14 Ways To Get Popular Books For Free! (Including Paperbacks)

If you have a great love for books, but a small amount of cash in your bank account, don’t worry; you don’t have to cut new books from your budget. With these fourteen ways to get popular books for free, you can go beyond borrowing great books to adding them to your home library for zero dollars out of pocket. Plus, you don’t have to be limited to free ebooks and audiobooks–you can receive paperbacks and hardbacks for free, too.

14 Ways To Find Free Books (Including New Releases)

(Links in this post are affiliate links. I will be compensated when you make a purchase by clicking those links. See my disclosure page for more information)

1. Local Public Libraries

Let’s get the obvious source for free books out of the way–your local library. Here you can enjoy audiobooks, books on CD, paperback books, hardcover books, large print books, and even ebooks for free (well, it could cost you a few library fines if you don’t return them on time).

I rarely even step into my library anymore, yet I use its services several times a week. How? My library card allows me to use the Libby app (which replaced the Overdrive app) and the Hoopla app to borrow audiobooks and ebooks. I love these apps. Thanks to my library for providing them, I can now listen to a book while decluttering, doing housework, or taking a relaxing walk through the park.

Remember to sign up for your local library’s summer reading program. These programs are not just for kids, and often, the rewards for adults are free books!

The downside of the library is that you can’t keep these books indefinitely, except for those earned during their summer reading programs. But you can keep the books from the other places on this resource list.

2. My Reader Rewards Club

Through My Reader Rewards Club (formerly Tyndale Rewards), I have received dozens of books delivered to my door free of charge.

The club offers members simple ways to earn points to cash in for paperbacks and sometimes even hardback books. Use my referral code here to sign up for My Reader Rewards Club, and you will start your account with 25 points.

These books include fiction and nonfiction books as well as children’s books.

3. BookishFirst

Like My Reader Rewards Club, you can earn points towards free paperback books using BookishFirst. They also offer weekly giveaways of free books. Every Monday, they post a listing of books that you can enter to win. To enter, read “First Look” for the pre-publication book and then use the “First Impression” section to write a mini-review. On Tuesday of the following week, they contact the winners of the books through email.

If you don’t win the book, your time reading and writing the review is rewarded with points (even if you win, you still get these points). You can cash in points for a copy of pre-release books delivered to your door.

You can check your points anytime in “My Profile.” Use my referral code, da2f3c2fddc817b1b, during the sign-up process to receive bonus points! (I get some, too; a huge thank you to those who use it.)

4. Prime Reading

You can get free ebooks that you can keep forever through Amazon, but many of them are low-quality or super short. However, Prime members have access to Prime Reading, which gives you access to more than a thousand ebooks–many of which are recent releases or titles that have stood the test of time and are still well-read. You can download 10 Prime Reading titles at a time.

Prime members also get access to the First Reads program, which allows them to pick one ebook per month from a list of about half a dozen. These books are new releases that are not yet available for download by the general public. They are a great way to build up your digital library for free.

5. Little Free Library Boxes

You might have spotted one of these boxes in your area and wondered about it. The slogan for Little Free Library is “Take a book, share a book.” I keep a bag of books in the back of my car that I have already read so I can swap them out at Little Free Libraries I pass by for books I have not read yet. If you pass one and don’t have a book to swap, don’t worry; you can still take one. Just slip one in the box next time you pass it.

If you haven’t seen one of these in your area, head to their website or the google play store or iOS store and download their app. The app allows you to find registered locations in your area and save them in a favorites list.

6. No Rush Rewards

“No rush” rewards is an incentive program that is often offered to Prime members in the shopping cart area as you are picking your shipping option. Amazon regularly offers its Prime members a digital credit that can be used towards purchasing ebooks if they choose no-rush shipping instead of the two-day Prime shipping option. I do this whenever I don’t need an item right away and let the credits add up until I can get an ebook for free.

To stretch my dollars even further, I created an Amazon wishlist to which I add Kindle titles. Whenever I have at least $3 in credit, I scroll this list to see if any of the books I want are on sale—often, this leads to a free book.

7. Free Audiobook And eBook Subscription Trials

If you are disciplined enough to set a reminder to cancel a free trial before it ends and then take the time to cancel it, no-cost trials for audio and ebook services can be great ways to read books for free.

What works for me is to set a reminder on my phone and write a reminder in my agenda book to cancel the service two to three days before the free trial ends.

Kindle Unlimited–one-month free trial. You don’t need a Kindle to read Kinde titles; you can download the Kindle app to any smartphone or tablet.
Audible–30-day free trial that includes two free audiobooks. They have apps for both Android and iPhone and a vast online catalog of audiobooks.
Rakuten’s Kobo–your first audiobook is free.
Audiobook. com–offers three free books with a thirty-day free trial.
Everand–30-day free trial. I consider Everand an audiobook version of Netflix. You don’t get to keep any of the books you listen to, but you can listen to as many as you like each month.

You will need to enter your debit or credit card to sign up for these trials, but you will not be charged unless you continue your membership past the trial period. If I am not keeping a service, I like to cancel a few days before the end of trials to be safe.

Check Rakuten or Swagbucks for a cash-back deal before signing up for trials. If you do sign up, using their links could earn you some money back through cash back.

8. Sign Up To Review Books

When I first started blogging, I signed up for every company I could find that offered bloggers free books in exchange for a written review on their blog. The number of books I was required to read each month was overwhelming. So, if you go this route, I suggest signing up for just one or two companies. Two companies to look into are NetGalley and TLC Book Tours.

NetGalley offers audiobooks and digital copies of books for review. You can download the books in various formats, including MOBI, EPUB, and PDF. They have a large selection of books available to review. No matter your favorite genre, you can probably find a book to review through NetGalley–including romance, travel, and history. If you are part of a book club, check out their “Book Club kits.”

You don’t need a blog to receive and do reviews at TLC Book Tours; they accept those with Instagram and TikTok accounts. I assume your account needs a strong following and a book focus. If you are part of a Book Club, enter your club into their monthly book club giveaway, and you might win a set of books for your book club to review. TLC offers real paperback books to review.

9. Bookswap With Friends

Bookworms tend to attract other book lovers, so why not gather your friends and hold a book swap?

10. Earn Gift Cards For Bookstores & Other Places That Sell Books

Earning a few gift cards to spend on books doesn’t have to be time-consuming. I earn dozens of gift cards annually by joining several companies and sticking to the simplest ways to earn points. Often, these point-earning tasks are things I already do online, so why not make something in return for doing them–like performing web searches or buying daily deals?

If you like to shop at Barnes & Noble, here are a few places to earn gift cards for their store.

PrizeRebel–my tutorial on how to use PrizeRebel.
Swagbucks–visit my post to find out ten simple ways to earn gift cards using Swagbucks.
InstaGC–my tutorial on how to use InstaGC to earn gift cards.
MyPoints–my tutorial on how to earn gift cards using MyPoints.
FetchRewards–my tutorial on using the FetchRewards app to earn gift cards.

11. GoodReads

If you are an active user on GoodReads, under the “browse” tab, you will find “giveaways.” Here, you can enter to win print copies of soon-to-be-released or newly released books.

12. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

If you have a child ages one to five, you can sign them up for free children’s books through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. This literacy program is not just for those who reside in America but also for those who live in Canada, the Republic Of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

13. Summer Reading Programs

Summer reading programs are another way that your kids can get free books. I already mentioned library reading programs, but bookstores, including Barnes & Noble and Half Price Books, also offer summer reading programs where the prizes include free books.

14. BuyNothing Groups Or FreeCycle

If you live in a town with an active BuyNothing group or FreeCycle, check the listings for books.

A Few Ways To Get “Newish” Books Close To Free

The following five ways to increase your at-home library will cost you up to a few dollars per book.

1. Yard Sales

Each yard sale season, I pick up a stack of books at ridiculously low prices to keep me busy all winter long.

2. Online Bookswaps

These programs will cost you postage, but if you live in the United States, you can use media mail to reduce the cost to significantly less than the retail cost of a new book. Two companies to try are Paperbackswap and Bookmooch.

3. Thrift Stores

Thrift store prices for books can vary from store to store, so if the first one you walk into has high prices, don’t let that stop you from trying another one. To bring the costs down even lower, see if the store runs sales.

4. Secondhand Bookstores

Secondhand bookstores tend to have higher prices due to higher overhead expenses. However, at some of these stores, you may be able to get free books by trading in books you have already read for store credit. This is why I decided to add them to this list.

5. Thriftbooks Point Rewards Program

Thriftbooks offers new and used books at great prices, plus free shipping on orders over $15. They also have a point system where purchases add up to free books. Here is my referral link; when you use it and purchase $30 worth of books, you and I will get a free book.

Bonus: You can get all the free magazines you want with these tips.

Honorable Mention

For those who love the classics as much as you do new titles, don’t forget about Project Gutenberg, where you can download free ebooks. The titles are public domain books, meaning the copyrights have expired, which is why they can be offered free.

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