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Kindle ebooks and physical books have their own benefits. Here are the situations where you should choose one over another.
Both physical books and ebooks have their merits. If you utilize both formats, you’ll get a satisfying reading experience for most situations.
But when should you pick up a Kindle book, and when it is the right time for you to read a physical book instead? Let’s find out.
The Kindle, amongst other e-readers, offers a unique experience with some great benefits. Let’s look at when you should favor a Kindle reading experience.
Every day, the Kindle Store is packed with different deals and sales, offering huge discounts across multiple genres of books. On the left-hand side, under Popular in Kindle, you should see a section called Kindle Book Deals.
Here, you’ll be able to scroll through the hundreds of deals available, with limited daily deals, $0.99 deals, special offers, and more. What’s great is that you can also subscribe to these deals, with fresh new daily deals being sent to your inbox.
The deals on the Kindle Store are a great way to dive into both books you’ve never heard of and titles on your reading list. On top of that, there are some great places where you can find free books for your Kindle.
Kindle Unlimited is a books-for-subscription service that gives you access to over 2 million titles and thousands of audiobooks for a monthly price of $9.99.
Though the quality of books on Kindle Unlimited can vary, the sheer amount of books means that you’ll always find something that catches your eye. And with millions of books being available, it doesn’t really sound like you could run out of things to read.
Kindle Unlimited can be a great way to let your reading take off. And at the time of writing, there’s a free 30-day trial for new Kindle Unlimited customers, which you can cancel anytime.
Related: How to Cancel Your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
Kindle books are a great way to save up on space and allow you to store thousands of books on your e-reader.
This is perfect if you’re traveling, as you can free up luggage space without leaving any books behind. You can even put your Kindle in your coat pocket to easily access and replace it while on holiday and when waiting at stations and airports, which is quicker than sorting through your luggage to find a physical book.
A Kindle is a great device to take with you on your travels—you don’t have to leave any books at home, you can pack more things to take with you or return with, and you can easily access it.
The Kindle’s front light is perfect for nighttime reading, illuminating your book without the need for external light and without disrupting your sleep schedule.
While you’re still looking at a screen, the Kindle’s front light is different from phone, TV, and laptop screens; the Kindle gives you a soft-white light that doesn’t keep you awake unnaturally, unlike the blue light emitting from those devices which does.
If you love to read at night but find that having a lamp on can disturb others or yourself, or find it hard to get comfortable reading a physical book in bed at night, reading on a Kindle could be your solution.
Related: Why You Should Buy a Kindle (Even If You Love Real Books)
Reading in the bath can be an incredibly relaxing and pleasant experience, but you always run the risk of water damage by splashing water or accidentally dropping your book in the bath.
Luckily, the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis are waterproof, so you won’t have to worry about any splashes or drops while in the bath, or if you’re reading by a pool.
Water damage can quickly ruin electronic devices—let alone something like a paperback—if they aren’t waterproof, so while it unlikely you’re prone to dropping your Kindle in the bath, it’s one less worry when you’re reading.
The Kindle is a great device to read without distractions, yet it has some features that can enhance your reading experience.
You can easily look up word definitions on your Kindle on the fly, translate words, and learn more about your chosen book with the Kindle’s X-Ray feature.
Though it’s not available with every book, the Kindle’s X-Ray feature is a free addition that gives you more of an insight into the characters, locations, and events in that book, which is perfect if you’re looking to get more out of your reading experience.
The Kindle’s extra features are unobtrusive and intuitive; you can ignore them if you like, but they’re just a tap away whenever you feel like getting a deeper insight into your book.
While Kindle books are great, physical books should also have their place in your reading library. Here’s why a physical book could be perfect for your next reading experience.
Physical books come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, and materials. This variety can lead to some unique and beautiful-looking books that make for a wonderful collector’s edition.
Kindle books aren’t as special in this regard because they’re essentially all the same, in terms of format and presentation. With Kindle books, you will miss vibrant illustrations, beautiful covers, and other details that an ebook just can’t replicate.
Beautifully bound and crafted versions of your favorite books can make reading that much more engaging and special, and it’s an attribute that physical books will never lose.
Related: Websites to Find Beautifully Bound Books You Would Love to Own
Loaning ebooks is tricker than you think and isn’t really possible for most books. Sure, Amazon says that you can lend Kindle books, stating that eligible titles can be loaned for up to 14 days to friends or family.
This would be great, if more than a very small amount of books were eligible. As it stands, it’s very likely that whatever Kindle book you want to loan to a friend or family member isn’t eligible to be loaned.
Loaning a physical book is much less difficult. You simply give the other person your book. There’s no one-time license when you buy a book, meaning what you buy is yours to do with as you please, and you can sell your book, something you can’t do with ebooks.
There’s something special and unique about reading a physical book, and reading one will often engage multiple senses.
Unlike reading an ebook, you’re feeling the material of the covers and pages, hearing each satisfying page-turn, visually taking in both the words but also the materials, illustrations, progress, colors, and craftsmanship of a physical book.
You’re also completely zoned in on reading and not looking at yet another screen. Despite its nifty features and stats, you could still find yourself constantly checking things whilst reading your Kindle, even if they aren’t exactly your emails or WhatsApp messages. With a physical book, however, it’s all about the book—in every aspect.
Each physical book you’ll read will leave some sort of lasting impression in a way an ebook might not achieve.
Though there are times when one might win over the other, both Kindle and physical books should have a place in your reading library. Each offers unique positives and, if you use both formats, you’ll find that they complement each other wonderfully.
So, whether you decide to download a Kindle daily deal or set your eyes on a beautiful hardback, be sure to make use of both Kindle and physical books.
Soham is Junior Editor for Gaming. A musician, writer, and gamer, he loves all things creative and productive. Horror is his genre of choice and oftentimes, you’ll hear him talking about his favorite books, games, and wonderings.
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Why shell out when you can read hundreds of novels without paying a dime?
Shelby Brown
Staff Writer
Shelby is a staff writer for CNET, covering software, apps and services. She served as Editor-in-Chief for the Louisville Cardinal newspaper at the University of Louisville. She interned as a creative non-fiction editor for Miracle Monocle literary magazine. Her work appears in Glass Mountain Magazine, Bookends Review, Soundings East and on Louisville.com. Her cats, Puck and Koda, are the best cats ever.
If you’re like me, books are a refuge. I don’t discriminate when it comes to a good story, whether on my Nook, my Pixel 3 ($281 at eBay) or on the paper page. I love finding a good story and that stays with me long after I finish the last chapter. But when you’re reading several books a month, getting new titles the easy way, from Amazon or the bookstore, gets to be an expensive hobby. That’s where free digital libraries come in.
Thanks to the internet, the concept of a personal library is changing. It used to be that paper books lined endless shelves. With the rise of Amazon and its Kindle, the convenience of buying books to read on a device took over. Free-lending libraries, which are celebrating National Library Week in the US, have moved online, too, alongside brick-and-mortar libraries that are reinventing themselves to stay relevant in the digital age. Today, dozens of websites and apps offer everything from contemporary indie fiction to Elizabethan classics without charging you a penny.
Here are 10 good ways of getting books for free on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet, without breaking copyright law (and we know you never would).
Read more: The best gifts for readers in 2019
The Next Chapter is a multipart series that examines the changing role of libraries in a connected world. 
If you’ve looked for free books before, you might’ve noticed that most, though not all, are classics. Older works of literature, essays or plays are classified as public domain, which means the creative work isn’t subject to copyright laws. When nobody owns a work, it can be offered for free.
Reading a book online is easy, but downloading a book depends on what device you want to read it on. Apple users can install Apple Books (also known as iBooks) on their iPad, iPod Touch ($180 at Amazon) or iPhone ($899 at Amazon). Android users can check out Google Play Books. On both these apps, you can find cheap and free e-books.
Here are a few common formats you’ll see as you explore and download your free books:
Authorama features hundreds of public domain works like Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and more. Just tap the title to launch the book. While the website doesn’t let you download to a device, you can read in your mobile or desktop browser.
The only downside with reading on your browser is that there’s no way to mark your place. The websites we’ve compiled allow you to manually enter the page number or search by chapter, though.
Project Gutenberg has more than 58,000 free eBooks. Choose a novel to read online or download on your phone or PC. The book will save as an ePub, Kindle file or plain text in your Dropbox, Google Drive or One Drive. You can also choose to download the file with or without images to save space. If you don’t want to download, just choose to read it in your browser in HTML.
Browse Project Gutenberg’s extensive catalog by new additions, popular e-books and more. If you’re a fan of audiobooks, Gutenberg links to LibriVox.
LibriVox is an oasis of audio books.
If you’re on-the-go, check out LibriVox‘s free public domain audiobooks. Like Audible, you can search by author, title, genre or language to find the next book you’ll to listen to.
Listen in your browser or download the book to your device or PC. You can subscribe on iTunes, through your RSS feed in a podcast app or through Torrent. Similarly, if you prefer to read, the site links back to Project Gutenberg.
Most of the books are read by other LibriVox users, and they’re always looking for more voice actor volunteers.
ManyBooks offers a selection of classics and contemporary novels. Find the perfect title with dozens of genre filters, language and user ratings. Make a free account and fill out your book preferences.
Read the book online or download it. ManyBooks will ask which file you prefer to set as a default. You can change at any time, though.
For a one-time fee, ManyBooks also offers a place for self-publishing authors to house their work and introduce it to a community of avid readers. This is why you might see newer titles available alongside the public domain classics.
Search the word “free” to get started at BookBub.
Create a free account and plug in your book preferences and reading habits to get started on BookBub. This website is packed with books. Many are free to download, and some are on sale for prices as low as 99 cents. Browse curated genres, follower recommendations, lists or search “free.”
When you enter your digital reading preferences, make sure to tap which device you want to read e-books on — Kindle, Apple Books, Nook, Kobo or Google Play. BookBub will filter available content based on your gadget.
The Goodreads app is a personal favorite of mine. It’s a great site to organize your books, see what your favorite authors are reading and find new reads. If you’re on the hunt for free e-books, Goodreads can help too.
The Goodreads community creates lists for almost any book need you could have. Finding free books isn’t any different. You’ll find curated lists of free e-books from indie and self-published authors, public domain classics, audiobooks from Librivox, books for kids, previews, samples and more.
Browse Smashwords’ extensive catalog of contemporary and classic fiction, non-fiction, essays, plays and screenplays. Filter what you’re looking for by price, special deals and word count. Find the book you want and choose your preferred file format to download it.
It’s important to note that you might have to turn on the ability to upload a book if you’re using Google Play Books or the iBooks app. If you don’t, the files won’t work. If you prefer, Smashwords offers the option to read the book on your browser.
Digilibraries has a similar layout to Project Gutenberg. You’ll find mostly public domain classics in dozens of categories. Some titles date back to the 1700s, but you can find familiar names like Jack London, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens.
You can check out an excerpt, but you have to download to read the whole book. Formats include ePub, PDF or mobi file types.
Why buy books when you can read them for free?
In almost a dating app-style, BookLending “matches” users who can help out with someone else’s literary needs. Create an account and either request to borrow a book or offer to lend a book. Almost every book is searchable, and it isn’t just public domain material.
To borrow an e-book, search and find the title you want, and tap the orange Borrow button. Once the title becomes available, you’ll have seven days to accept the loan and 14 days to read the book. After the 14 days, the e-book will automatically return to the lender. If no one has loaned the book or there is a long list of people who want the book, it could take longer to get the title.
Getting books from your local library isn’t old fashioned. If you want the book without leaving your couch or risking a late fee, public library apps are a good alternative. The apps, which often generate digital records of what you borrow, are generally available for Android and iOS with e-books and audiobooks available for rent.
Major libraries like the New York Public Library, the San Diego Library and the Brooklyn Public Library have their own apps. You need to have a card with the library before you can take advantage of the app though. If you’re in a smaller town, your local library might be partnered with Hoopla or OverDrive. 
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on April 8, 2019.
Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion.

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5 Best eBook Torrent Sites [100% Working] – Download Free eBooks  Fossbytes
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There are many ways to get free eBooks on your Kindle, from borrowing titles from your local library to swapping books between friends.
In fact, if you’re savvy enough, you can find an endless amount of books for your Kindle without ever spending a penny.
Here are all the ways you can find free books on your Kindle, and start reading.
On the Amazon website, you can navigate to the Free Kindle eBooks section to find free books. You’ll find books organized into categories that you can browse through at your leisure. 
Many of these books are classics in the public domain, and feature similar cover art. They’ll have a button that says “Buy for Free” on their individual payment pages.
You can also find many of these same titles in the Cheap Reads section of the store. In addition to free books, this section also includes Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading books, which you can read more about in their sections below.
Finally, you can simply search for “free kindle books” on Amazon’s website. You’ll be shown a host of free books, many of which are temporarily on sale.
To find these books on an actual Kindle device, unlock your screen and tap the shopping cart to access the store.
On the homepage alone you’ll find the Deals category, along with Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading options. The Deals page organizes books into daily, monthly, and exclusive deals where you can often find free or reduced-price books.
You can also manually type “Free” in the search bar at the top, which will automatically populate search results such as “Free Kindle Books for Kids.”
This list will include free books and those that fall under the Prime and Unlimited subscriptions as well. 
Tap on any book to open it and follow the steps to download it for free.
Most people know Amazon Prime for its free shipping features. However, a Prime subscription also gives you access to Prime Reading.
Prime Reading is essentially the book equivalent of other popular services like Prime Video and Prime Music. Being a Prime member will open up hundreds of free book options that you can find both online and on your Kindle device.
You can browse the Prime Reading section for new books that are added each day. 
Additionally, sign up for Amazon’s First Reads newsletter and you’ll receive exclusive access to new Prime titles before they’re even published.
Kindle Unlimited, meanwhile, is a separate subscription option which lets you rent up to 10 books, magazines, or audiobooks a month, with no due dates.
The monthly subscription costs $9.99, but you can opt for a 30-day free trial before you decide to commit. 
Whether you use it just for a month or decide to begin paying, you’ll immediately gain access to a wide variety of eBooks.
 
A resource outside of Amazon is Project Gutenberg, a collection of public domain books that have been made available in eBook form — including forms compatible with Kindle devices and Kindle apps. 
BookBub is an email service that will alert you of free books in its online bookstore catalog. When you sign up for the newsletter, you’ll select your favorite genres, so you can stay on top of the latest free versions of your favorite books.
Lastly, Scribd is a rival to Kindle Unlimited — another $9.99 per month online database with thousands of eBooks. In addition to books, Scribd also offers magazines and audiobooks.
Not all libraries are equipped with an eBook database, but searching on OverDrive helps you find the ones that are. 
Enter your city or zipcode in the search bar and the website will provide links to any nearby locations with eBooks available. Click on the library’s link to open its website in a separate tab. 
Depending on the library, you may have to go through some extra steps in order to obtain a library card, either online or in person.
Sharing books is a great way to get titles for free. To do so, you’ll have to add family members or friends to your Amazon Household. 
Each household has a limit of two adults, four children, and four teens. You can sign up for Amazon Household online or on your Kindle device.
Once book sharing is enabled, new books will begin to appear in your Cloud. When someone buys a book, it’ll be available for everyone in the household automatically. 
This virtual book swap is a great way to read new books for free by trading titles amongst your new network.
 
Insider Inc. receives a commission when you buy through our links.

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4 Ways to Get Free Kindle Books on Amazon and Other Places  TechPP
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The Amazon Kindle is a popular tablet designed for reading ebooks, and if you purchase Kindle books from Amazon, you can read them using the Kindle app for other mobile devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Android. But Amazon gives you another simple way to read electronic books — using the Kindle Cloud Reader, which lets you read your books online in almost any web browser.  
If you have an Amazon account, you automatically have access to the Kindle Cloud Reader; you can open it in any popular web browser and sign in using your Amazon account credentials. 
If you don’t already have an Amazon account, you’ll need to create one before you can start using Kindle Cloud Reader. Go to Amazon and click Account & Lists at the top right. In the dropdown menu under the New to Amazon? section, click Create your Amazon account and follow the instructions to get started. Once you’ve created an account, the Kindle Cloud Reader will be ready and waiting for you. 
Quick tip: If you want to read Kindle books offline in a location that has no internet service, you should use the Kindle app on a mobile device or your computer. The Kindle Cloud Reader no longer allows you to download books for offline reading. 
You can add books to your Kindle Cloud Reader by purchasing ebooks on Amazon.
From the Kindle Cloud Reader, do this:
1. Click Kindle Store at the top right of the page. 
2. Browse or search for books. When you find one you want, click it. 
3. On the book’s product page, make sure the Kindle version is selected. You might see other editions listed as well, such as paperback, hardcover, and audiobook. 
4. Before you complete the purchase, you might notice that there’s a Deliver to: dropdown menu. It’s not important to select a specific entry (like Kindle Cloud Reader). When you buy a Kindle book it becomes available on all of your devices, including the Cloud Reader, immediately.
5. Purchase the book in the usual way. 
You should see the new book appear automatically in the Kindle Cloud Reader.
Reading a book in the Kindle Cloud Reader is straightforward — click the title you want to read. The book will open and you can advance through the book by clicking the arrow on the side of the page, using the keyboard’s arrow keys or the space bar.
You can also customize the reading experience with a small menu. To make the menu appear, move the mouse pointer to the top or bottom of the page. Here are your options:
In addition to those menus, you can highlight text or add notes for later reference. To do that, select the desired text with the mouse and you’ll see a popup menu appear. Choose Highlight or Note and enter a note if desired.
One disadvantage of using the Kindle Cloud Reader rather than the Kindle mobile app is the Cloud Reader can become crowded with books, making it potentially hard to find a title you want to read. 
If you want to organize the Cloud Reader by deleting a book, you unfortunately have to permanently delete it from your Amazon account (so if you want to read it again, you’ll have to repurchase it). If you want to do this:
1. Open the Amazon website in a web browser.
2. Move the mouse pointer over Account & Lists and then click Content & Devices from the dropdown menu. 
3. Click the checkbox for one or more books you want to remove and then click Delete at the top of the page. 

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It’s increasingly clear that risks related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are part of the regular risk factors all businesses must face. Whether emissions, data security, employee relations, products, or business ethics, the potential damages due to mismanaging ESG issues are much greater than the expense to mitigate the risks. But where should you start?
We’ve created a practical guide to help you understand how to take the first steps on your journey to sustainable environmental, social, and governance practices.
In this ebook, you’ll learn:
 

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We consider price, course selection, production quality, and more to help you decide which of these top online learning sites is a better place to study.
$180 for 1-Year Standard Plan at MasterClass
40% off 12-Month Premium Plan +1 Month Free at Skillshare
Online learning service MasterClass lures you in with its A-list instructors, then hooks you with thoughtful material and exceptional production values.
Skillshare's videos teach you creative life and work skills, from running an online business to cooking at home. It's a compelling way to indulge your brain at a low price.
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Apples are better than oranges. I kid: The entire point of the expression “comparing apples to oranges” is that you can’t directly compare the two. Sure, they’re both fruits, but they serve different purposes. Apples are better for making cider; oranges are better for juicing and mixing with champagne or vodka. I suppose you could also eat them.
My point is that comparing Skillshare and MasterClass directly is difficult, and a more fruitful exercise would be to point out how they’re different and under which conditions you might choose one over the other. Yes, they both nominally offer online classes, but the two companies use the word “class” in different ways. And they’re both very good at what they do. They’re both Editors’ Choice winners among online learning services. But what they’re trying to do is quite different.
I’d compare Skillshare to a local community college. It’s a great place to stop by and learn something new, especially if you’re looking for practical skills.
MasterClass, meanwhile, is more like a prestigious guest lecture series hosted by a university. You’ll learn a little about how to do something, sure, but the focus is almost most on why you might want to do it—the philosophy behind the thing. 
MasterClass has a collection of brilliantly presented classes taught by renowned leaders in every field. But that doesn’t mean it’s better than Skillshare in every way. There are specific reasons you might spend money on one or the other. Let’s take a closer look.
MasterClass costs a lot more than Skillshare. Cost and value are not necessarily the same thing, however.
Skillshare offers a free version with a limited selection of courses. Over the years that PCMag has reviewed Skillshare, prices for the paid version have changed frequently. As of this writing, a Premium membership costs $29.88 per year. There’s also a 30-day free trial of the Premium version but you have to add your payment information to get it. 
MasterClass does not offer a free version. MasterClass membership starts at $180 per year for the Individual plan, which can run on a single device with no offline support. MasterClass Duo supports two devices with offline support and costs $240 a year. A Family plan works on eight devices and costs $276 per year. Note that all billing is annual—there’s no option to pay month-to-month. There is no free version of MasterClass, but you can get a free trial if someone with a MasterClass account sends you a special link. That trial still requires payment details, however. There are some free live classes, but they really don’t represent the quality or tone of the paid courses.
Winner: Skillshare 
Skillshare focuses on teaching skills, with a real focus on the creative space. It includes everything from graphic design to animation to creative writing. Skillshare also touches on skills related to building and maintaining businesses in the creative world, with classes on topics such as how to run an Etsy store.
Skillshare does create some courses in-house, generally labeled Skillshare Originals. Those courses tend to have celebrity(ish) instructors and high production qualities. The bulk of the courses offered on Skillshare, however, are uploaded by independent instructors. They vary more in quality. 
Classes on Skillshare tend to be about an hour long or less, split into shorter chunks. You can complete these classes at your own pace, generally stopping to work on exercises, or you could watch an entire course from start to finish on your lunch break. 
MasterClass, meanwhile, is less directly focused on specific skills. The instructors are all A-listers in their fields, and some are household names. A lot of the value is hearing these celebrities talk about their individual workflow and philosophy. You learn some tips along the way, and some courses might even give you assignments. The focus, though, is watching or listening to someone who is the best in the world at something demonstrate those skills and give you tips.
MasterClass courses are much longer than Skillshare’s. A 20-hour MasterClass isn’t unheard of, though they’re broken up into sections and the site makes it easy to keep track of where you left off. It usually makes sense to complete a course over multiple days or weeks.
Winner: Tie. These two services are trying to do completely different things, and each does a good job. 
You’ll be forgiven if, after watching a commercial for MasterClass, you thought you’d get feedback on your songwriting from Saint Vincent or on your stand up comedy routine from Steve Martin. The truth is you won’t interact with any of the “instructors” on this service—you’ll mostly just watch them. 
Still, the videos aren’t everything. Every MasterClass course offers a PDF ebook that summarizes a lot of the points made in the course, and in some cases even supplements it. The booklets can be 50 pages long. Some of the courses encourage you to practice a skill, and a few even have worksheets. You can keep these supplemental materials after your subscription expires, giving you something to reference years later if you keep it around. 
Skillshare is more scattershot. Some courses offer supplemental downloadable materials. Some offer projects to work on and upload. The idea is that your “classmates,” meaning anyone else who happens to be taking the class at the time, will comment and give you feedback. In some cases, the teacher might even comment, though in practice it’s rare. It all amounts to more interaction than MasterClass offers, but that’s not saying much. 
It’s hard to pick a clear leader here. If you want a polished summary of the videos you watched, MasterClass is better. If you’re hoping for projects to work on as you learn a skill, Skillshare courses might be a better fit. 
Winner: Tie
Skillshare videos vary wildly in video quality. The worst user-submitted courses are clearly shot at the instructor’s desk using a webcam. The best courses have a much higher level of polish than that, particularly the Skillshare Originals. 
But even the best Skillshare videos don’t come close to MasterClass courses, all of which are extremely well produced. It’s hard to make 20 hours of someone talking interesting. You have to do a lot of pre-production planning, in addition to post-production editing, to make it work. MasterClass courses pull off this feat, which must cost a fortune. 
This isn’t to say that Skillshare’s quality is bad. It’s just that MasterClass’ is spectacular. 
Winner: MasterClass
MasterClass and Skillshare both work in your browser if you’re on a computer, and they both offer mobile apps. The mobile versions of both apps make it easy to download videos for offline watching, assuming your subscription offers that. Skillshare has a button for downloading an entire course to your mobile device, whereas MasterClass only offers the feature for individual videos. 
MasterClass also offers apps for every major smart TV platform. Skillshare doesn’t have dedicated smart TV apps, but you can use Chromecast or Airplay on your mobile device to send the videos over to your television. The MasterClass website and apps are very clean, making it easy to find what you’re looking for. Skillshare is a little more cluttered and a little harder to navigate. It’s close, but I’m giving MasterClass the edge in this category.  
Winner: MasterClass 
MasterClass wins, but it isn’t a blowout! MasterClass takes two categories: Production Quality and How to Watch. Skillshare won just one category: Price. The other three categories were ties because in many ways it’s impossible to directly compare these two services. They’re simply trying to do different things. 
If you want to learn a specific skill, start with Skillshare. If you want to see some of the best lecture-style courses ever created, taught by world famous instructors, go straight to MasterClass. But you really can’t go wrong with either, if you actually take the time to complete the courses.
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Justin Pot believes technology is a tool, not a way of life. He writes tutorials and essays that inform and entertain. He loves beer, technology, nature, and people, not necessarily in that order. Learn more at JustinPot.com.
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If you’re looking for free ebooks to download and dive into, these digital libraries are worth checking out.
With the advance of digital technology, more and more people are choosing ebooks and audiobooks over printed books. Amazon alone offers millions of ebooks in every category you could think of. Some are free, while others come with a hefty price tag.
The good news is, you can always head over to a digital library to get the information you need when you need it. You just need to know what to look for. With that being said, check out these five digital libraries for free ebooks, audiobooks, and other online resources.
Open Library started out as an online project designed to preserve interesting websites, ebooks, and other digital assets. Its founders wanted to “create a web page for every book ever published”.
Today, users can “borrow” and read millions of ebooks for free. All you need to do is to sign up for an account and browse the Open Library. You can even add new books to its collection.
Registered users can also create custom lists of ebooks, such as “Want to Read” or “Have Read”. If you want to add a new book to its collection, register on the Internet Archive, upload your book, and then create an entry on Open Library.
With a quick search, you’ll find ebooks in every genre, from art and sci-fi, to medicine. The history collection, for example, features over 1.6 million titles. Luckily, you can filter the results by subject, by author, and other criteria.
Related: Reasons Why You Should Stop Using Goodreads
If you’re looking for a particular book, enter its name in the search bar. Or you can click on random ebooks and preview or “borrow” them for free. Some ebooks are available in the much preferred audio format, too.
Another interesting feature is the Search Inside feature. If you need a specific piece of information, you can choose an ebook related to that topic and enter your query in the search bar. Just think about how much time you could save!
Established in 1971, Project Gutenberg aims to digitize books and other cultural works. Today, it features over 60,000 free ebooks that you can download or read online. The best part is, you don’t need an ebook reader or special apps to access the titles in its collection.
Users can narrow down their search by title, by popularity, by author, by language, and by file type. They can also search by subject or by category, such as audiobooks, pictures, or music.
While most ebooks are available in English, some have been published in Arabic, Ancient Greek, Navajo, or Mayan languages. This could be an opportunity to brush up on your language skills or even learn a foreign language from scratch.
Like Open Library, Project Gutenberg offers free ebooks in every category, from history and law to music, psychology, and science. Users also have access to “bookshelves” for specific content.
If, say, you want to learn more about the Spanish American War, you can go directly to that bookshelf instead of browsing through thousands of titles.
Related: Kindle or Physical: Which Format Is Best for Reading Your Next Book?
When you select an ebook, you can choose to read it online, in plain text, or in Kindle format. There’s also the option to download free ebooks in EPUB format, with or without images. This feature may come in handy if you have limited space on your smartphone or tablet.
Featuring over 32 million ebooks, the Internet Archive is the largest digital library ever created. In addition to free ebooks, its catalog includes 591 billion web pages and millions of videos, concerts, audio files, and software programs.
Think of the Internet Archive as a digital time machine. Some items in its collection date back to the ’90s and are not available anywhere else.
The ebooks are organized by category, but you can also search by collection, by author, by topic, or by year of publishing. There’s also a huge selection of ebooks for those with disabilities. It features popular works such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Jaws, and Dune.
Users have the option to rate and review the books they read. If you find a book that looks interesting, click on it to see what others have to say. After registration, you can upload ebooks and other media files from your personal collection.
Whether you’re doing research for an essay, white paper, or science project, it can be difficult to find trustworthy sources. That’s where the Wiley Online Library comes in handy.
This digital library offers over 22,000 online books, 1,600 journals, and hundreds of reference works. Most resources are science-focused, covering all manner of topics.
The Business and Management collection, for example, includes hundreds of ebooks and articles on consumer behavior, management, and business technology.
If you’re ready to learn a new programming language, head over to the Information Technology section. Narrow down your search by publication date, subject, author, or publisher.
Related: Understand Any Book With the Instaread Book Summary App
Not all ebooks are free to read and download, but you can browse them or access specific chapters. Look for the Free Access icon to see which books are available for free.
Launched in 2009, the World Digital Library selection of rare books, manuscripts, and other materials dating back to 8,000 BC. The collection includes more than 19,000 publications from over 190 countries.
This project was developed by the U.S. Library of Congress and UNESCO, with the purpose of making culture available to everyone. It features thousands of books, photos, and maps that were once only available in museums, so it’s just like visiting these cultural institutions from home.
Anyone can download the books for free. Depending on what you’re interested in, you may want to check out the rare book collection on offer. There’s also the option to search by place, by topic, by time period, by language, or by the institution.
As you already know, there’s always room for growth. However, this doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune on books and courses. Whether you want to learn a new language, develop your skills, or start a project, everything you need is at your fingertips.
For starters, visit these digital libraries and take your pick. Head over to the Internet Archive for a stroll back in time, or check out the World Digital Library to expand your cultural horizons. If you’re doing research for a science paper or work project, go to the Wiley Online Library to get the facts straight.
Andra Picincu is a senior digital copywriter and content strategist with more than 12 years of experience. She holds a BA in Psychology and a BA in Marketing and International Business. Her day-to-day work involves writing content and executing digital marketing campaigns for multinational companies, creative agencies, brands, and small-to-medium businesses.
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