Hello, friends and enemies. Given the abysmal state of the internet, I’m writing a few posts about how to find information, starting with this one about how to find and access books. There are a lot of reasons to read books, and not just get lost in reading bits and pieces on the internet (although that has its place). I’m not going to make this into an essay on the importance of reading, but I will note that academics have noted that “higher levels of educational attainment appear to mitigate the tendency toward authoritarian preferences and attitudes” and that reading more “is a significant predictor of democratic citizenship.” Plus—this may be controversial—reading is fun! It gives us things to think about and to discuss with our friends. Telling stories is part of being human and reading can connect us with our cultural heritage. Or, as one author recently put it, “I think people who care about literature need to make this argument, relentlessly: that everybody deserves to have access to these stories, that they’re cool and good and fun, that not everything in the world needs to help advance you up the ladder, that there’s more to being alive than work and posting and gaining influence, that winning isn’t in fact everything.”
This post discusses what are two separate, but connected, concepts: discovering interesting things to read and figuring out how to access those things. I explain how I find out about books and provide information about where you can get the books, often for free.
Local Public Library
Of course I am starting by recommending your public library! It’s the easiest way to get free books and support access to books for your community. The majority of public libraries let you sign up online and you can get ebooks and e-audiobooks too. If you don’t know where your library is in the world or on the internet, get online and search “[city name] public library.” If you’re in California, you can also use this tool from the California State Library to find your local library.
If there’s a specific book you want but the library doesn’t have it, you can probably ask the library to buy it for you. Most public libraries let you request materials. It’s possible that they will deny your request (it has happened to me), but they are likely to grant it (this has also happened to me!). Here’s the Sacramento Public Library request form, for example. If you can’t figure out how to request materials, search the library website (not the catalog), or go talk to a librarian. I promise librarians want nothing more than to help people find out about things, so they will be happy to help you.
Beyond simply browsing for books, I subscribe to the Sacramento library’s new book alerts newsletter. I find out about new things and I know the library has them! It’s very convenient and I’m sure many libraries have a similar service.
I have installed a web browser tool called Library Extension to easily find out if my library has a book available. After setting up the extension, it asks for your local library. Whenever you’re on a page about a book, the extension checks if your library has it and if it’s available. You can add multiple libraries, including the Internet Archive Open Library. It is a great reminder to use the library and it helps me spend less money on books!
Physical bookshops
Independent bookstores are also a great place to find books. The people there are usually very well informed and there are bookstores that specialize in certain genres or subjects, like The Ripped Bodice for romance books, Mysterious Galaxy for science fiction and fantasy, or Book Larder for cookbooks. Go walk around the bookstore and see what you find! If you don’t know if there are any independent bookstores near you, you can check the Indiebound bookstore finder or bookshop.org’s bookstore map.
Your local bookstore probably also has a newsletter that talks about new books and events. I subscribe to newsletters for a few bookstores, so I hear about a lot of new books that way.
Don’t forget about local used bookstores! Second-hand bookshops seem to have the wildest treasures and they are not as focused on stocking new releases as other bookstores.
Internet Libraries and eBooks
I love that the internet makes it possible to access so many cool things! There are online libraries available, with a wide variety of books and materials. If I’m buying ebooks online, I usually use kobo, but you do not have to buy books at all The public library has ebooks, and many free online libraries exist. Here are some of the big ones:
- Queer Liberation Library: You have to join to access the library but it is totally free. The site describes it’s collection as “Queer books! That’s it.”
- Open Library by the Internet Archive. This is a huge collection that you can borrow from and read online. There are lots of out-of-print works, but plenty of modern stuff too.You have to make an account, but it’s free.
- JSTOR is a site for academic works and they have a collection of over 13,000 open access books, which means they are freely available to everyone. I’ve been using JSTOR for a while because they let you access their scholarly articles even if you’re not connected to an academic institution as long as you make an account (you can read 100 per month!), but I only just learned they had such a big collection of books.
- US Press E-books Collection is a repository of books published by the University of California Press. True sickos like me love this kind of stuff because I will get into any academic niche, but even non-sickos can perhaps enjoy becoming curious about works like this Egyptian novel translated into English or a cultural history of hysteria.
- Open Culture: A selection of mostly classics that you can read online or in other ebook formats. Open Culture has a lot of media beyond books, too.
- Project MUSE: Another repository of academic work. This one focuses on humanities and social sciences.
- Open Research Library is a collection of over 14,000 open access books. The main page looks a little off-putting to me but I assure you there are real books here.
- Directory of Open Access Books, more mostly academic reading. This might seem repetitive, but open-access academic work is important. A lot of these books can be difficult to find and very expensive, so the more repositories we have, the better.
Publisher Newsletters
Another way I find books to read is through publisher newsletters. Publishers want you to know about their books, so basically every publisher has some kind of service to let you know what is new. If you don’t want newsletters, most of them have social media of one form or another that you can follow too. If you aren’t sure who publishes the books you read, just check the cover page of a book and it will tell you, then you can look them up.
Here are some that I follow:
- The University of Chicago Press has gives newsletter subscribers a free ebook every month!
- I like science fiction so I subscribe to the newsletters for both Tor and Orbit Books.
- Haymarket Books has a lot of great nonfiction on the state of the world and what to do about it. They often run sales and you can get ebooks for cheap. Sometimes they give ebooks away, like these books about Palestine.
- I’ve recently started following AK Press. It has a similar vibe to Haymarket but with a slightly different focus.
Follow Authors Online
Authors are readers as much as they are writers. They often post about what they’re reading and what they liked. If I like a book, I look up the author on BlueSky or instagram (or whatever social media we’re using) and follow them. If I love an author, I’ll find their website (just search “[author name]” or “[author name] website”) and sign up for their newsletter. Basically every published author has a newsletter to at least announce new books. I find a lot to read from what authors are talking about online. Some authors, like Cory Doctorow or Mary Robinette Kowal go out of their way to share interviews and reviews, which is also a great source for finding interesting things to read.
Organizing Your Reading List
It is probably impossible to read all the books that I have saved in my TBR (to be read) list. My method of keeping my reading wishlist organized these days is to add things to my “to read” list on StoryGraph, which you can sort and filter. Sometimes I use it to browse books I’ve indicated that I own and want to read. It’s a good way to see what I already have, especially since many of my books are digital.
Talk to Your Friends
Even though reading is something you do by yourself, it doesn’t need to be something you do alone. I get tons of reading recommendations from my friends because they also like to read! We often joke in the group chat about the never-ending TBR. Talking about what you read with people you enjoy is one of life’s great pleasures! Ask your friends what they’ve been reading! Share your thoughts about the books you read! Sometimes we plan to read a book together and discuss it as we go, which is also very enjoyable. You can also follow your friends on social reading sites, like StoryGraph, to see what your friends are reading (here’s my profile!). I find out about a lot of books this way.
Coming Soon
I am hoping to make this into a series about using the internet and finding information today. I am thinking about writing about how to search and find things online, and how to avoid misinformation. I know plenty of people have covered these topics, but I hope I can add something to the conversation. If there’s something specific you want to see me explain, let me know!
