Reading is a healthy hobby. Did you know it can increase blood flow in the brain, reduce stress, and even improve your writing and conversation skills? And yes, listening to audio books also counts as reading.
We can’t all get to our local library on a weekly basis, order lots of books from Amazon, or drive to a monthly book club meeting. Here are some virtual options to sustain your reading habit.
- Open Library (free books through Controlled Digital Lending) - https://openlibrary.org/
- Project Gutenberg (75,000 free epub or Kindle books, digitized older versions) - https://www.gutenberg.org/
- 800 Free eBooks for iPad, Kindle, & Other Devices - https://www.openculture.com/free_ebooks
- READanyBook (many book series) - https://lib.readanybook.com/en/
- 200 Free Textbooks (if you just can’t get enough education!) - https://www.openculture.com/free_textbooks
- The Online Books Page (includes non-English books and lots of book news) - https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
- 1,000 Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free - https://www.openculture.com/freeaudiobooks
Ask your local library if they have a program to lend books online. Many do!
Book clubs are meetings where a group of readers gather to talk about what they have read. These are casual social events, both educational and fun. Book clubs may be single-title, where discussion is of a book that all in the group have read, or they may be multi-title, where each member reads something of interest and shares about it with other club members. Often hosted by libraries, face-to-face book clubs have been popular for centuries. There are also online book clubs. You can find online clubs that meet on Zoom or other videoconferencing platforms here:
https://bookclubs.com/join-a-book-club/online
Some book clubs meet in virtual worlds! A list has been compiled by the Community Virtual Library group here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YWw07Va0y7zVWuQIWaxQtGSDOwqR3-eSrkT_t0Vi474/edit?tab=t.0
Virtual Ability has its own book club, First Sunday VAI Book Club. It meets (you guessed it) on the first Sunday of every month at noon SLT on the patio of the Cape Serenity Library, and it’s open to the public. Here’s the SLURL:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cape%20Serenity/72/113/23
We each read or listen to whatever we want and share why we liked (or didn’t like) a book we read during the previous month. It’s a great way to learn from others about book titles or authors you might want to add to your To Read Soon list.
The Cape Serenity Library is a specialty library. It includes only works written by authors with disabilities. You will find novels, nonfiction, articles, and poetry by SL authors and classical works by authors who you may not have known had disabilities. The collection includes works on notecards, SL wearable books, works at URLs, and even audio books. Come on in and browse the offerings:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cape%20Serenity/79/124/23
For your reading pleasure, there’s a cozy Frank-Lloyd-Wright-style space on Healthinfo Island you might want to check out. Daisyblue’s Reading Room is dedicated to VAI’s first Consumer Health Librarian. Inside the book-themed building you will find comfy chairs where you can relax and read, whether it’s a Second Life notecard, a virtual webpage, or a real life book. Stop by and enjoy the quiet ambience:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/70/189/33
Reading really is good for your health. Learn more on Healthinfo Island this month at the “Why You Should Read More” poster exhibit here:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/98/40/26
For more information on how to celebrate Reading Month, check out this link below:
https://www.rif.org/national-reading-month
