Hey, friends!
I rarely ever actually buy books. Except I’m always reading or listening to something. So for today’s post, I thought it’d be a good time to share where I read books at without having to pay a cent. To go along with that, I’ll be sharing what books I’m currently reading and listening to!
If you don’t enjoy buying books and like to save your money or you’re looking for books to read , this post is for you!
Note: For most of these options (your library, Hoopla, Libby), you will need a library card. Call or go visit your local library to get one – they are wonderful to have!
libby
I’ve been using Libby (originally Overdrive) for at least 6 years now. There are not as many books as there used to be and you have to put them on hold like you would at the library but I still have fond memories of using it to listen to books on car trips, while I did chores, and more. I’ll still use it, but not as much as I used to. My favorite books on there would be: The Main Street Series by Ann. M. Martin, Like the Willow Tree by Lois Lowry, and the whole Love Comes Softly series by Janette Oke. You do need to have a Library card to use it.
hoopla
I heard about Hoopla through my family’s dentist a few weeks ago and ahhh, it’s been one of my favorite things since! It’s a lot like Libby, except they have more books and no waiting time. The only thing is that you can only have ten holds per month (I may or may not have already maxed out my holds for this month. XD) I haven’t tried to read Ebooks on there or watch movies, but I’ve heard that it works good for that, too. And it’s all for free with a library card which I find to be pretty terrific! My favorites on there are: The Star That Always Stays, P.S. Be Eleven, Spiderweb for Two, A Place to Hang the Moon, and Rosetown.
audible
Three years ago now, my family discovered Audible and we have been in LOVE since (We have 245 titles. o.O). This option isn’t free, but if you love audiobooks, you can get a lot of books for good deals there. We have a membership and if you choose to do that, there are other books on there that you don’t have to buy. (Mostly classics and nonfiction.) My favorites on there are: The Babysitters Club series, Once Upon A Summer (free!), Angel on the Square, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwhiler.
kindle unlimited
I have discovered many of my favorite books through Kindle Unlimited. I haven’t used it recently, but there are tons of free books on there that are middle-grade. I discovered one of my favorite series ever on there, Holly’s Heart for free, many of the Boxcar Children books are on there for read-aloud to younger kids, Melody Carlson has quite a few books, and the Wayside School Stories are there, just to name a few that I know of!
I wasn’t exactly sure what to name this category but if you google the title of the book you are looking for, it often comes up that there’s a free audiobook version or pdf online that you can access for free. You can also use .org if the book you’re looking for is in the public domain. I’ve found A Year Down Yonder, A Long Way From Chicago, and a lot of other school books that way.
visit your library
Libraries are AMAZING. I love visiting any big library when we’re somewhere new, and our local library is all right. There is a lot of. . . worldly content that is being advertised and too many books there, so I prefer to just request books that I know are going to be good and I’m not going to have to put down. Some of my favorites I’ve found there have been: One Crazy Summer, Everything Sad is Untrue, and Lines of Courage.
goodreads
This isn’t a place where you can listen to or read books, but it is a nice bookish site. I use Goodreads for tracking all of my reads and leaving reviews is not only helpful for me to remember what I thought of a book (when you read a lot of books in the same genre with similar plot lines, it’s easy to be confused. XD) and great for others deciding whether or not they want to read a book. Plus, you can track all the books you read in one year and set bookish goals. See my account here!
my current reads
Before we finish this post, here’s a few of my current reads! So far, I’ve finished a lot of books on my spring summer reading list so all but Anne of Green Gables weren’t listed there.
#1: These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Per Mia’s suggestion in this blog post, I started re-reading These Happy Golden Years (via Libby) and it’s still one of my favorites!
#2: P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams Garcia
This is the sequel to One Crazy Summer which I read this fall through my library and I’m listening to the second one via Hoopla. This is a middle grade novel, set in a time of history that I haven’t read much about before now. If you read the first book, I’d totally recommend the sequel!
#3: The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson
I am so excited for Anna Rose to release her second novel next year, so when I saw that The Star That Always Stays was on Hoopla as an audiobook, I was so excited and began to re-read (or listen?) to it. I got to be on her street team which was an amazing learning experience. It reminds me a lot of The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall, The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright, and a bit of The Tender Years by Janette Oke.
#4: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
This book is one of my new favorites, and I see why so many people love it. The prose, the setting, Anne’s imagination, and so many things make me love it. I’d highly recommend it!
now, it’s your turn!
What options on this list have you used before? Do you like buying or borrowing books? How many books do you own? Let me know in the comments!
Ooh! This post is awesome! I use Libby a lot, though most of the time they never have the books I want. I go to my library most of the time, because they have a pretty good selection of my favorite books that they recently got. (Such as the Green Ember, The Star That Always Stays, etc)
As for how many books I own, I have around 77 on my bookshelf currently but a whole bunch more up in the attic so I could have more room on the bookshelf. So easily around a hundred.
That’s been my problem a lot lately. They don’t have a ton of popular MG books, at least good ones. That’s really nice!
Wow, you’ve got a lot of books! Have you read all of them?
I’ve used hoopla for ages!! It has so many great options especially when looking for Christian books. I also used it for music when I had an android phone XD. The only downside was once we moved and out library changed the amount of borrows changed from 7 to 5. I think the number varies on where you live *sadness*.
Oooh those are a lot of great (and great sounding) books! Anne of Green Gables (and the rest of the series) are some of my absolute favorites!! I am currently reading Jane of Lantern Hill which is also by L.M. Montgomery and I love it and would highly recommend!
That’s awesome! I didn’t know that but I’m glad my library gives me ten. xD
Ooh, I’ll check them out. Thank you so much, Bella!! <3
Ooo this is an awesome post! I was just looking for free places to read/listen to books. Have you heard of Scribd? It costs $10 a month, but you get unlimited audiobooks, ebooks, podcasts, and magazines. I’ve been using that for about a year now and they have pretty much every book that I want to listen/read. 🙂 Also I just found OpenLibrary where you can borrow books free online/in the app. They have a TON of e-books and you can have them read, too, which is cool. 🙂
I’ve never heard of Scribd, no! But it sounds really interesting. I’ll check it out! Thank you for sharing and reading, Hattush! 🙂 <3
Oh this is so fun!! I use Libby & Hoopla a lot & just recently splurged and got myself my own Audible account!!! It’s really fun! Those books all look so fun! I just finished reading Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park for the second time, and it’s super good!! Definitely recommend it!
Oh, really? That’s awesome! It is! Ooh, I’ve loved all the books I’ve read by Linda Sue Park so I’m going to have to check it out. Thanks Bella! <3
This is really helpful! Than you, pearl. I’m excited to check out the books you mentioned!
So happy it was helpful! I hope you enjoy! <3
thank you for this, pearl! <3 this was a very helpful post and i can't wait to try hoopla (:
*bounces excitedly* also i love ann m martin's main street series so much sgsjvdhscf. have you read her family tree series? it's one of my other favorite book series' <3
Aw, so glad to hear that. <3 I hope you like Hoopla!
Yes, they are so relatable and the aesthetic of the small town.😍 I haven't but after your recommendation, I'll check it out. (: Thank you for the rec!<3
I’ve used Libby quite often, but I’ll have to check out these other sites!
Also Anne of Green Gables is the best! Have you read the other ones in the series yet? They are all so good, but my personal favorites are Anne’s House of Dreams and Rilla of Ingleside.
Glad I could give you suggestions!
Nope, not yet! I just finished the first book and cried at the ending, but I’m hoping to read the rest soon!
Ah, that’s lovely! I need to start setting reading goals because I have not been reading much… *hides*
Ahh yes, not reading is hard. You got this! I find audiobooks work best when I don’t want to read. 😉
I really love this post!! I use Libby too, although not as often as I used to, and also eWheeler, which is almost like Libby. But I’m not sure if they’re available outside New Zealand and Australia. I’ll have to check out Hoopla!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Ooh, I’ll have to see if it’s available. I hope you can use Hoopla! Thank you for the suggestion of eWheeler!
This was an awesome post, Pearl!!! I love buying books but my wallet and bookshelf space doesn’t love it so I’m always keeping an eye out for ways to read free books!! I love going to my library when my life schedule allows it and of course GoodReads is like the most have social place for book nerds. ;P The Star that Always Stays looks like such a good book, and I’ve been dying to read it!!!!
Thank you, Issabelle!! I know, it’s so hard. xD Goodreads is amazing for sure! I hope you can get a chance to read it. Anna Rose Johnson is a wonderful author!