great ideas for books and reading.
Looking for your next read? Want to take your reading in a new direction? Here’s a collection of online tools that could help.
A right royal read
The Queen’s Reading Room is a lively collection of reading ideas, book suggestions and reviews, author contributions and book group discussion tools. There are also fascinating glimpses of some of the wonderful books in the Royal Library.
Trigger Warning: There may be the odd posh hat.
EXPLORE NEW lands
The Novels That Shaped Our World is a wonderful BBC guide for your next reading adventure.
Or you could delve into Turn Up For The Books, a BBC Sounds podcast full of lively chat about books and great ideas for your next read.
If you want to broaden your reading horizons but don’t know where to start you could do far worse than to take a modestly deep breath and jump in here.
KEEP YOUR KIDS READING
ChatterBooks is full of cool stuff for children aged from 4 to 12 years.
Great for keeping youngsters engaged, encouraging their reading and sparking their creativity. Download free packs of reading-related activities including colouring sheets, puzzles, games, author videos, and plenty of reading ideas.
JOIN AN online READING GROUP
Reading Groups for Everyone is the UK’s largest reading group network.
This is the place to go – whether you’re already in a reading group, want to join one or would like to start a new one. Open a free account and join online groups to suit your tastes. Bring your own coffee and cake.
DISCOVER EXCITING NEW AUTHORS AND READS
Who else writes like... is a cracking idea if you enjoy reading fiction.
With a click or two you can browse by genre, go straight to a writer of interest and find other authors who write similar stuff to your usual favourites. You could check out characters and series, or catch up with the latest prize-winning writers.
NB: This is a subscription service but the good news is that you can use your North Yorkshire library card for free login. Simply add the four-character prefix NYC- in front of your library membership number.
GIVE YOUR EARS A TREAT
You don’t have to read books to enjoy them. You can listen to them too.
eAudio books are available free from Overdrive and Libby using your North Yorkshire library card, giving you access to a wealth of great listening. Check out the collection here.
Then there’s Auntie Beeb’s very classy BBC 2 Literary Hub to fill you to bursting with pure booky goodness. Vegan-friendly and no TV licence needed either.
ENJOY A series? READ THEM IN ORDER
Book Series In Order is really handy if you’re a bit fussy and like reading book series in their correct order.
It provides lists of series by author or by a particular character or series e.g. Lee Child – Jack Reacher. It gives you the publication order of an author’s books as well as the right chronological order of a particular book series.
Over 10,000 authors are listed and more are being added constantly. If you want to dig out more books by a favourite author or find more books in your favourite series, this is the place to go.
KEEP UP WITH THE NEWS
Newspapers and magazines are always a staple.
Your North Yorkshire library card gives you free access to newspapers through the Digital Library.
- PressReader provides instant online access to today’s newspapers and magazines from over 120 countries in full-colour, full-page format and in over 60 languages.
- Newsbank is ideal for exploring issues and events at local, regional, national and international level. It includes print and online-only newspapers, blogs, newswires, journals, broadcast transcripts and videos.
The only drawback is that you can’t thread their pages onto a loop of string and hang them on the back of the privy door.
FIND FANTASTIC FICTION
Fantastic Fiction lets you search and browse the work of over 50,000 best-selling fiction authors, with the latest books and series information.
Sign-up to join over 100.000 other members and follow your favourite authors. You can also keep a list of the books you want to read and track those you’ve read. It is, er, fantastic!
READ YOURSELF BETTER
Reading Well helps you understand and manage your health and well-being using well-chosen books.
The Reading Well collection has been put together by health experts and people living with particular conditions. The books are grouped into five Reading Well book lists for adults, young people and children. Many of the titles are available as free digital downloads.
OPEN A LIBRARY ACCOUNT
Don’t have a North Yorkshire library account? Get one here.
Easingwold Community Library 