This month’s #ShelfLove No Book Buying Challenge discussion topic is all about where we get our free books.  We might have stopped buying books, but we still need that “hit” we get from acquiring new books, right?!  Sure, you could search for free books on Barnes & Noble or Amazon, but more often than not, you’re going to come across books that aren’t free that you’ll wish you could buy.  Like window shopping when you’re flat broke, it sucks, and will wear down your willpower until you’re at the bottom of a pint of Ben & Jerry’s (studies show that being bombarded with ads and enticing store fronts leads to increased calorie consumption.)  Instead of breaking your book buying ban or eating half a pizza, check out the links to all the wonderful sites on the internet offering free books that I’ve discovered over the years.  If this lengthy list doesn’t keep you neck-deep in books, figuratively speaking, then I don’t know what will!

• ManyBooks.net – This is a searchable site to find and download free books, from every genre, in your prefered format.  At the time I wrote this post, there were over 200 free Fantasy books being offered!
• Podiobooks –   Until very recently, I had no idea podiobooks existed.  I subscribe to a couple podcasts that are short stories, so I got a bit excited when I found out there are whole books in podcast format, and they’re FREE!
• Project Gutenberg – Most serious readers know about this one, but I have to list it because this is the go to place for the Classics, and it will save your wallet if you’re a Classic literature addict, or a member of The Classics Club.
• Online Books Page – Another website to find the Classics.  There’s some overlap with Project Gutenberg.
• Internet Archive – I LOVE this website!  It’s got so much more than free books, so make sure you’ve got some time to kill because you might not leave this site for awhile.
• Open Culture – This site has a ton of free downloadable media, including ebooks and audiobooks.
• Open Library – You don’t have a library card?  First of all, shame on you!  Second, go to the Open Library and sign up for a free account.  Third, start borrowing ebooks to your heart’s content.
• LibriVox – Free audiobooks.
• Lit2Go – Another site for free audiobooks, but many of the books also have a free downloadable PDF.
• Free Classic Audiobooks – in case you need yet another site for finding free downloadable audiobooks.
• Classic Short Stories – Look through the list to find the short story you want to read, and click on it to download.
• East of the Web – This site has short stories you can read online, but you can also click on the “Printable Version” link and then save it as a PDF.
• Nightmare Magazine – This is a Horror and Dark Fantasy short story magazine I recently discovered.  You can read the short stories online or download the audio/podcast.
• Storynory – This is a Children’s audiobook site that, amongst so many other kid-friendly downloads, includes Classic Children’s literature.
• Kiddie Records – If you’re looking for children’s records from the 1940’s and 50’s, this is the site to check out.  The downloads, including a Winnie the Pooh story, are all free.
• BookBub – This is actually a website/newsletter to find out about the free (and on sale) books being offered under the genres you’re interested in by major booksellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  I’ve discovered quite a few free books that I felt were worth downloading, but be careful since there is the temptation of .99 books.