Most people prefer the feeling of a real, dead tree book in their hands – the smell, the texture, the sound of pages being turned, the knowledge that you’re getting further into the story as the right side of the book becomes smaller… I’m not one of those people, though. Personally, I’m all about those eBooks. I love them! I can’t get enough of them! I find them easier and faster to read, and I don’t need to be lugging around a large brick with me everywhere in order to get my daily fix. The eternal debate of which is better – physical or eBook – will rage on until one format becomes obsolete, with the memes and various posts made on the Internet about it ranging from “sensible” to “hilariously bad” (a particular example I can think of is a very upvoted image where a user proudly proclaimed that a Kindle will never be as impressive as a fully stocked library – and honestly, if you’re just getting books to impress people with your collection, you’re reading for the wrong reasons). Still, I do need to give credit where credit is due, and the fact of the matter is that if you prefer physical books, it’s way easier to get them for free. All you need to do is waltz into the local library, browse around and then check out whatever it is you want. Easy peasy! Ebooks enjoy regular sales on marketplaces like Amazon, but generally, you can’t really obtain them for free legally in the same way that you’d be able to get physical books. Or can you?
Yes, believe it or not, there are actually several ways you can get free eBooks completely legally, no scams or piracy required! First and foremost – if you, like me, live in the UK, or in the US, Canada or Australia, chances are that your local library might have digitized its collection, especially if it’s a bigger one. All you need to do is ask at the library, register for a username and password, download an app on your eReader and then enjoy reading pretty much all of the books that are available in that library immediately, for free! The negative side is that since most libraries require apps, this method won’t work on eReaders that don’t support apps, such as older Kindles and Nooks. But don’t despair, for there are even more ways you can obtain free books, as long as you’re not too picky about it! And yes, those ways do work on even older eReaders!
A good place where you can check for free books the Free eBooks Reddit, which regularly posts links to various online stores (mostly Amazon, but sometimes others) presenting books that, for a limited time only, are completely free. The books range from normal fiction that you’d find in a store, to non-fiction/guides, to weird stuff that you’d NEVER find in a store (for example, the very first book in the subreddit as of the time I’m writing this is a giant monsters romance novel). But that’s a bit too much hassle. What if someone could e-mail you every single day and send you links to free books straight into your inbox based on the genres that you’re interested in? Well, you’re in luck, because that is literally what Freebooksy does. Once you sign up, every single day you’ll receive an e-mail filled with eBooks that are free for the day. Those books will generally be in the genres you’ve specified as having an interest in, but what exactly they are is anyone’s guess – most of them are romances, but there’s quite a few thrillers and horrors in there. And best of all – I’ve actually found quite a few casino-themed books through the service!
As you may be aware, I’m a pretty avid gambler with a particular weakness for casino books. I mean, just look at all the ones I’ve reviewed in the past! When I’m not looking for the most excellent real money online casino offers for UK gamblers or playing roulette, blackjack or one of the few slots that I enjoy (okay, so I’m more of a traditional gambler than a slot aficionado, sue me), chances are I always have at least one casino book on the side, and many of them (but not all) I’ve gained through the Free Ebooks subreddit and Freebooksy. Currently, I’m reading this book on bonus bagging, which I might actually review in the future because it offers a pretty fresh new perspective on something that a lot of players utterly dismiss. But anyway, I’m getting off-topic here! Let’s return to the realm of free books!
If you don’t mind audiobooks, and spending a little bit of cash, I’d highly recommend that you get a subscription for Audible. In theory, Audible is a site where, for a small fee (which depends on your region, but is usually not a lot more than a Netflix subscription) you get one audiobook a month. In practice, though, since you can return any audiobook you get for any reason whatsoever, Audible can technically become an all you can eat buffet for as long as you’re paying the subscription fee. There’s no limit on how many times you can return a book and get a new one, which means that you’re only limited by your own free time. I think that four (well, let’s call them three and a half) ways of getting free eBooks are more than enough, so what are you waiting for? Go burn that Kindle out!
If you’re even remotely interested in videogames, chances are you’ve heard of a franchise known as “The Witcher”. The first game, released in 2007, gained gigantic critical acclaim for its complex storyline and characters and interesting battle and character development systems (which haven’t really aged all that well, admittedly). Its success gave the developer, an unknown Polish studio by the name of CD Projekt RED, worldwide recognition, allowing them to release “The Witcher 2” in 2011 and, of course, “The Witcher 3”, which won 2015’s Game of the Year award. The series is universally beloved by gamers everywhere… But did you know that they’re actually a sequel to a whole bunch of novels? And that the novels are WAY older than the games? It’s true!
Let’s set up the scene a bit, shall we? Imagine that you live in Japan, a country which not too long ago faced one of the biggest, most terrifying attacks in history in the forms of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Your parents have lived through it, and they have told you of the countless horrors they’ve encountered – people scorched and burned to death, people killing each other over resources, people gradually dying due to radiation poisoning. You grow to resent violence and death, but surprisingly, most people of your generation, and the young ones from the next one, don’t seem to share your opinion. They adore violent pop culture such as movies and manga (Japanese comic books). The more violent it is, the better. How do you write a book that can show the horrors of violence to a young, contemporary audience while trying not to have the message too “in your face”? You write “Battle Royale”. 
Hey there! Thank you for visiting my site! My name is Abbie Ball (nope, not Abigail or something like that, my parents literally named me Abbie, because life is cruel), and I’m a university student in London. As you may know, university students (and, well, students in general) read a whole lot of books. There’s our school books, our supplementary materials, additional books on the subject that can help us with projects and stuff, as well as everything that we just want to read for fun, or because we’re curious. And it’s not just us – everyone likes to read books of one type or another! Whether it’s my dad and his ‘Game of Thrones’ obsession, my mum and her (supposedly) non-fictional dramas, or my little sister and (ugh) ‘Twilight’. In my experience, even people who claim they don’t like to read love to read!