12 books I’ve loved, from my book group’s curated list.
Escape AI slop by reading more books. 📚 That’s my plan for making the most of leisure time this year. One book a week. Some short. Others mostly visual — I love graphic novels. Plus a new AI & tech book group I’m starting.
Books get my eyes off screens, and my brain welcomes that break from news, vitriol, and ads. Read on for my updated guide to finding great read this year.
Bookbub spotlights discounted ebooks on its site and email newsletter.
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I’m excited to launch a new Wonder Tools book group 📚 exploring the most fascinating recent AI and tech books. Each month we’ll have a live online session with a lively discussion, and you’ll also get a book guide with quotes, highlights and insights. Occasional surprise guests will join. 💫
This new series, starting in March, is sponsored by Shortform, which publishes high-quality, in-depth guides to non-fiction books. All paid subscribers are invited! Join now for this, and free AI tool access, live monthly online workshops introducing new tools, + other inner circle benefits.
Libby has free ebooks and audiobooks from libraries in 78 countries. It works for 90% of U.S. libraries. Check out nearly anything instantly, for free, on any device. You can read your free ebooks in the app or on a Kindle.
Audio or text Check out and listen to free audiobooks or ebooks.
Multiple cards Libby lets you add cards for multiple libraries. That’s useful if a book you want has a waiting list. You can check which library has the shortest waiting list. See where you can get non-resident library cards.
Limitation: Libby is digital-only — you can’t use it for physical books. That requires a separate app or site, like the NYPL app in New York.
Kanopy provides free access to top-notch feature films and documentaries. I log in with my library card. Watch on the web, iOS or Android, or on a smart TV app like Google TV, Roku, or Amazon Fire TV. Libraries cap the number of videos you can watch monthly.
Kanopy is an excellent free alternative to Netflix if you have a library card.
Hoopla is a free app for accessing 3 million audiobooks, ebooks, comics, magazines, and music from 11,500 libraries in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Read, watch or listen in 120 languages from the web or on a mobile device. Bingepasses let you access movies, TV shows, & video courses.
World Cat tells you which library near you has a book you want. It works in multiple languages and covers 10,000 global libraries. Search for books in print, ebook, braille, or audio.
📕 Support Independent booksellers
Find the cheapest places online to buy any book: Bookfinder
Shop at an online co-op bookshop owned by readers:Tertulia
Bonus Tip: Prompt AI for personalized reading recommendations 📚
Create your own taste atlas. Make a list of books you’ve liked or learned from. Add movies and music you love too, or other interests. Share the list with Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT. Ask for recommendations based on your tastes.
🧒 Find great children’s books
Sora,the library app, not the AI video tool, is a digital library for kids. Schools make ebooks and audiobooks available on the app. It works well with graphic novels, picture books, as well as comic books and textbooks. (My family also uses Libby to check out kids books).
Epic is another popular kids ebook app. It’s fun to use, but it leans into gamification and extrinsic motivation. It entices kids with points and streaks to keep them opening the app.
Kanopy has a great kids section with video versions of books by Eric Carle, Mo Willems and other greats. It also has math and science lessons.
Another good one is https://recommendance.com/.
by Jon Cousins, whose substack (https://joncousins.substack.com) posts about how to find good books.
Thanks for the pointers to some sites I didn't know for book recommendations. But I think you missed the best of all: https://fivebooks.com/