Ebooks are a great way to enjoy literature – they’re cheaper than print books due to the lack of print and distribution costs (and completely free if the work is in the public domain), and you start reading seconds after buying one.
Best Text to Speech (TTS) Software (Free) Natural Reader allows you to convert your any Text into speech in different languages and voice. The Natural Reader software is Available for both Windows and Mac users. Natural Reader has potential and Ability to recognize any words and Optical characters. Speech Central: Text to Speech 1.47 - Text-to-speech suite. Download the latest versions of the best Mac apps at safe and trusted MacUpdate Download, install, or update Speech Central: Text to Speech for Mac.
Sigil was designed to make it easy to create great ebooks using the EPUB format. PageEdit - XHTML editor PageEdit is a WYSIWYG XHTML editor intended as a Sigil Companion app. This software is available for free on the Mac App Store. You can create interactive eBooks using this tool for iPad, iPhone and Mac devices. It has a lot of features which you can use to enhance your eBook, such as images, audio, videos, animations, 3D objects, mathematical expressions etc.
You don’t need a specialist device like a Kindle either thanks to the many free ebook readers available for your desktop. These are particularly good for students who want to reference texts in their work, add annotations, or refer to online resources.
So what makes a good ebook reader? For general use, a clear layout and the ability to sync your bookshelf across multiple devices are essential; for students, note-taking and bookmarks are essential; and for anyone who sometimes struggles with their eyesight, text-to-speech and one-click font customization are welcome additions.
- Thinking of buying a Kindle? Find the right one for you
1. Kindle for PC
The best free ebook reader, whether you use Amazon or not
Amazon’s official Kindle app for Windows (as well as Mac and mobile devices) is smart and stylish, and although it tempts you with reading suggestions from the Kindle store, the sales pitch isn’t too in-your-face.
There’s no setup necessary if you already have an Amazon account. Just log in with your usual username and password and your virtual shelves will be populated automatically (though you’ll have to click a book’s cover to download it, so bear this in mind if you’re planning some offline reading). Notes and bookmarks are synced across devices automatically, as are flashcards – an extremely useful addition for students using digital textbooks for revision.
Kindle for Windows also includes text-to-speech function, and changing font sizes and color schemes is as simple as clicking or tapping a button.
2. Freda
Best Text To Speech Software For Mac
Premium features for free – Freda is a real rival to Amazon’s crown
Freda (from the delightfully-named Turnipsoft) is a superb ebook reader that integrates with Project Gutenberg, giving you access to thousands of free ebooks, and Smashwords, where you can find works from independent authors and publishers. Importing your own ebooks is a piece of cake too, with support for all the most popular formats. You can even connect Freda to your Dropbox account enabling you to access books from multiple devices.
Freda supports bookmarks, annotations and highlighting, making it a good choice for students. There’s also text-to-speech for anyone who has trouble with text on screens, as well as auto-scroll and speed-read – a tool that works much like Spritz, displaying words in quick succession so you can read without moving your eyes.
Freda is funded by ads, but these are discreet and are only visible on the bookshelf screen; they won’t interrupt your reading.
3. Calibre
An open source ebook reader that’s a great choice for students
Calibre is an open source ebook reader and manager that’s lightweight and lightning-fast. Unlike many free ebook readers, Calibre supports Amazon’s AWZ format (though it won’t open DRM-protected files) as well as all the other popular ebook file types, and if any metadata is missing (such as genre or cover art), you can add it yourself using the bookshelf’s options menu.
One of Calibre’s best features is Reference Mode, which displays the current chapter and paragraph number in the top left – ideal if you need to cite references in an essay. We also like Flow Mode, where text is shown as a continuous scrolling stream without page breaks; not as pleasant as simulated page-turning for recreational reading, but a handy time-saver to avoid flicking backwards and forwards through a textbook.
4. Sumatra PDF
A PDF, ebook and comic reader that's ideal for multiple PCs
Despite its name, Sumatra PDF is a great little ebook reader, capable of displaying books in EPUB and MOBI format, as well as comic books in CBZ and CBR comic books.
Sumatra PDF is a portable app, so you can save it to a USB stick or cloud storage service and use it on any PC. You can save your ebooks in the same place too, eliminating the need to sync your library.
It’s easy to adjust basic settings like font size, but Sumatra PDF’s advanced options can only be edited by opening a text file and typing in new values. If you want to change the page color, for example, you’ll need to find the hex code for your preferred shade and enter it on the appropriate line. It’s not difficult, but we’d prefer a graphical interface.
There’s no way to add notes or highlights, but the convenience of carrying your ebook library and reader anywhere might outweigh those drawbacks for you.
5. Icecream Ebook Reader
A stylish free ebook reader, but lacking advanced features
Icecream specializes in smart, no-frills software, and Icecream Ebook Reader is no exception. It supports EPUB, MOBI, PDF and FB2 ebook formats, and once you’ve imported your books they’re arranged in a neat bookshelf with a choice of viewing options. One particularly handy feature is the ability to archive and export your ebooks; ideal if you use more than one PC and don’t want the hassle of importing your books twice. There’s no cloud syncing though.
The reader itself is similar to the Kindle app in appearance, with one-click (or tap) buttons for changing font size, color theme (day, night, or sepia), and viewing the table of contents.
Unfortunately, some of the options you can see in the menus are only available if you hand over US$19.95 (about £15, AU$25) for the Pro version. Premium features include importing multiple ebooks simultaneously, adding notes, editing metadata, and copying text.
The free version of Icecream Ebook Reader is quick and very easy to use, but only really suitable for recreational reading. Students will find the lack of note-taking and copying frustrating.
- Want to write your own ebook? Check out the best free software for writers
| Ebook Authoring/Editing | Ebook Readers | Audiobook Tools | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Project Gutenberg - Project Gutenberg offers over 54,000 free eBooks: Choose among free epub books, free kindle books, download them or read them online
Gutenberg: The Audio Books Project - Project Gutenberg makes audio eBooks available for some of the same great literature available in plain text. Our listings are divided into two categories: Human-read and computer-generated audio books.
Librivox - Free public domain audiobooks - Read by volunteers from around the world.
| Denotes macOS Denotes iOS Denotes Source Pure MacGamesAction Adventure Arcade Board Card Emulators Game Utilities Online Games Puzzle Sims Sports & Racing Strategy Word Home Accessibility Astronomy Calculators & Math Collections Health Hobbies Kids Language Recipes Science Teaching Typing Weather Internet Chat Cloud Collaboration Distributed Computing File Transfers Network Online Games Remote Access Streaming Media Usenet Video Chat Multimedia Audio CAD Charts & Graphs Desktop Publishing Ebook Font Utilities Graphics Media Center MP3 Tools Music Photoshop Plugins 3D & Animation Video Productivity Business Compression Cryptocurrency Database Finance Notes Programming Presentation Spreadsheets Stocks Task Managers Time Word Processing System Alternative OS Backup Classic OS Updates Command Line Disk & File System Enhancements Launchers Maintenance Malware Scanners Network Screen Capture Screen Savers Security WWW Auctions Browsers Browser Add-ons HTML Editors Page Rippers RSS Social Networking Web Cams Web Graphics Web Server Software Index Search Pure Mac | Adobe Digital Editions 4.5.10 Most major publishers use Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) to proof-readtheir books. Download this free eReader to experience your books in themost optimum format across PC, MAC, tablets or mobile devices. Use it todownload and purchase digital content, which can be read both online andoffline. Experience a new ease-of-use as the books you purchase appearautomatically across all the devices you have ADE on.
Download File Size: 25.8 MB Download File Size: 78.1 MB Audiobook Builder 2.0.2Traveling to and from work, while exercising, or waiting in line - findyour smile in a book with Audiobook Builder! Audiobook Builder makes it easy to turn your audio CDs and files intoaudiobooks for your iPhone, iPod or iPad. Join audio, create enhancedchapter stops, adjust quality settings and let Audiobook Builder handlethe rest. When it finishes you get one or a few audiobook tracks iniTunes instead of hundreds or even thousands of music tracks!
Download File Size: 18.5 MB BookReader 5.14BookReader – as you probably surmise – allows you to comfortably readbooks right on your Mac in a fully customizable layout. It supports allthe most common formats: ePUB, fb2, MOBI (Kindle), PCR (Kindle), iBooks (including the new epub3 format with video, animations and interactive content),PDF, html, webarchive (Safari), doc (Microsoft Word), rtf, rtfd, txt KEY FEATURES * Natural Two-page Viewing Mode * Page flipping animation * BookShelf Customizable Database * Exportable Highlighting and Notes * Exportable Books Collection * Table of Contents * Search Function * Bookmarks * Fullscreen Mode * Text To Speech for vision impaired people * Fully customizable Keyboard Commands * Fully customizable Fonts, Sizes, Colors * Fully customizable Book Background * Fully natural Page-flipping Sound * Automatic Charset Encoding
Download File Size: 12.5 MB Books 2.0Apple Books is the single destination for all the books you love, andthe ones you’re about to. Browse the Book Store, join Oprah’s new BookClub, keep track of what you’ve read and want to read, and listen toenthralling audiobooks. All in one place.
Download File Size: 16.6 MB - version 4.2.3 - June 3, 2019 Calibre 4.2.0Calibre is a powerful and easy to use e-book manager. Users say it’soutstanding and a must-have. It’ll allow you to do nearly everything andit takes things a step beyond normal e-book software. It’s alsocompletely free and open source and great for both casual users andcomputer experts.
Download File Size: 161.6 MB GhostReader 2.3GhostReader is an easy to use, fully customizable Text to Speech appthat allows you to listen to written text on your Mac. Read selectedtexts from other applications, import texts in almost every format andlisten to them on the go. Whether you’re a creative professional,teacher or simply prefer to listen to written texts, GhostReader'sintuitive design and extensive range of customization features help youto effortlessly save time, improve your work or enhance your learningexperience.
Download File Size: 29.2 MB iBooks Author 2.6.1Now anyone can create stunning iBooks textbooks, cookbooks, historybooks, picture books, and more for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Start with oneof the Apple-designed templates that feature a wide variety of pagelayouts. Add your own text and images with drag-and-drop ease. UseMulti-Touch widgets to include interactive photo galleries, movies,Keynote presentations, 3D objects, and more. Preview your book on youriOS device or Mac at any time. Then submit your finished work to theiBooks Store in a few simple steps. And before you know it, you’re apublished author.
Download File Size: 414.3 MB Join Together 8.0.0Join Together automates the process of joining the files of selectediTunes tracks together with QuickTime and exporting them as a single AACMusic or Audiobook file/track. Optionally, under pre-Lion operatingsystems only, you can create a 'chapterized' audio file of the exportedAAC file with pointers to the individually joined tracks.
Download File Size: 4.4 MB Jutoh 2.92Easily create ebooks in Epub and Kindle formats: publish on any ebookdistribution site, including Amazon's Kindle, Apple's iBooks, GooglePlay, Kobo, and more. Your readers can use Kindles, iPads, iPhones,Android tablets and phones, Macs and PCs. You can also create PDFssuitable for sending to print-on-demand services.
Download File Size: 62.2 MB Kindle 1.26.1Read more than a million Kindle books on your computer with our freeKindle reading app. No Kindle required.
Download File Size: 92.4 MB Download File Size: 90.7 MB - App Store Download File Size: 131.9 MB - version 6.18 April 24, 2019 Nook 5.1.1Get the free Nook Reading App for your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch tostart enjoying Barnes & Noble’s award-winning eBook discovery anddigital reading experience. Access our vast online library of over 4million eBooks, graphic novels, comics, and magazines; plus, enjoyrecommendations just for you curated by our expert booksellers.Customize your experience with multiple font and page styles andpowerful organization and social sharing tools.
Download File Size: 132.3 MB Sigil 0.9.18Sigil is a multi-platform EPUB ebook editor (think Word or LibreOfficebut specific for EPUB ebooks) with the following features: * Free and open source software under GPLv3 * Multi-platform: runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux (note Linux only receives limited support) * Full UTF-16 support * EPUB 2 spec support with limited EPUB 3 support * Multiple Views: Book View, Code View and Preview View * YSIWYG editing in Book View * Complete control over directly editing EPUB syntax in Code View * Table of Contents generator with multi-level heading support * Metadata editor * User interface translated into many languages * Spell checking with default and user configurable dictionaries * Full Regular Expression (PCRE) support for Find & Replace * Supports import of EPUB and HTML files, images, and style sheets, * Documents can be validated for EPUB compliance with the integrated * All imported files have their formatting corrected, and your editing can be optionally cleaned * Plugins
Download File Size: 78.1 MB |
Best Free Epub Reader For Mac
Free Epub Software For Mac Computer
Provided by the Developer/Publisher