Reading can be a great way of passing the time if you are self-isolating. It’s an opportunity to work your way through your reading bucket list, discover new genres or even go back to the old classics.
You may already be a member of a book club and can think about holding your meetings virtually using group video chat.
There are also a whole host of online book clubs that you can join where you can enjoy some social interaction and share your views and opinions on books. Popular online book clubs include the Richard and Judy Book Club and Reading Groups for Everyone.
Here’s a list of 5 free e-book resources that you can access from home today:
OverDrive
Borrow and read free e-books, audiobooks and magazines from your library using your phone or tablet. All you need to get started is your library card. Libby is the app from OverDrive that you can use to borrow e-books and audiobooks. It allows you to keep track of your reading history in the activity tab, download books and audiobooks for offline reading or stream them to save space.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a library of over 60,000 free e-books. Choose from free epub and Kindle e-books, download them or read them online. There is no fee or registration and no special apps are required to read, just a normal web browser or e-book reader.
BookBub
BookBub is all about finding more of the type of books you love for a fraction of their usual price. After choosing the genres you’re interested in, you’ll receive email notifications about free and heavily discounted ebooks in the same or similar genres. They might be bestsellers or hidden gems – either way, it’s a great way to discover more books you’ll enjoy.
Amazon Kindle
Amazon has a list of the top 100 free e-books on it’s website that you can download straight to your Kindle. You can also check out the limited-time free Kindle books that can be sorted by average customer review or publication date. Amazon Prime members benefit from a free Kindle e-book each month through Amazon First Reads, with early access to editors’ top picks.
Oxford Owl
Help your children learn to read and love to read with the Oxford Owl e-book library containing over 100 free e-books. The books have been developed for children aged 3-11 to teach them to read using phonetics. All the e-books are free to use, you just need to register on the website. The books are best viewed on a computer, laptop or tablet.
Not sure what to get stuck into? The Goodreads website is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. You can see what books your friends are reading, check out your personalised book recommendations, and track the books you’re reading, have read and want to read.