Best Apps For Free Books To Read Offline Without Internet?

I’m a huge reader and therefore often look for ways to keep reading while not having internet connection. I use the app ‘Libby’ from OverDrive to access e-books and audiobooks for free from my local library. While the selection can vary greatly from library to library, there are hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from and for the most part it’s all free with only having to wait for really popular new releases. The app itself is really easy to use and to download titles for offline reading and the fonts etc can be adjusted to suit your preferences.

I also download books from 'Project Gutenberg' - an incredible app that is home to over 60,000 free e-books. Most of the books are classics or have entered the public domain, so there's plenty of stuff by really famous and really good authors. You can download the books in all sorts of formats, including EPUB, Kindle and more. The app itself is pretty basic, but does the job very well, and as it’s a local app, you don’t need any sort of internet connection to read your downloaded books. It’s a really great place to go to read lots of really old books, including lots of really famous ones, for free. I’ve read lots and lots of books by famous authors such as Jane Austen and Mark Twain.

Another app that offers e-books is ‘Hoopla’. Hoopla is also a partner with your local library, but it offers more than just e-books. It also has comics, movies, music, and more to borrow. The amount of time you can keep borrowed items varies by library, but generally ranges from 1-7 days. Hoopla has a great offline mode, and once downloaded, the e-book or audiobook plays right from the app. I also appreciate the variety of formats Hoopla has, and the speed in which titles download. Additionally, the app has great playback features for audiobooks, such as playback speed and ability to create bookmarks and notes.

Another mobile app that is really easy to read on while you are offline is Wattpad. I like to be able to read my fanfiction and download plenty of the Indie books I find on this free app. Quality does vary on Wattpad depending on the author, but there are so many novels and stories here. I can usually find something that interests me within minutes. Offline reading and communities of authors and readers make this a wonderful experience for me.

I have found Google Play Books to contain a large library of free e-books. There is a lot of quality to choose from, a good range of self-help, and a decent amount of romantic novels too. As well as an amazing collection of paid e-books, the app is highly customizable for reading, allowing you to change font size and even the background color of the book. It is a great app for finding a quick read to devour on a journey, etc., and be able to read it offline, too!

The real power user approach is to use calibre. This is a piece of software you run on your desktop, not a mobile app, but it does have a very clever approach. You can use it to manage your entire library of eBooks, get metadata and cover for books added post-pub, and convert books into whatever format you need. Then you just plug in your phone or your e-reader and sync up the properly formatted versions of the books you want to read.

It’s a little tricky to learn, but I think it is one of the most beautiful ways to organize your digital library. After that, it’s just a matter of finding a decent reader app to read the books with (I use Moon+ Reader).

You need all three of these for your maximum reading convenience: first, go for borrowed contemporary books from your local library via Libby/OverDrive (which, let’s face it, is magical). Then, use the Kindle reading app, too, for Amazon’s Top 100 Free list (which changes daily), with hundreds of titles by indie authors and even classics, all available for ‘purchase’ for $0.00 and immediately sent to your reading app of choice. Finally, Hoopla is another great library app – this time with an emphasis on comics, manga and audiobooks – and it’s all instant download with no wait times for titles.

Combining these 3 apps to read offline for years without spending a penny has been my experience: using Libby for the loanables, Kindle for the freebies, and Moon+ Reader for sideloading the EPUBs.