With so many different ebook readers available on the market, Kobo Books has made it its mission to make its books available on all of them. The bookseller does have its own ebook reader, the Kobo, but the books can also be read on smartphones, tablet computers, ereaders and desktops.
To get started, readers download a Kobo reading app to the device of their choice and then download the books they choose from the site. The Kobo app is free and is available for Palm Pre, Blackberry, iPhone, Android, iPad, and for PCs and Macs.
While it isn't the biggest name in ebooks or ereaders, Kobo Books has gained a large readership. The site claims to have readers from more than 200 countries. It has more than 2.3 million ebooks available for download from a wide variety of genres and a wide range of prices. Readers can get everything from Beowulf to a current New York Times bestseller from Kobo Books.
The Kobo eReader
The device itself looks similar to the Amazon Kindle, with a few slight styling variations. The backs are quilted and soft for comfortable handling, and unlike the Kindle, they come in multiple colors to suit your personal taste. It can store 30,000 books, has a touchscreen keyboard. The readers are sold in several online retailers and in big-box stores such as Best Buy in the U.S. and Walmart and Sears in Canada.
Free eBooks
Like most large ebookstores, there is a section for free ebooks. With a few hundred ebooks offered, it may not match the thousands of free Kindle titles available on Amazon, but it is easier to navigate through the free titles and find a gem. The free ebook titles aren't just old books that have outlived their copyright- there are many new titles available. Free romance ebooks, thrillers and even big-named books such as a several Star Wars series books are available in the free section.
Kobo Books doesn't have the massive inventory of the Amazon Kindle store, with its two million free ebooks available, but the site is easy to navigate and has a good selection of freebies. Readers can read their books directly on the site and save them in their own "library" through their Kobo account. With its user-friendly site and the wide selection of devices that will support Kobo books, it's a viable alternative to Amazon.
Lizz Shepherd - I am a freelance writer specializing, for now, in Web writing. The Web is an enormous place and I have been carving out my own little ...
