How to Make the Most of E-Books, and Find Free Ones - The New York Times

The aboriginal models of e-book readers, created astir 25 years ago, weighed much than a lb and needed to beryllium connected to a computer. Those clunky slabs paved the mode for the modern, lightweight devices that tin download the latest champion sellers and aged classics (which are often free) successful specified seconds.

E-book hardware and speechmaking apps proceed to evolve, truthful if you’re looking to upgrade your device, find a acquisition thought oregon get started speechmaking electronically, here’s a guide.

Choose Your Hardware

You tin work physics books connected e-readers, smartphones, tablets, computers and different gear. Before you determine connected a device, see what you privation to read.

If you favour text-based books, an e-reader similar an Amazon Kindle, a Barnes & Noble Nook oregon a Rakuten Kobo makes sense. Compared with tablets, the monochrome, paper-like screens are easier connected the eyes, the devices get large artillery beingness and determination are nary disruptions from different apps.

If you similar to work comics, illustrated books, integer magazines and different visually oriented material, you should see a tablet with a large colour screen. With a tablet oregon a phone, you tin usage 1 instrumentality for a assortment of tasks and amusement options.

Text-only books enactment good connected these arsenic well, though surface glare and oculus fatigue whitethorn hamper your reading.

If you request guidance connected which e-reader to buy, Wirecutter, the merchandise reappraisal tract owned by The New York Times, recommends the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids arsenic its apical prime for e-reader this year, with the Kobo Clara HD and Kobo Libra 2 arsenic alternatives.

The tract besides has recommendations for the champion tablets astatine assorted terms points, favoring Apple’s iPad, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and the Amazon Fire HD8.

If you’re upgrading your hardware, see donating your aged Kindle oregon iPad to an enactment that tin repurpose it — aft you wipe your idiosyncratic information from it.

Pick Your Platform

An e-book scholar allows you to bargain and download books straight implicit a wireless connection. If you already ain a phone, tablet oregon machine and privation to bargain e-books, you tin instal an e-bookstore app (or apps) connected it and acceptable up an account.

Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook and Rakuten Kobo each person Android and iOS apps that fto you work e-books, signifier your room and perceive to audiobooks (or books with built-in substance narration).

These integer bookstores besides person desktop bundle oregon browser-based speechmaking options, which tin beryllium large for those who similar to work connected a ample desktop monitor.

One warning: You can’t bargain e-books straight from these apps. You indispensable bargain the publication oregon different contented connected the company’s website, acknowledgment to Apple and Google’s in-app acquisition policies, and past your books are delivered electronically to your app.

And app store owners person their ain rules. The Apple Books app allows you to bargain contented straight connected your Apple hardware. Google Play Books & Audiobooks, which works successful a browser, has apps for Android and iOS, but iOS users indispensable archetypal bargain their contented connected the web.

Adjust Your Screen

Once you’ve downloaded a book, research the settings connected your instrumentality and successful the app for customizing your speechmaking experience, specified arsenic making the substance bigger.

Steps alteration based connected the app and device, but tapping the apical of the surface usually reveals a toolbar wherever you tin set the typeface, font size, enactment spacing and inheritance colour of your e-book. (The iOS 16 update to Apple Books moves its paper and toolbar to the bottommost of the screen.)

If you privation to look up a connection successful the dictionary oregon connected Wikipedia, construe a phrase, item a passage, marque a enactment oregon hunt the book, property and clasp your digit connected the surface implicit the substance until a toolbar pops up with notation and annotation options.

In summation to the notation tools, immoderate Kindle books see Amazon’s X-Ray, a diagnostic that provides accusation astir characters, crippled and context.

When you are acceptable to instrumentality a break, you tin typically pat successful the upper-right country to acceptable a bookmark. If you’re utilizing your books app connected aggregate devices, bookmarks and different annotations tin beryllium acceptable to sync up truthful you don’t suffer your place.

Find Free Books

E-bookstores connection illustration chapters to effort earlier you buy, and astir person escaped public-domain books arsenic well.

Check with your section room to spot if it lends e-books to its cardholders. Libraries utilizing the OverDrive organisation system typically lend integer materials done the Libby app for Android and iOS. (The New York Public Library, however, uses the SimplyE app for Android and iOS.)

The Internet Archive, a immense repository of digitized content, has books successful the nationalist domain on with an online lending library. The Google Books website is different trove of scanned books and integer text; galore titles are free, but the tract points users to stores and libraries for copyrighted works.