Reading could be one of the most engaging and enriching activities during the lockdown. Sales of eBooks have increased by 8 times in the last three weeks.
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the man who never reads lives only one.”
George RR Martin
Author of the Game of Thrones series
Here are a few online reading resources, available for free, that you might want to explore. You can read them using any digital device like a smartphone, computer or tablet. Most of the resources listed here below would require you to create a login.
1. National Digital Library of India (NDL)
The Union Ministry of Human Resources and the IIT – Kharagpur had initiated the project National Digital Library of India in 2006. Now the ministry is giving free access to NDL where over 4,79,17,000 books and periodicals are available to read in English and many regional languages. These books are categorised to support all academic levels, right from school going children to students preparing for competitive exams, research scholars and life-long learners. Log into the website https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in to learn more.
2. Amazon Kindle
Kindle, promoted by Amazon, is an app to read eBooks and comics. Amazon has now made available a huge collection of popular eBooks for free on their platform that include children’s storybooks, graphic novels like Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha, classic literature, stories, and other comics. Kindle app is available on Android and iOS.
Kindle Unlimited is their paid subscription that gives you access to lot more content. You can try it for free for first 30 days during the lockdown! Thereafter, if you like it, you may continue it with a nominal monthly subscription fee. It is worth a try for all the budding book lovers out there.
3. Pratilipi & Pratilipi Comics
Pratilipi is an online self-publishing portal that connects readers and writers together. Now it has literature available in 12 Indian languages. It has a perfect blend of reading delicacies for you right from classic old to new-age literature. Click here to download Pratilipi app for Android or iOS.
Recently launched Pratilipi Comics offers comics across all genres for absolutely free, including science fiction, fantasy, action/adventure, horror, humor, and romance. Your favourite classic comic strips like Chacha Chaudhary and lot more are just a tap-of-your-finger away! Click here to download Pratilipi Comics app for Android.
4. Seagull Books
During this lockdown, Seagull Books, a global publishing house based in India is now offering a free book a day, every day, from their library of world literature. You can download the PDFs absolutely free. A set of seven books is available every week. Check back their website every Tuesday for new set of books! Find out more at https://www.seagullbooks.org/
5. Open Library
Open Library provides online access to many public domain and out of print books on their website. The project was initiated by California State Library with an objective to create “one web page for every book ever published”. Log on to this website to explore their collection https://openlibrary.org/
6. ManyBooks
ManyBooks has been providing eBooks for free since 2004 on a wide range of topics that include Action & Adventure, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Mystery & Thriller, Science Fiction and many more. It is also a platform where self-publishing authors have the opportunity to introduce their work to the community. New quality books are uploaded daily. Check out their website for a book of your choice https://manybooks.net/
7. Goodreads
Goodreads is arguably the world’s largest online database of books. You can search for books, annotations and reviews on it. You can also create your own catalogues of your favourte books, make reading lists and set yourself reading challenges.
It allows you to create your own groups for book suggestions, surveys, polls, blogs, and discussions. Obviously Goodreads is not an online reading platform but this blog post would have been incomplete without it. Here is the link to the website: https://www.goodreads.com/
Written on the World Books & Copyrights Day 2020
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