Hey everyone! In keeping with my recent bookish theme on DOTL, I decided to share all of the different book platforms that I use. Most of them are free. The rest are very affordable.
First off, we have Scribd. This has audiobooks, e-books, articles and podcasts. It isn’t free but it’s only $11.99 a month, which isn’t too bad for all of the books it has. I use this all the time. I love audiobooks and they have so many that I want to read (the saved list is almost 90 books! XD)
The only (deeply) annoying thing about Scribd is that, after you listen to/read a few books, the stuff in your saved list starts disappearing as well as any books you search for. They go into the “available next month” section that you have access to – only after you pay for the next month.
Librivox is volunteer read books (all in the public domain). All the audiobooks are free and (if you have the app) you can download them and listen wherever. 🙂
Because the readers aren’t professionals, there are some readers that do a less than perfect job. XD The audio can also be bad quality and hard to hear/understand in some cases. However, most of the books (especially the popular ones) have more than one recording with various readers.
Open Library has a ton of books that have been scanned in. It is completely free (no library card needed) and you can “borrow” and read as many books as you want. It can be frustrating when the books aren’t scanned well. Some of them have really small print and are hard to read, but overall, they’re pretty good. 🙂
Libby is awesome. You can get access to a ton of free audiobooks and e-books. You do have to have a library card, though. I’m really enjoying the app and being able to read/listen to so many great books that I wasn’t able to find free on other platforms. 🙂
Kindle Unlimited
I rarely use Kindle Unlimited because they usually don’t have the books I want, lol, but I do use them for crocheting patterns and kids books occasionally.
I LOVE THRIFTBOOOOOOKS! It is a great place to find cheap, used books online. They also have a great point system – when you reach 500 points, you get a free book! As someone who buys a lot of books on there, I get free books quiet frequently. XD
Paperback Swap is a book trading website. You post your used books and then others request them. You have to pay shipping. Once your book is shipped, you get a “book credit” and you can request any books free. You don’t pay any shipping for the ones that you receive.
The downside to Paperback Swap is that shipping is really expensive (even media mail) and they don’t have a ton of books (that I want, at least, lol). Also their website is extremely old and hard to navigate.
Used Bookstores
Finally, we have used bookstores. I absolutely love visiting used bookstores/library sales. Depending on the store, you can find cheap books. Even if you don’t buy anything, just being around books is always a win for book freaks! 🙂
Between all of these, I can usually find the books I’m looking for either free or low-priced. 🙂 Which ones have you used? Where do you get your books?
~Hattush
Daughter of the Light 
Great list! I use Thriftbooks and Libby/Hoopla so much. (also, Book Outlet is great! The books there are overstock and CHEAP). Kindle Unlimited is one of my favorites too…also Prime Reading is free!
(also…I spy a lot of Agatha Christie books!)
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Awesome! Ooo I’ll have to check out Book Outlet!
(Yeeees, I LOVE Agatha Christie’s mysteries! Which ones have you read?)
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I’ve read A Mysterious Affair at Styles, Murder on the Links, and And Then There Were None! I have a lot more, but I’m trying to not read all of them at once xD. Which ones have you read?
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Nice!! I REALLY want to read And Then There Were None. I’ve read Murder on the Orient Express, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Sad Cypress and the Poirot short story collection. 😊
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