If you’re an avid reader, you might like to know how to get free books (and almost-free books).  Although you probably already know about free reading materials like PDFs of classic texts (I’ll hit some highlights in case you don’t) and other ebook options, you might not know that there are ways you can get free books by mail, too — actual print books, either entirely free or just for the cost of postage.

If some of these options don’t work for you, keep reading, because there’s some variety in this list as far as what the “trade-offs” are.  In many cases, these books will cost you something; it just won’t be money, so it’s up to you which “expenses” are reasonable for you.  (Some of the links in this post are referral links.)

1. Kindle First Reads & Kindle Bestseller List

It’s a little funny, going through my post archives, I found a post about why I didn’t (at the time) have a Kindle, and a later post about why I was considering a Kindle.  I do have one now (and I like it, although I still prefer a print book), and one of the biggest benefits is all the free and low-cost books I have access to by reading via Kindle.

The Kindle bestsellers list is available and open to everyone.  This page updates about every hour, and once you’re there, there are two tabs; one leads to the top 100 paid Kindle books and the other to the top 100 free Kindle books.

A lot of the very top sellers are trashy romance novels, but they’re not all, so don’t be put off by seeing a handful of those in the top spots and assume they’re all that way.  If you want to filter them a bit more, you can go into the left sidebar and select “Kindle ebooks,” then drill down by category, and you’ll get the top 100 of whatever category you’re in. (Or as many as there are.  Some categories don’t have 100 available.)

You need a Kindle to read these — sort of.  Although an actual Kindle device is, in my opinion, the easiest way to read a Kindle book, you can download a Kindle app to your existing device for free, or read in the Kindle “cloud reader.”  (Since Amazon reformatted this page, I haven’t been able to access it from mobile; it redirects.  So you might have to browse and download books from a desktop or laptop, and then switch to your device to actually read them.)

If you have a Prime account, you automatically have access to Kindle First Reads.  These are new books that Amazon is trying to bring attention to, and you can choose one of the selected titles each month to download free.

In both cases, the authors are hoping to build exposure for their books so, although you aren’t required to do anything at all, it’s very much appreciated if you leave a review to let other readers know what you liked and/or disliked about any of these books that you download.

2. Amazon No-Rush Rewards

If you’re a Prime member, you have probably also seen “no-rush shipping” as an option during checkout.  If you’re willing to forego the faster shipping inherent to Prime, you can get other perks instead.  These change periodically (I’ve seen $5 off a Prime Pantry order, for instance), but much of the time if you choose this delivery option, what you get is “a $1 reward for select digital items.”  These $1 credits automatically accumulate in your account and can be applied toward most Kindle ebooks.

3. Logos (Free Christian Books)

Logos Bible software is, in their words, “a digital library application designed for electronic Bible study.”  The basic software is available to download free, although there are a variety of resource packages available that get increasingly steep in price.  (This software is heavily used by pastors for Bible study and sermon preparation.)  Owned by Faithlife, they also offer a “free book of the month.”  Read on the Logos app or (I think) the Faithlife Ebooks app.

4. My Reader Rewards (Free Christian Books)

All of the books we’ve looked at so far are ebooks.  But maybe you’re not interested in free ebooks; you want free print books.  If you ever read books by Tyndale and/or NavPress, check out their My Reader Rewards club.  If you sign up through my link, you’ll get 25 points right away.  (I’ll get 10 for referring you.)

After that, you can accumulate points by doing things like taking periodic surveys and writing reviews of Tyndale and NavPress books (pretty much anywhere).  Then redeem those points for free books and Bibles from their catalog.  (You also earn points when you shop directly through their website.)

Most of the “prices” seem to range from about 100 points to 300 points, with most being around 130-160. (Bibles may be a bit more; children’s fiction is at the lower end.) And it’s good stuff; we’re not talking about some obscure books they’re offering for the Rewards program because they couldn’t get anyone to buy them.  I’ve redeemed several myself, and have a couple other books from the redemption catalog on my radar that I’d like to read.

5. PaperBackSwap

Despite the name, PaperBackSwap isn’t just for paperbacks.  However, as the name implies, it is a book swap site.  There is a postage cost involved here, and potentially a small fee, depending on how heavily you use the site, but I’ve saved hundreds of dollars through PaperBackSwap over the years.

The way this works, you sign up and list the books you have that you’re willing to give away.  When someone “orders” one, you mail it to them — and you cover the postage.  When they indicate they’ve received it, you earn a “credit” in the system, and you can use your own credits to order books from others — and they cover the postage when they send books to you.

All swaps used to be otherwise free, but they’ve recently adjusted this a little, so there’s now a 49-cent swap fee when requesting, unless you’re on an annual membership ($12 or $20/year, depending on tier) or you’ve printed your postage directly through the PaperBackSwap site for books you’ve sent out, which earns you free swaps.  (This is usually the best bet, anyway, in my experience.  It’s a simple label you can pay for and print from your computer.)

6. BookMooch (& Title Trader?)

Although PaperBackSwap has, to my knowledge, been around the longest, and is the best-known, BookMooch is a similar book-swapping services.  (I believe BookMooch is actually UK-based, but you can choose which countries you will or will not ship books to.  Almost all, if not all, of my exchanges have been within the United States.)

Like PaperBackSwap, this site operates on a point system.  When you send books, you cover the postage, and you accumulate points.  Then you can use your points to request books, and the sending members cover the postage to you.

(TitleTrader is a similar site, as well, but I’m unable to tell if it’s still operational.  I’m having some trouble with getting logged in, but I don’t know if that’s a sitewide thing, or just me.)

7. Imagination Library (Free Children’s Books)

Imagination Library is the brainchild of Dolly Parton.  (Yes, that Dolly Parton.)  You have to check the website to see if your area is participating, but if they are, the Imagination Library will send your child free books from birth to age five.  The goal of the program is to encourage literacy.

8. Book Review Programs

Just as Kindle authors put their books up on free promos in hopes of gaining exposure, so other review networks aim to connect authors or publishers with readers so they can get book reviews on retail sites and blogs.  The majority of review opportunities are available to bloggers, journalists, and others with their own platforms, but there are some programs that will accommodate those without platforms who are simply willing to review the books on retailer websites or on sites like GoodReads.

Now, obviously, these books are not strictly “free”; you’re paying for them with your time and effort to write the review — it’s basically a barter deal.  But it doesn’t involve any money out of pocket.

Some places that work with non-bloggers for review include LibraryThing (which is primarily a book cataloguing site; I use it and love it), Reading Addiction Book Tours (with whom I have no personal experience), and NetGalley.

NetGalley has a huge variety of books, from well-known publishing houses and some smaller “niche” publishing houses, but there are a couple of quirks.  They only do ebooks, and a lot of them are in a special Adobe format called Adobe Digital Editions.  This enables some security features (for instance, most of the books “expire,” like if you checked them out of a library), but it requires that you read specifically within the Adobe software — which isn’t compatible with a Kindle.  That makes it unwieldy and impractical for me (because I don’t like to read on my computer)…and right now you can’t see what format a book is in until after you’ve requested it.  (I’ve sent them a suggestion that they make that information visible ahead of time, and they seemed favorable, but there’s no telling how long that might take to implement.)  So just be aware of those quirks.

9. Honey

Honey is a browser app, and it has nothing to do with books…exactly.  It’s a shopping app, and I love it because it’s so simple to use.  Basically, it stores up coupon codes for a variety of online retailers and automatically lets you know when there are codes available for a store you’re checking out at (online).

What does that have to do with books?  Well, it also has its own “cashback” system.  At most major retailers (even if there isn’t a coupon available), you earn “HoneyGold” by using the app when checking out.  HoneyGold is points that you can trade in for Amazon gift cards.  1000 points = $10 gift card, and they’re pretty easy to get since most of us are already shopping at many of these retailers.  (I get HoneyGold every time I shop at eBay, for instance.)

The rate at which you accumulate points will vary, of course, depending on how much you spend shopping and where, but to give you an idea, I usually get a $10 gift card about every 2 months.

10. SwagBucks

In similar manner, you can accumulate points via SwagBucks and trade them in for Amazon gift cards.  Now, I have to be honest, I used to really love SwagBucks, but I stopped using the site much when they switched their search provider.  See, SwagBucks has options to earn points through various activities like watching videos and signing up for offers (pretty much not my favorite earning methods), but the primary way you earn points is by searching through their site or plugin.

The search results used to be provided by Google, making them excellently-curated results, but then SwagBucks switched to a different provider.  I think the search results are Yahoo! search-based now?  I’m just not as impressed with the algorithm they use and the quality of the results.  But your mileage may vary, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t even mention it.

(You also have the option to earn by shopping with SwagBucks, in similar fashion to Honey.  In fact, they have a browser add-on, too.  I recommend taking a peek at their current promos if you know you’re going to buy something, because they may be a great fit.  I don’t recommend the browser add-on [“SwagButton”].  I thought it added a lot of “junk” to my toolbar, without adding an equivalent amount of value; the Honey app is much better, in my opinion.)

11. ThriftBooks Rewards

If you already buy a lot of used books, the ThriftBooks Reader Rewards program might be a great option for you.  ThriftBooks is primarily known for used book sales, and they’re one of my favorite sources, because they have great prices and great customer service.  I actually usually buy books from them through the Amazon Marketplace (only because I forget to go and look on their site), but there are benefits to buying directly from them.  If you make your first purchase through my link, you and I will each get a free book credit (if your initial purchase is large enough).

The primary way you earn points is by making purchases from ThriftBooks, so this isn’t as “free” as some of the other options.  But every 500 points nets you a free book, so if you’re already buying books, this is a great addition to your overall portfolio of options.

BONUS: Where to Find Always-Free Ebooks

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that you probably already know about options like these.  But just in case, I’d like to quickly mention some of the best and easiest sources for collections of free texts online.

• Project Gutenberg: This online collection contains over 60,000 titles, primarily English-language titles which have passed into the public domain due to age.  (This includes a lot of classics.)
• Kindle: In addition to temporary specials, a lot of older books are available for Kindle permanently at a price of $0.00. Unfortunately, if they aren’t on the bestseller list, it can be difficult to find them unless you happen to just stumble across them.  You can browse by subject, though, and sort by price (ascending), which can be especially effective for categories like literary classics.
• Internet Archive: The Internet Archive, home of the Wayback Machine (one of my favorite tools)! also has a large repository of out-of-print books.  Many are just freely available as downloads; some you can temporarily “check out” with a free account.
• Christian Classics Ethereal Library: If you’re looking for Christian classics — the Church Fathers, early theological works, etc. — CCEL is your best bet.
• The Baldwin Online Children’s Literature Project: For classic, out-of-print children’s literature, the Baldwin Project is an excellent choice.
• Libraries: And of course if you just want to read an ebook, rather than necessarily owning it, there are libraries.  There’s the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library for (obviously) Kindle owners, as well as local libraries, which may use services such as OverDrive/Libby and Hoopla.  (You can also lend a Kindle book to a friend.)