New ways to read

New ways to read

Nowadays, being a book lover is a very tough job. With urban spaces drastically reducing, buying and storing books properly is a mammoth task. The simplest solution is to buy an eBook reader like Kindle or Kobo, provided of course, you can afford it. But then, there are a few pocket-friendly and easier alternatives too. Here you go...

AMAZON KINDLE
You don’t need to own a Kindle to access and buy from Amazon’s eBook store. The app is available for free for almost all platforms, including Windows, android and iOS. You can download eBooks from other sites and read them via the app. 

Also, you can buy books from Amazon’s digital bookstore and read them on your smartphones or tablet. iBooks is not included in the list because its Indian catalogue consists of iOS guides and free public domain books.

GUTENBERG.ORG
Named after the inventor of the printing press, this is a treasure trove of old classics. Founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart, it is the world’s oldest digital library. Most of the files are in text format, so anyone can download them and read. However, many works are available in other formats such as mobi and PDF too, to help those who read on a Kindle or an iPad. While most of the works here are in English, there are some books in other languages also.

MANGA ROCK
We have all at least heard of Pokemon, One Piece and Oldboy. Sadly, anime fans in India have gotten a raw deal. Not only is there no channel showing anime, apps such as Crunchyroll are hampered by geographical restrictions and some clumsy marketing (books are available only in dollars in Crunchyroll India app). Manga Rock is thus a good, and more importantly free option. It has all of the classic manga books online. You see an ad here and there, but they are generally not intrusive.

MARVEL UNLIMITED
Now let us turn to comics. Is there anyone in the world who has not heard about Marvel comics? Even those who have not read any of the comics will have surely seen at least one Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie. Of course, at Rs 820, it is not exactly cheap, but you get to read all the classic comics. Marvel keeps adding to the catalogues every month. 

DC Comics also has an app. Sadly, the prices are the equivalent of the original pricing in US dollars. Recently, it has taken its comics online with the DC Universe app. But it is only available in the US. They have plans eventually to roll out to other regions, but when it comes to India, nobody except the executives will be able to afford.

GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS
If you have a smartphone, you can also access Google’s online bookstore. It is available for both android and iOS. With integration in the play store, you don’t need a browser to access the catalogue. Thus, the android version users stand to gain, as iOS is yet to get the dark mode (to be able to read in the dark without straining your eyes). Both versions have a built-in dictionary if you run into vocabulary problems.

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