaways happening. [If you happen to run one, feel free to share a link in the comments. I want to check it out, if no one else.]

I know we’re talking ebooks here, but I’m gonna throw these out there just for fun. Do you listen to audio books? Then check out Free Audio Codes or Audio Freebies for free Audible codes. About half the sites listed above have at least some audio books too.

Like I said, there are tons more resources out there than I’ve listed (or even know). These are just the ones I use regularly myself (and I bet I wake up tomorrow and remember at least one I’ve forgotten). But to further my point, here’s what a very quick google search brought up.

google where to find legitimate free ebooks

17,900,000 results. If even only a fraction of those are truly relevant, I think it’s safe to say readers can easily find enough free reading material to avoid fucking authors over. Don’t bother to @ me with your rationalizations.

 

 

 

Fight or Flight

Book Review of Fight or Flight, by Noah Harris

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I picked up a copy of Noah Harris‘ Fight or Flight at Amazon when it was free. It was still free at the time of posting.

Description from Goodreads:
Bryant had always been a fighter. He had fought to keep his family together, and after his father’s death, he had fought to get custody over his little sister. He fought to keep them fed, and he fought to keep a roof over their heads. And he did so by picking up his father’s old profession: illegal werewolf fights. It was a dangerous profession, but he made good money. It didn’t leave much room for a social life or romance, but he liked it that way. Those were just distractions from what needed to be done. He was convinced he didn’t want a relationship.

That is, until Jake walked into his life: an inexperienced rookie with firm determination, an eagerness to learn, and a secret of his own: he’s actually an Omega. Against his better judgement, Bryant agrees to train him but soon finds himself fighting once again. Only this time, he’s fighting himself and his overwhelming attraction for Jake. He soon learns that some fights aren’t meant to be won.

Review:
Sooo, this might have made a good novella, but there really isn’t enough of it to fill 300+ pages. It’s repetitive and slow. Plus, the Amazon description states, “Set amidst a strongly constructed shifter world of werewolf fighting…” But the reality is that there basically isn’t ANY world-building at all. And what very little there is, like alpha’s going into rut and trying to rape any omega they scent, doesn’t really even make sense. Plus, there is very little werewolf action in this werewolf novel. 90% of it might as well be a contemporary m/m romance. The mechanical writing is fine (though heavy on the tell) and I liked the characters (though I thought Jake was stupid and selfish for continuing to knowingly endanger everyone). But the book was less than satisfying.

Welcome to the Madhouse

Book Review of Welcome to the Madhouse, by S.E. Sasaki

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I won a copy of S.E. Sasaki‘s Welcome to the Madhouse through Goodreads. The ebook was also free at the author’s website and Amazon at the time of posting.

Description from Goodreads:
Doctor Grace Lord, a lieutenant in the Conglomerate Medical Corps, has come to the medical space station, the Nelson Mandela, as the new surgical fellow under the renowned Doctor Hiro Al-Fadi. Though she earned her commission as a combat surgeon in the field, she is unprepared for the scope and pace of what awaits her in the Conglomerate’s Premier Medical Space Station. The countless cryopods that come into the Nelson Mandela are filled with the casualties of the Conglomerate’s animal-adapted military forces. Traumatically injured and disfigured in campaigns spread across the galaxy, it is up to the staff of the Nelson Mandela to patch up the wounded combat soldiers for redeployment. For Grace, it is a trial by fire, as she familiarizes herself not only with the routines and protocols of life on the Nelson Mandela, but also with the eclectic community of professionals with whom she works – not the least of which is an android that has taken an almost human interest in her. When disaster strikes the space station, the Nelson Mandela must race against time to stave off annihilation, and it becomes clear that, regardless of the outcome, nothing will never be the same again.

Review:
Going into this book, I didn’t expect it to be a comedy. The humor was a pleasant surprise. At times it reached a little too far and came across as trying too hard to be funny, but it usually managed to walk the line and I enjoyed it.

I liked all the characters too, Bud especially. The back and forwards banter between the surgeons was amusing and was nicely balanced with the obvious affection the characters had for one another. Grace was a little too perfect in all ways, but I managed to look over her lack of faults.

However, I thought the whole plot-line with the closest thing to a villain the book has was unnecessary, distasteful, distracting, and predictable. It was painfully obvious who they were from the first moment they were introduced. Their character lacked depth, was evil just because they were evil and their plot arc didn’t tie well into the primary plot-line. In fact, it had nothing to do with it and was an unappreciated distraction that was wrapped up too quickly and easily to fee satisfying in any way.

Further, I felt the introduction of inferred rape and mental abuse (described as easy, at that) was unnecessary and detracted from my enjoyment of the book. I am so sick of victimized women as plot-points that I almost just gave up on the book after reading the prologue. I was pleased the subject didn’t come up again. I understand that this particular plot-point probably just set up the sequel, but I REALLY wish this book had done without it. In fact, it reads like it did and the author went back and added it just for book two.

The writing/editing was unusually good for an indie. I did think some of the dialogue was on the stiff side, even when allowing for android-speak and there was an excess of exclamation marks. But I was mostly pleased.

All in all, however, I enjoyed the book. I laughed and was interested enough to read until the end. I’d happily read book two to see how Bud progresses.

What I’m drinking: Bentley’s Oolong tea.