9 Answers2025-12-12
I'm a physical book kind of person. This new model of serialized fiction by microtransactions just does not compute with me. I'd be willing to pay $15 for a paperback of a complete work, but $2/chapter for what in the end might equal a $50 book just does not seem reasonable to me. Maybe this will be one of those instances where a book comes out in print or even as an ebook years down the line when I've finally read my way through my backlog.
3 Answers2025-07-16
I see that you are looking for a PDF copy of ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar. Legally borrowing a e-book copy of ‘Holes’ is your best option. Many libraries are now available to borrow for free and can be downloaded to your preferred reading device using apps such as Hoopla or Libby. Your local school may also hold a digital copy for students to read.
If you want to look at alternatives to legal borrowing (even if you can afford the book and want to support the author) then there are free audiobooks online for Holes. You can search for individual chapters on YouTube or to download for free on Spotify. For cheap new copies of Holes see local thrift stores or used bookstores online- they're usually really cheap. Again, I'd look for free options first though.
5 Answers2025-08-11
If you can’t wait for it to turn up in a bookstore, then you should get it from a library as they have copies of ‘Afterparties’ on Libby with zero waitlist at my library. Alternatively, second-hand bookstores and cheap used books online at ThriftBooks are another option. If you’re patient then you’ll be rewarded.
3 Answers2026-01-16
Honestly free reads are kind of tempting, but then again, it’s not very ethical. For “Inked” I’d Google the title of the book + “official free chapters” because sometimes publishers will give the first volume of a series away for free to get readers hooked or something. For web comics, check the author’s Tumblr or their Patreon if they have one because sometimes they’ll post free snippets of their work.
Indies cost money and sometimes I feel bad because I know that so much work went into it. But sadly, that’s how they get paid. I hope you find what you’re looking for without having to resort to some sketchy pop-up ad and that you find it and it be good! Many libraries have free comics for checkout as well as surprise gems in publisher newsletters. Good luck!
3 Answers2025-08-15
The famous Codex Gigas is online. You can find a full digital scan of the National Library of Sweden’s copy on their website. It is not a PDF but it is much better than that for studying the art and text of the manuscript as you can zoom in and out on every page.
For download, check the Internet Archive, which has loads of public domain books online. The Codex Gigas should be there under the codename “Devil’s Bible” — be cautious though because there are partial and lower quality scans floating around out there. If you’re interested in medieval history, the ‘Codex Gigas’ is a great starting point, featuring an impressive, full-page image of the devil, and even more fascinating stories surrounding the manuscript’s creation. Be sure to get your content from trusted sources though, as there are plenty of questionable downloads floating around.
7 Answers2026-07-29
My last thought for the day concerns discoverability vs. deprivation. I do think that piracy often serves as a discovery model for authors – allowing readers to ‘try before they buy’. However, very quickly it can devolve into depravation – people consuming media without ever contributing to the author’s earnings in any way. This ‘discovery’ model needs to transition into ‘supporting this author’. So you used that free PDF to ‘try’ an author – great! Now support them if you like their work. Buy their next book, pre-order it, get it from the library (since they paid the license for you), spread the word online… discover an author via the free sample, then become a paying reader for subsequent work by that author. That’s a sustainable relationship for the stories you love.
12 Answers2025-06-13
My main contribution for this will be short (for now): sometimes you have to just let it go. The mental energy to search for something to entertain you could be better spent reading another easily available piece of entertainment. It's a form of the sunk cost fallacy when it comes to reading. I’ve wasted hours searching for something, found it eventually, and was too tired or grumpy to actually enjoy it by then.
Set a timer for 30 minutes and use your best methods to search for the book. If after 30 minutes you haven’t found a free, legal copy then close all your search tabs and open Royal Road or your library’s app. Start reading the top-rated book on the list. You’ll probably be happy you did. The specific craving you had for Unscentable will have dissipated in no time.
4 Answers2025-08-07
I get free legal thrillers from BookBub – many free books are offered on a daily basis. Occasionally a publisher such as Tor will make an eBook free to download for a period of time. Open Library at Archive.org is also a good source of free eBooks – you create an account and then borrow books. This is all to be done within the bounds of the authorized distribution of the copyrighted work.
12 Answers2025-12-05
I use NovelReader to read a lot of translated light novels. It aggregates translations from many sources, and often has the most up-to-date and ongoing series. It’s not an “official” app for any particular site, but the app itself is a reader, and you add your favorite sites as sources within it. I use it because it’s cleaner than going to individual websites, and also because it allows me to track my progress across the different aggregators. You can search for Diamond Dust within the app, among the sources you’ve added. Setting up NovelReader to read a new series can be a bit of a process, but once you have it set up, it’s actually a lot easier than going to the individual sites. Just beware that some of the sources will occasionally stop working, and they can disappear altogether at random times. There is, however, an active community that works to find new working sources for popular series.
9 Answers2025-12-23
Online reading can be a complete minefield to find out what you want to read. Firstly, search engines are riddled withSEO bait sites which have simply lifted the summary from somewhere else and pasted it up on their own website in the hope of gaining some free traffic. So, searching for a particular book’s title and then adding author name and preview or sample to the search will usually bring up the publisher’s own website for the book, where you can download and read the first chapter of the book.