Books Online?

Just wondering if there are any sites you go to for reading books online. I recently signed up for Daily Lit and get installments of books via email. Also, I signed up for We Read and am listing the books I've read, want to read, etc. I get pretty bored at work, as most of you know, so I'm looking for places to read some stuff online while I pretend to work! 

Hmmm, well for organizing books, I love librarything (librarything.com). I'm "jnyrose" there.  Otherwise, the Gutenberg sites are great for out of print books and Google Books has LOTS of (older) stuff to read and explore!

I second Project Gutenberg.  Bartleby.com also has lots of full-text stuff.

Hmmm, well for organizing books, I love librarything (librarything.com). I'm "jnyrose" there.  Otherwise, the Gutenberg sites are great for out of print books and Google Books has LOTS of (older) stuff to read and explore!

Another vote for LibraryThing for keeping lists of books! I'm miss_read.  

check out Upenn's list of books online: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

also, googlebooks has a lot of books online now.

In addition to what has mentioned:

http://www.bookarmy.com/ (I love this site, plus I won free books for doing reviews)
http://www.ipl.org/
http://www.archive.org/index.php (has books as well)

Umm, well, if you're interested in reviews (not just books to read) you could check out bookgeeks: http://www.bookgeeks.co.uk/.  We write reviews on just about everything, and there are over 400 reviews up there I think, so lots to peruse.  I'm lucky enough to write for them (I'm Jennie B); although my husband looks askance at all of the books arriving for me to review!

Librarything also has an "early reviewer" program where you get advanced copies of books to review. So many ways to feed the addiction, so little time.

Librarything also has an "early reviewer" program where you get advanced copies of books to review. So many ways to feed the addiction, so little time.

LibraryThing also has a Member Giveaway program! And also, if you're a member of an active group, you may find a lot of book swaps going. I belong to the Persephone and the Virago Modern Classics groups - we always have threads offering duplicate copies to other members, and I've picked up quite a few that way.

Hmmm... all good choices to look into! Thanks! I'll investigate further tomorrow. Is We Read a similar type thing to Library Thing? I have made lists of books on there that I have read / want to read. Also, when you say reviewing books, do you mean those that are already published? I used to review manuscripts at my publishing internship and write reviews, and I really loved doing it. Just curious!

Also, when you say reviewing books, do you mean those that are already published? I used to review manuscripts at my publishing internship and write reviews, and I really loved doing it. Just curious!

LibraryThing offers 'pre-release' books for people to review. They publish a list of available books and you select those you'd like ... then, if you're lucky, you'll get one!

But members/readers also review already-published books. So if you search for a book title, you'll see that it might have 18 reviews available to be read. These range from one-line blurbs to really extensive studies. I haven't written any for a while, but it's something I'd like to start doing again!

Yes, and bookgeeks reviews, mostly, to be published books (the guy who started it has contacts with publishing houses) with some older ones to fill the gaps (or, if you're me, to promote PC Hodgell's books because she's awesome and basically unknown.) They're always looking for more reviewers!

Librarything is a really well run, useful, and amazing community. And you can review any book on there!

Librarything is a really well run, useful, and amazing community. And you can review any book on there!

And they do a great Secret Santa every year! 

So do any of these sites allow you to just download a book and read it, or are they strictly for making lists and posting reviews? The Daily Lit thing is pretty cool... I've been reading Count of Monte Cristo through my email!

www.dailylit.com

Also, zoyabean pointed me to a site that has the Jane Austen novels available online for free, but I don't have the link at the moment (zoyabean... what was the site again?) Only problem on Daily Lit is that it seems only the classics are available, which is great, but sometimes something more modern might be nice.  

You're unlikely to get anything for free that isn't in the public domain, and since it takes at least 50 years for works to get into the public domain, then it tends to be only the classics that are free.  If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can use Stanza (http://www.lexcycle.com/) which has modern books available for a fee and I think allows you to sync your library with your computer so you can read your downloads on it. 

So do any of these sites allow you to just download a book and read it, or are they strictly for making lists and posting reviews?

Librarything is a for cataloguing your library, and is also an amazing community - but no downloads.

Historyenne is right - you're not likely to get downloads of any modern books for free.