Bionic reading is a free tool that brings an enhanced reading experience to your current e-reading device or app. It will help you read faster and comprehend more. 

Bioning reading was developed by the Swiss startup company Bionic Reading GmbH. The tool comes with an API, so that developers could create dedicated bionic apps and extensions. With these bionic-based tools, you will be able to read ebooks, RSS feeds, and websites.

Bionic reading is not a “completely new reading experience.” It’s not revolutionary but evolutionary. You don’t have to learn anything to start using it.

Most importantly, you can read bionic-formatted books right now, with your current e-reading app or device. Maybe that’s why so many readers are so excited about it.

Bionic reading – everything you need to know

How bionic reading works

▸ Bionic reading facilitates the reading process by guiding the eyes through text with artificial fixation points. To make it short: some parts of the words are displayed in bold text. 

▸ As a result, you are focusing on the highlighted text (usually initial letters of the words) and your brain completes the rest. It saves time, because your brain “reads” faster than your eyes.

▸ The word bionic is a combination of biology and electronics. It’s a very relevant description for the new reading tool: the technology lets you read at the biological speed – the one of the brain rather than the eyes.

The difference between bionic and speed reading tools

▸ Speed reading tools, for instance the ones based on Spritz, were designed to highlight one short piece of text at a time. It required an advanced level of modification. You needed a dedicated app to read books.

▸ Speed reading apps, with a totally different way of displaying the text, were hard to associate with books. Because books are not only about the text. They are also about the container – the page layout, margins, font size, or line height. The lack of the familiar container was one of the main reasons speed reading apps were not widely embraced.

▸ Bionic reading tools do a simple thing: they rewrite the plain text to include the bold formatting. The modification affects the text only. The container is untouched.

You can read a bionic book as any other ebook

Bionic reading tools rewrite the given text, and the outcome is the bionic-formatted text. There is no need to create a special format to contain bionic text.

When it comes to bionic reading, the word “conversion” is irrelevant. You rewrite the text, not converse it to another format.

If you input an epub file into the bionic reading tool, you will get an epub file back. And this is a regular epub file you can add to an Apple Books app on your iPad or a Kindle e-reader (yes, you can read epub files on your Kindle).

This bionic-formatted book is fully compatible with your current e-reading solution. It can be used the same way as any other ebook you have:

• Highlight the text
• Make notes
• Share the highlighted text
• Change line height, font face, or color theme
• Track reading progress
• Look up words
• Translate words or text passages

This 100% compatibility is possible because the only modification is adding bold formatting.

Bionic reading is an addition, not a replacement

You can add bionic-formatted books to your current e-reading app or device. You don’t sacrifice anything. You don’t have to switch to another app to read bionic books.

Bionic is more like another reading mode than another reading ecosystem. Your current book-reading app can hold both regular and bionic ebooks.

Bionic reading is a simple tool. It is quite possible that ebook platforms may embrace it, offering a native “bionic mode” in their e-reading apps. Obviously, everything depends on how popular bionic reading becomes among end users.

Bionic reading example

You don’t have to convert anything or go to another website to test bionic reading. Here is a passage from Stanislas Dehaene’s book Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read (affiliate link) in bionic formatting.

The reader’s brain contains a complicated set of mechanisms admirably attuned to reading. For a great many centuries, this talent remained a mystery. Today, the brain’s black box is cracked open and a true science of reading is coming into being. Advances in psychology and neuroscience over the last twenty years have begun to unravel the principles underlying the brain’s reading circuits. Modern brain imaging methods now reveal, in just a matter of minutes, the brain areas that activate when we decipher written words. Scientists can track a printed word as it progresses from the retina through a chain of processing stages, each of which is marked by an elementary question: Are these letters? What do they look like? Are they a word? What does it sound like? How is it pronounced? What does it mean?

For comparison, here is the same passage in plain text. Does your brain feel the difference?

The reader’s brain contains a complicated set of mechanisms admirably attuned to reading. For a great many centuries, this talent remained a mystery. Today, the brain’s black box is cracked open and a true science of reading is coming into being. Advances in psychology and neuroscience over the last twenty years have begun to unravel the principles underlying the brain’s reading circuits. Modern brain imaging methods now reveal, in just a matter of minutes, the brain areas that activate when we decipher written words. Scientists can track a printed word as it progresses from the retina through a chain of processing stages, each of which is marked by an elementary question: Are these letters? What do they look like? Are they a word? What does it sound like? How is it pronounced? What does it mean?

Add a bionic-formatted file to your reading device or app

Here is a quick guide on how to add bionic books to your current e-reading device or app. This method applies to all ebook files that come in epub, rtf, txt or docx format and are not protected with DRM.

You will be able to read a bionic-formatted book on your Kindle, Kobo, or Nook e-reader. You can also read it in any book app on your iPad/iPhone or Android device.

1. Create a bionic-formatted file

Open Bionic Reading online tool, then click on the “Browse File” button, and add the book. 

After the conversion is complete, click on the arrow icon in the bottom right and pick up “EPUB” on the right. Epub is the most popular ebook file format, which is now also supported by Amazon Kindle.

2. Send the file to your e-reading device or app

The bionic-formatted document is a regular epub file, and you can add it to your current e-reading program without any problem.

The easiest way to add your own file to a book-reading app is to send it as an attachment to your email address, open this email on your destination device, tap the attachment, and select the book app you want the file to read with.

Benefits of bionic reading

Is bionic reading worth trying? Here is the summary of benefits:

▸ Bionic-formatted text lets you read faster, comprehend more, and stay focused for a longer time. It’s not meant to make you a speed reading master. It’s meant to make you read and understand more.

▸ Bionic books can be read in any current e-reading device or applications. There is no need to buy and download a dedicated app. There is no need to switch to another app to read bionic-formatted books.

▸ Bionic books preserve the original container of the reading tool you use. They don’t change the reading experience – they just enhance it.

▸ The idea behind bionic reading is simple and is about adding a bold formatting to text. Therefore, the chances are high that bionic reading will be embraced by both ebook lovers and ebook platforms.

Bionic reading – usage tips

As bionic reading is based on highlighting parts of the words, the main goal would be to find the formatting option that works best for you.

Find optimal bionic intensity

The native Bionic Reading tool lets you adjust the settings before you download the end file. The most important one is the setting which changes the intensity of the bionic formatting. The less bold text you set, the more content you leave to your brain to “autocomplete.”

Use a simple sans serif font

Once the bionic file is loaded into your e-reader or book-reading app, I recommend changing the font face to the simplest available. Helvetica or Arial are the best ones. They are sans serif fonts, with a distinctive visual difference between the regular and bold version. Focusing on highlighted text will be easier.

Increase a font size

You can play with the settings to find the font size that is most efficient in providing the optimal level of attention focus without making your brain tired.

I realized that increasing the font size a little significantly improves the readability of the text and how much of it you comprehend.

Don’t use color

The bionic enabling tool from Bionic Reading GmbH is using the bold formatting as a way to highlight text. I expect that sooner or later the tools will arrive that use the color for this purpose. While it may work in websites and RSS readers, I don’t think it may be a good idea when you export a bionic-formatted file to your book-reading app.

First, you won’t see the color on your e-reader. Even in the book app, the color might work well in a light mode, but it may get ugly when you switch the theme to dark.

Use the bionic and regular version

To test how bionic reading works for you, I recommend adding to your e-reader or e-reading app two epub files: the regular one, and the one with bionic formatting. It’s good for comparison, but it’s also good if you want to give yourself a little more time to embrace the bionic reading experience.

Don’t rush with bionic reading

Bionic reading lets you read faster, but it doesn’t mean you have to rush to embrace it. Download a few bionic-formatted books to your e-reader, and read them once in a while. 

No one is forcing you to finish a bionic-formatted book in one sitting. If you want to come back to a classic version, you can always do it.

Make bionic books a part of your reading experience. Take your time.

Happy bionic reading!

Keep exploring. Here are other popular lists:

Got an iPad? Enjoy new books from Janet Evanovich, Ken Follett, John le Carré or Danielle Steel, using your favorite iPad or iPhone book reading app.

You don’t need a Kindle to read Kindle books. You don’t need a Nook e-reader or tablet to read books from Barnes & Noble. You don’t need a Kobo to read Kobo books.

If you have an iPad, you can read books from your favorite ebook store by downloading a free app from the App Store. Or you can download a few book reading iPad apps and optimize the experience, as well as selection of books.

In the following list, you will see the books that are worth reading in the months to come. The roundup is based on several rankings and lists: Best Books of the Year according to Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Apple; the ranking of Top 100 bestsellers in the Kindle Store, Notable Books by The New York Times, as well as the hottest new releases of 2022.

Jump to the list

Under each title, you will see a shortened blurb, length (a number of pages of the print version), category, and release date. Most books have been published, and the rest can be already preordered. We provide links to four major book platforms: Apple Books, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and Rakuten Kobo.

When picking up an e-reading platform for your iPad or iPhone, please keep in mind that only Apple Books app has a built-in bookstore, s hat you can buy books without leaving it. To buy books from other ebook platforms, you will have to use their respective websites.

Still don’t know which book app to use to read books on your iPad or iPhone? Here is a quick overview:

Apple Books – it’s Apple default e-reading app. The app is clear and easy to use and it offers not only ebooks, but also audiobooks. It’s the app that has the highest level of integration with iOS and iPadOS.

Amazon Kindle – the app will connect you with the largest and most advanced ebook platform in the world. It offers helpful features, such as X-Ray reference tool, Page Flip in-book navigation, or access to library ebooks.

Nook – the app is a convenient way to access and read Nook books that you have purchased in the Barnes & Noble online store. The platform offers 75 thousand free books from the public domain and you can get the instantly to the app.

Kobo Books – just like Apple Books, the Kobo app can handle both ebooks and audiobooks, so there is no need to download another app from a dedicated audiobook provider. The audiobooks player is beautifully designed, and its integrated with CarPlay.

Which book or books are you planning to read on your iPad, and with which app?

Best books for your iPad and iPhone in 2022

Clean(ish)

Gin Stephens

From the New York Times bestselling author of Fast. Feast. Repeat. Gin Stephens comes a new book that will help readers on real foods and a healthier home environment free of obvious toxins, without fixating on perfection. By living clean(ish), our bodies’ natural processes become streamlined and more effective, while we enjoy a vibrant life.

Instead of aiming for perfection (which is impossible) or changing everything at once (which is hard, and rarely leads to lasting results), you’ll cut through the confusion, lose the fear, and embrace the freedom that comes from becoming clean(ish).

As you learn how to lower your toxic load through small changes, smart swaps, and simple solutions, you’ll evolve simply and naturally toward a clean(ish) lifestyle that works for your body and your life!

• Category: Nutrition
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
• Print book length: 418 pages
• Release date: January 4, 2022

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Man Who Died Twice

Richard Osman

From Richard Osman comes the second novel in the bestselling Thursday Murder Club mystery series, soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg.

The members of the club – Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim – are looking forward to a bit of peace after their recent murder case. They head to their posh retirement village to rest.

Soon after, an unexpected visitor arrives, desperate for their help. He’s been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men.

As night follows day, the first body is found. Can our four friends catch the killer before the killer catches them? And if they find the diamonds, too?

• Category: Mystery & Crime
• Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
• Print book length: 365 pages
• Release date: September 28, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Recovery Agent

Janet Evanovich

Besides Game On, the 28th book in the Stephanie Plum series, Janet Evanovich is releasing in 2022 a brand new book series that blends wild adventure, hugely appealing characters, and pitch-perfect humor.

In The Recovery Agent, the #1 New York Times bestselling author is introducing Gabriela Rose. She’s hired by individuals and companies seeking lost treasures, stolen heirlooms, or missing assets of any kind. She’s reliable, cool under pressure, and well trained in weapons of all types.

Gabriela sets off for the jungles of Peru in pursuit of the Ring of Solomon and the lost treasure of Cortez. But this particular job comes with a huge problem attached to it – Gabriela’s ex-husband, Rafer. It’s Rafer who has the map that possibly points the way to the treasure, and he’s not about to let Gabriela find it without him.

• Category: Humorous Fiction
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Print book length: 320 pages
• Release date: March 22, 2022

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Never

Ken Follett

The new must-read epic from master storyteller Ken Follett: more than a thriller, it’s an action-packed, globe-spanning drama set in the present day.

A shrinking oasis in the Sahara Desert; a stolen US Army drone; an uninhabited Japanese island; and one country’s secret stash of deadly chemical poisons: all these play roles in a relentlessly escalating crisis.

Struggling to prevent the outbreak of world war are a young woman intelligence officer; a spy working undercover with jihadists; a brilliant Chinese spymaster; and Pauline herself, beleaguered by a populist rival for the next president election.

• Category: Military Thrillers
• Publisher: Viking
• Print book length: 813 pages
• Release date: November 9, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

Nikole Hannah-Jones

In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years.

This is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States.

The 1619 Project reveals truth around American society’s founding and construction – and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary life in the USA.

• Category: Black & African American History
• Publisher: One World
• Print book length: 539 pages
• Release date: November 16, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Silverview

John le Carré

In his last completed novel, John le Carré turns his focus to the world that occupied his writing for the past sixty years – the secret world itself.

Julian Lawndsley has renounced his high-flying job in the city for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small English seaside town. But only a couple of months into his new career, Julian’s evening is disrupted by a visitor.

Edward, a Polish émigré living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julian’s family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise.

• Category: Espionage Thrillers
• Publisher: Viking
• Print book length: 223 pages
• Release date: October 12, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook

Smart Growth

Whitney Johnson

Whitney Johnson is the CEO of boutique consultancy WLJ Advisors and an expert on helping high-growth organizations develop high-growth individuals. In Smart Growth he shares tips helping people and organizations grow their potential and become the self they want to be.

But how do we grow? It turns out it happens in a predictable way, which means we can understand where we are in our growth and chart a way forward.

The book explains the three phases of the growth: the Launch Point, the Sweet Spot, and the High End. Compelling examples of successful people will show you when and why growth is slow, how to keep going, what to do when growth and learning are almost too fast to keep up with, and how to leap from one growth journey to another.

• Category: Business Teams
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Print book length: 278 pages
• Release date: January 11, 2022

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Termination Shock

Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson’s sweeping new novel transports readers to a near-future world in which the greenhouse effect has inexorably resulted in a whirling-dervish troposphere of super storms, rising sea levels, global flooding, and deadly pandemics.

Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, Termination Shock brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming.

One man – visionary billionaire restaurant chain magnate T.R. Schmidt – has a big idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as “elemental.” But will it work?

• Category: Disaster Fiction
• Publisher: William Morrow
• Print book length: 736 pages
• Release date: November 16, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Run, Rose, Run

Dolly Parton, James Patterson

From America’s most beloved superstar and one of the world’s greatest storytellers comes a thriller about a young singer-songwriter on the rise and on the run, and determined to do whatever it takes to survive.

She’s a star on the rise, singing about the hard life behind her. Nashville is where she’s come to claim her destiny. It’s also where the darkness she’s fled might find her.

Lisa Gardner calls the novel “taut and exciting.” She appreciates Parton’s insider knowledge that’s cleverly combined with Patterson’s suspense mastery.

• Category: Southern Fiction
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Print book length: 448 pages
• Release date: March 7, 2022

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

Brené Brown

In Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human.

As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances.

Brené Brown believes that if we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is what Atlas of the Heart is about.

• Category: Personal Success
• Publisher: Random House
• Print book length: 318 pages
• Release date: November 30, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Sentence

Louise Erdrich

In this stunning and timely novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich creates a wickedly funny ghost story, a tale of passion, of a complex marriage, and of a woman’s relentless errors.

A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store’s most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls’ Day, but she simply won’t leave the store.

Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading “with murderous attention,” must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.

• Category: Ghost Fiction
• Publisher: Harper
• Print book length: 416 pages
• Release date: November 9, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Quicksilver

Dean Koontz

#1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz takes a surprising and exhilarating road trip with a man in pursuit of his strange past.

Quinn Quicksilver was born a mystery – abandoned at three days old on a desert highway in Arizona. Raised in an orphanage, never knowing his parents, Quinn had a happy if unexceptional life. Until the day of “strange magnetism.” It compelled him to drive out to the middle of nowhere. It helped him find a coin worth a lot of money.

And it practically saved his life when two government agents showed up in the diner in pursuit of him. Now Quinn is on the run from those agents and who knows what else, fleeing for his life.

• Category: Conspiracy Thrillers
• Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
• Print book length: 365 pages
• Release date: January 25, 2022

⇢ Kindle

How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them

Barbara F. Walter

In How Civil Wars Start, a leading political scientist Barbara F. Walter examines the dramatic rise in violent extremism around the globe and sounds the alarm on the increasing likelihood of a second civil war in the United States.

Barbara F. Walter has spent her career studying civil conflict in places like Iraq and Sri Lanka, but now she has become increasingly worried about her own country.

Political violence rips apart several towns in southwest Texas. A far-right militia plots to kidnap the governor of Michigan and try her for treason. An armed mob of Trump supporters and conspiracy theorists storms the U.S. Capitol. Are these isolated incidents? Or is this the start of something bigger?

• Category: History of Individual Wars
• Publisher: Crown
• Print book length: 306 pages
• Release date: January 11, 2022

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Flying Angels

Danielle Steel

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel, comes a World War II story that brings together six remarkable young flight nurses, who face the challenges of war and its many heartbreaks and victories as unsung heroes.

Risking their lives on perilous missions, they join the elite Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron and fly into enemy territory almost daily to rescue wounded soldiers from the battlefield.

Audrey and Lizzie make enormous sacrifices to save lives alongside an extraordinary group of nurses: Alex, who longs to make a difference in the world; Louise, a bright mind who faced racial prejudice growing up in the South; Pru, a selfless leader with a heart of gold; and Emma, whose confidence and grit push her to put everything on the line for her patients.

• Category: Historical Fiction
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Print book length: 288 pages
• Release date: November 23, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Lives of Literature: Reading, Teaching, Knowing

Arnold Weinstein

Why do we read literature? For Arnold Weinstein, the author of The Lives of Literature, the answer is clear: literature allows us to become someone else. Literature changes us by giving us intimate access to an astonishing variety of other lives, experiences, and places across the ages.

Reflecting on a lifetime of reading, teaching, and writing, the book explores, with passion, humor, and whirring intellect, a professor’s life, the thrills and traps of teaching, and, most of all, the power of literature to lead us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and the worlds we inhabit.

Mixing passion and humor, this personal work of literary criticism demonstrates how the greatest books illuminate our lives.

• Category: Literary Criticism
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Print book length: 350 pages
• Release date: January 18, 2022

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Lincoln Highway

Amor Towles

Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles’s third novel tells the story of eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson who has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter.

Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car.

Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction – to the City of New York.

• Category: Coming of Age Fiction
• Publisher: Viking
• Print book length: 588 pages
• Release date: October 5, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive

Philipp Dettmer

Immune is a gorgeously illustrated deep dive into the immune system that will forever change how you think about your body, from the creator of the popular science YouTube channel Kurzgesagt.

Second only to the human brain in its complexity, it is one of the oldest and most critical facets of life on Earth. Without it, you would die within days.

Each chapter delves into an element of the immune system, including defenses like antibodies and inflammation as well as threats like bacteria, allergies, and cancer.

Philipp Dettmer reveals why boosting your immune system is actually nonsense, how parasites sneak their way past your body’s defenses, how viruses work, and what goes on in your wounds when you cut yourself.

• Category: Anatomy Science
• Publisher: Random House
• Print book length: 312 pages
• Release date: November 2, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Bewilderment

Richard Powers

The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife.

Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He’s also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face.

As his son grows more troubled, Theo hopes to keep him off psychoactive drugs. He learns of an experimental neurofeedback treatment to bolster Robin’s emotional control, one that involves training the boy on the recorded patterns of his mother’s brain.

• Category: Political fiction
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
• Print book length: 287 pages
• Release date: September 21, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Books of Jacob

Olga Tokarczuk

The Nobel Prize–winner’s richest, most sweeping and ambitious novel yet follows the comet-like rise and fall of a mysterious, messianic religious leader as he blazes his way across eighteenth-century Europe.

In the mid-eighteenth century, as new ideas—and a new unrest – begin to sweep the Continent, a young Jew of mysterious origins arrives in a village in Poland. Before long, he has changed not only his name but his persona; visited by what seem to be ecstatic experiences, Jacob Frank casts a charismatic spell that attracts an increasingly fervent following.

In the decade to come, Frank will traverse the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires with throngs of disciples in his thrall as he reinvents himself again and again, converts to Islam and then Catholicism, is pilloried as a heretic and revered as the Messiah, and wreaks havoc on the conventional order, Jewish and Christian alike, with scandalous rumors of his sect’s secret rituals and the spread of his increasingly iconoclastic beliefs.

• Category: Metaphysical Fiction
• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Print book length: 992 pages
• Release date: February 1, 2022

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Anthony Doerr

A highly anticipated novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of All the Light We Cannot See.

The book’s plot is set in three dimensions: Constantinople in the fifteenth century; a small town in present-day Idaho; an interstellar ship decades from now.

Constantinople. Thirteen-year-old Anna learns to read, and in this ancient city, famous for its libraries, she finds a book, the story of Aethon, who longs to be turned into a bird so that he can fly to a utopian paradise in the sky.

Five hundred years later, in a library in Idaho, octogenarian Zeno, rehearses five children in a play adaptation of Aethon’s story.

In a near future, on the interstellar ship Argos, Konstance is alone in a vault, copying on scraps of sacking the story of Aethon. She has never set foot on our planet.

• Category: Historical Fiction
• Publisher: Scribner
• Print book length: 637 pages
• Release date: September 28, 2021

⇢ Apple ⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

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[ef-archive number=5 tag=”lists”]

Get ready for a long winter with exciting reads from George R.R. Martin, Michelle Obama, John Grisham, Veronica Roth, or Cormac McCarthy.

This winter is going to be full of books, hot tea, and candles. On October 18, 2022, alone, as many as five sure-fire ebook bestsellers were released.

Among them, you will find the newest novel by John Irving, the first one in seven years. The Last Chairlift is a ghost story, a love story, and a lifetime of sexual politics.

Paul Newman’s biography, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man, is culled from thousands of pages of transcripts, based on conversations between Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern.

Lee Child and Andrew Child released the new Jack Reacher novel, No Plan B, just in time to meet the hype caused by the Amazon Prime Reacher TV series starring Alan Ritchson.

Veronica Roth returns with a new dystopian novel, following the poster girl of the oppressive regime. She is imprisoned by revolutionaries for ten years but can earn her freedom if she finds a missing girl who was stolen by the old regime.

Plus, there is a new memoir by Michelle Obama (The Light We Carry), an illustrated history of the Targaryen Dynasty (The Rise of the Dragon by George R.R. Martin), and, my favorite, The Philosophy of Modern Song – Bob Dylan’s poignant and profound essays that are ostensibly about music, but include meaningful reflections on the nature of the human condition.

As usual, the list includes a quick blurb, release date, category, publisher, number of pages, and links to leading ebook stores: Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple Books.

Which books are you going to read this winter or give as a gift to a book lover in your life?

[ef-reco id=”154934″ title=”Read also” info=”Top article”]

Best hot new ebook releases for winter 2022-23

The Boys from Biloxi

October 18

John Grisham

The #1 New York Times bestselling author returns to Mississippi with the riveting story of two sons of immigrant families who grow up as friends, but ultimately find themselves on opposite sides of the law.

Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the sixties and were childhood friends. As teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith’s father became a legendary prosecutor. Hugh’s father became the “Boss” of Biloxi’s criminal underground. Keith went to law school and followed in his father’s footsteps. Hugh preferred the nightlife and worked in his father’s clubs.

The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom.

Life itself hangs in the balance in The Boys from Biloxi, a sweeping saga that’s rich with history and with a large cast of unforgettable characters.

• Category: Legal Thrillers
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Print book length: 453 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Poster Girl

October 18

Veronica Roth

#1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth tells the story of a woman’s desperate search for a missing girl after the collapse of the oppressive dystopian regime.

For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under it, as well as constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action.

Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city.

Sonya, former poster girl for the Delegation, has been imprisoned for ten years when an old enemy comes to her with a deal: find a missing girl who was stolen from her parents by the old regime, and earn her freedom.

• Category: Dystopian Fiction
• Publisher: William Morrow
• Print book length: 288 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man

October 18

Paul Newman

In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern, began an extraordinary project. Stuart was to compile an oral history, to have Newman’s family and friends and those who worked closely with him, talk about the actor’s life. And then Newman would work with Stewart and give his side of the story.

The result is an extraordinary memoir, culled from thousands of pages of transcripts. The book is insightful, revealing, and surprising. Newman’s voice is powerful, sometimes funny, sometimes painful, always meeting that high standard of searing honesty.

The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man is the raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an American icon. The greatest movie star of the past 75 years covers everything: his traumatic childhood, his career, his drinking, his thoughts on Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor, his greatest roles, acting, and his intimate life with Joanne Woodward.

• Category: Biographies
• Publisher: Knopf
• Print book length: 320 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Last Chairlift

October 18

John Irving

John Irving, one of the world’s greatest novelists, returns with his first novel in seven years—a ghost story, a love story, and a lifetime of sexual politics.

In Aspen, Colorado, in 1941, Rachel Brewster is a slalom skier at the National Downhill and Slalom Championships. Little Ray, as she is called, finishes nowhere near the podium, but she manages to get pregnant. Back home, in New England, Little Ray becomes a ski instructor.

Her son, Adam, grows up in a family that defies conventions and evades questions concerning the eventful past. Years later, looking for answers, Adam will go to Aspen. In the Hotel Jerome, where he was conceived, Adam will meet some ghosts; in The Last Chairlift, they aren’t the first or the last ghosts he sees.

• Category: Political Fiction
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Print book length: 908 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Abyss: Nuclear Crisis Cuba 1962

October 18

Max Hastings

In The Abyss, Max Hastings turns his focus to one of the most terrifying events of the mid-twentieth century—the thirteen days in October 1962 when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war.

Hastings looks at the conflict with fresh eyes, focusing on the people at the heart of the crisis – the US President John F. Kennedy, Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, and a host of their advisors.

Combining in-depth research with Hasting’s well-honed insights, The Abyss is a human history that unfolds on a wide, colorful canvas. As the action moves back and forth from Moscow to Washington, Hastings seeks to explain, as much as to describe, the attitudes and conduct of the Soviets, Cubans, and Americans, and to recreate the tension and heightened fears of countless innocent bystanders whose lives hung in the balance.

• Category: Warfare History
• Publisher: Harper
• Print book length: 576 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Passenger

October 25

Cormac McCarthy

The best-selling, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Road returns with the first of a two-volume masterpiece: The Passenger.

1980, Pass Christian, Mississippi: It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wet suit and plunges from the Coast Guard tender into darkness. His dive light illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats. Missing from the crash site are the pilot’s flight bag, the plane’s black box, and the tenth passenger. But how?

A collateral witness to machinations that can only bring him harm, Western is shadowed in body and spirit – by men with badges; by the ghost of his father, inventor of the bomb that melted glass and flesh in Hiroshima; and by his sister, the love and ruin of his soul.

The Passenger is the story of a salvage diver, haunted by loss, afraid of the watery deep, pursued for a conspiracy beyond his understanding, and longing for a death he cannot reconcile with God.

• Category: Psychological Literary Fiction
• Publisher: Knopf
• Print book length: 400 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Famous Dynasty

October 25

Natalie Livingstone

From the East End of London to the Eastern seaboard of the United States, from Bletchley Park to Buchenwald, and from the Vatican to Palestine, Natalie Livingstone follows the extraordinary lives of the Rothschild women from the dawn of the nineteenth century to the early years of the twenty-first.

As Jews in a Christian society and women in a deeply patriarchal family, they were outsiders. Excluded from the family bank, they forged their own distinct dynasty of daughters and nieces, mothers and aunts. They became influential hostesses and talented diplomats, choreographing electoral campaigns, advising prime ministers, advocating for social reform, and trading on the stock exchange.

Absorbing and compulsive, The Women of Rothschild gives voice to the complicated, privileged, and gifted women whose vision and tenacity shaped history.

• Category: Biographies
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
• Print book length: 707 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

No Plan B: A Jack Reacher Novel

October 25

Lee Child

After the success of an Amazon Prime Reacher TV series starring Alan Ritchson, many fans of Jack Reacher re-read earlier thrillers, but make sure to reach for the newest novel from Lee Child and Andrew Child: No Plan B.

In Gerrardsville, Colorado, a woman dies under the wheels of a moving bus. The death is ruled a suicide. But Jack Reacher saw what really happened: A man in a gray hoodie and jeans, moving stealthily, pushed the victim to her demise—before swiftly grabbing the dead woman’s purse and strolling away.

When another homicide is ruled an accident, Reacher knows this is no coincidence. With a killer on the loose, Reacher has no time to waste to track down those responsible.

According to Karin Slaughter, No Plan B is a perfectly plotted, fast-paced thriller, with bigger twists than ever before.

• Category: Thrillers
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Print book length: 361 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Rise of the Dragon: An Illustrated History of the Targaryen Dynasty

October 25

George R. R. Martin

This lavish visual history—featuring over 180 all-new illustrations—is a stunning introduction to House Targaryen, the iconic family at the heart of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon.

The Rise of the Dragon chronicles the creation and rise of Targaryen power in Westeros, covering the history first told in George R. R. Martin’s epic Fire & Blood, from Aegon Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros through to the infamous Dance of the Dragons – the bloody civil war that nearly undid Targaryen rule for good.

Packed with all-new artwork, the Targaryens – and their dragons – come vividly to life in this deluxe reference book. Perfect for fans steeped in the lore of Westeros, as well as those who first meet the Targaryens in the HBO series.

• Category: Fantasy
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press
• Print book length: 352 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Philosophy of Modern Song

November 1

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010, offers his extraordinary insight into the nature of popular music. He writes over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone.

He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal.

These essays are written in Dylan’s unique prose. They are mysterious and mercurial, poignant and profound, and often laugh-out-loud funny. And while they are ostensibly about music, they are really meditations and reflections on the human condition.

• Category: Music Essays
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Print book length: 352 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Stroke of Winter

November 1

Wendy Webb

In the tourist town of Wharton, on the coast of Lake Superior, Tess Bell is renovating her old family home into a bed-and-breakfast during the icy dead of winter.

As the house’s restoration commences, a shuttered art studio is revealed. Inside are paintings Tess’s late grandfather, beloved and celebrated artist Sebastian Bell, hid away for generations. But these appear to be the works of a twisted mind, almost unrecognizable as paintings she and others familiar with his art would expect. 

The sinister canvases raise disturbing questions for Tess, sparking nightmares and igniting in her an obsession to unearth the truth around their origins.

Note: The ebook is available exclusively on Amazon.

• Category: Gothic Fiction
• Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
• Print book length:  300 pages

⇢ Kindle

Love and War in the Jewish Quarter

November 8

Dora Levy Mossanen

A breathtaking journey across Iran where war and superstition, jealousy and betrayal, and passion and loyalty rage behind the impenetrable walls of mansions and the crumbling houses of the Jewish Quarter.

Against the tumultuous background of World War II, Dr. Yaran will find himself caught in the thrall of the anti-Semitic Governor General, the most powerful man in the country. Dr. Yaran falls in love with the Governor General’s defiant wife, Velvet, upending not only the life of the doctor’s beloved daughter, but the entire community.

In his quest to save everything and everyone he loves, Dr. Yaran will navigate the intersections of magic, science, lust, and treachery.

• Category: Historical Fiction
• Publisher: Post Hill Press
• Print book length: 295 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Fall of Númenor: And Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth

November 15

J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a “dark age, and not very much of its history is (or need be) told.” 

And for many years readers would need to be content with the tantalizing glimpses of it found within the pages of The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, including the forging of the Rings of Power, the building of the Barad-dûr and the rise of Sauron.

Now, adhering to the timeline of “The Tale of Years” in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, editor Brian Sibley has assembled into one comprehensive volume a new chronicle of the Second Age of Middle-earth, told substantially in the words of Tolkien from the various published texts, with new illustrations in watercolor and pencil by the doyen of Tolkien art, Alan Lee. 

• Category: Fantasy
• Publisher: William Morrow
• Print book length: 320 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times

November 15

Michelle Obama

In an inspiring follow-up to her critically acclaimed, #1 bestselling memoir Becoming, former First Lady Michelle Obama shares practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in today’s highly uncertain world.

Michelle Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress.

How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?

The Light We Carry inspires readers to examine their own lives, identify their sources of gladness, and connect meaningfully in a turbulent world.

• Category: Biographies
• Publisher: Crown
• Print book length: 336 pages

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Apple ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo

Keep reading. Here are other popular lists on Ebook Friendly:

[ef-archive number=5 tag=”lists”]

We’ve rounded up the best new ebooks across popular categories: books by John Grisham, Rachel Joyce, Seth Godin, Anthony Horowitz, and Shana Corey.

Hundreds of new books will be published in the 2020-21 reading season. If you are want to find the best reads for your e-reader or book-reading app, make sure to explore the following round-up.

In John Grisham’s A Time for Mercy, Jake Brigance returns to help Drew Gamble, a timid sixteen-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy in Clanton, Mississippi.

Miss Benson’s Beetle is an uplifting novel from the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. The book follows two women on a life-changing adventure, where they must risk everything to discover their best selves.

Jump to the list

Finally, there is Seth Godin’s The Practice. The little book explains what it takes to turn your passion from a private distraction to a productive contribution, and find the courage to share your creative work.

As usual, the list include a quick blurb, a release date, and links to leading ebook stores: Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple Books.

Which books are you going to read this winter or give as a gift to a book lover in your life?

Best ebooks to read in winter 2020-21

A Time for Mercy

October 13

John Grisham

Jake Brigance is back – the hero of A Time to Kill, one of the most popular novels of our time, returns in a courtroom drama that takes place in Clanton, Mississippi.

Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid sixteen-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy.

Many in Clanton want a swift trial and the death penalty, but Brigance digs in and discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye.

Jake’s fierce commitment to saving Drew from the gas chamber puts his career, his financial security, and the safety of his family on the line.

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

Miss Benson’s Beetle

November 3

Rachel Joyce

From the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes an uplifting novel about two women on a life-changing adventure, where they must risk everything to discover their best selves.

It’s 1950. London is still reeling from World War II. Two British women, Margery Benson and Enid Pretty, find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

The Practice: Shipping Creative Work

November 3

Seth Godin

From the bestselling author of Linchpin and The Dip comes a little book that will inspire artists, writers, and entrepreneurs to stretch and commit to putting their best work out into the world.

Based on the breakthrough Akimbo workshop, The Practice will help you get unstuck and find the courage to make and share creative work. Godin insists that writer’s block is a myth, that consistency is far more important than authenticity, and that experiencing the imposter syndrome is a sign that you’re a well-adjusted human.

Most of all, he shows you what it takes to turn your passion from a private distraction to a productive contribution, the one you’ve been seeking to share all along.

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

Sapiens: A Graphic History: The Birth of Humankind (Vol. 1)

November 3

Yuval Noah Harari

In the first volume of the full-color illustrated adaptation of his groundbreaking book, renowned historian Yuval Harari tells the story of humankind’s creation and evolution, exploring the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.”

Featuring 256 pages of full-color illustrations and easy-to-understand text covering the first part of the full-length original edition, this adaptation of the mind-expanding book furthers the ongoing conversation as it introduces Harari’s ideas to a wide new readership.

One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of the Stapletons

November 10

James Lovegrove

Five years after Sherlock Holes solved the mystery of the Hound of the Baskervilles, another monstrous creature stalks across Dartmoor.

Henry Baskerville is living contentedly at Baskerville Hall with his new wife Audrey and their three-year-old son Harry. One day, Audrey’s lifeless body is found on the moors, drained of blood.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are summoned to Sir Henry’s aid, and our heroes must face a marauding beast that is the very stuff of nightmares.

It seems that Stapleton may not have perished in the Great Grimpen Mire after all…

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

Moonflower Murders

November 10

Anthony Horowitz

Lovers of Agatha Christie will be excited to delve into the new, brilliantly complex thriller from the New York Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz, featuring the famous literary detective Atticus Pund.

Retired publisher Susan Ryeland, living a good life on a Greek island, decides to return to England to solve the mystery described in the fictional Magpie Murders. A young Cecily Trehearne read the mystery and believed that the man convicted of murder is innocent. And now she is missing.

Relentlessly suspenseful and full of twists that will keep readers guessing with each revelation and clue, Moonflower Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction.

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

Magic: A History

November 10

Chris Gosden

An Oxford professor of archaeology explores the unique history of magic – the oldest and most neglected strand of human behavior and its resurgence today.

Chris Gosden restores magic to its essential place in the history of the world—revealing it to be an enduring element of human behavior that plays an important role for individuals and cultures.

Drawing on decades of research around the world – touching on the first known horoscope, a statue ordered into exile, and the mystical power of tattoos – Gosden shows what magic can offer us today, and how we might use it to rethink our relationship with the world.

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

The Sea Gate

November 11

Jane Johnson

After Rebecca’s mother dies, she goes through her mail and finds a handwritten envelope. In it is a letter that will change her life forever.

Olivia, her mother’s elderly cousin, needs help to save her beloved home. Rebecca immediately goes to visit Olivia in Cornwall only to find a house full of secrets – but Olivia is nowhere to be found.

It turns out, the old woman is stuck in hospital with no hope of being discharged until her house is made habitable again.

Rebecca sets to work restoring the home to its former glory, but as she peels back the layers of paint and grime, she uncovers even more buried secrets.

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

Piece of My Heart

November 17

Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke

A ticking clock and fresh romance combine in this exhilarating follow up to the bestselling You Don’t Own Me, a riveting page-turner from Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke.

Television producer Laurie Moran and her fiancée, Alex Buckley, are just days away from their mid-summer wedding, when things take a dark turn. Alex’s seven-year-old nephew, Johnny, vanishes from the beach.

A search party begins and witnesses recall Johnny playing in the water and collecting shells behind the beach shack, but no one remembers seeing him after the morning.

As the sun sets, Johnny’s skim board washes up to shore, and everyone realizes that he could be anywhere, even under water.

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science

November 17

Seb Falk

The Light Ages offers a gripping story of the struggles and successes of an ordinary man in a precarious world and conjures a vivid picture of medieval life as we have never seen it before.

Cambridge science historian Seb Falk takes us on a tour of medieval science through the eyes of one fourteenth-century monk, John of Westwyk.

Westwyk was an intrepid crusader, inventor, and astrologer. From multiplying Roman numerals to navigating by the stars, curing disease, and telling time with an ancient astrolabe, we learn emerging science alongside Westwyk and travel with him through the length and breadth of England and beyond its shores.

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

My Little Golden Book About Ruth Bader Ginsburg

December 1

Shana Corey

This Little Golden Book is a compelling introduction to an inspiring woman, written for the youngest readers.

From a young age, Ruth Bader Ginsburg knew that she wanted to fight for girls and women to have equal rights. She studied and worked very hard and became just the second woman – and the first Jewish woman – to be a United States Supreme Court Justice.

This is a terrific read for future trailblazers and their parents!

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

The Changing World Order

January 12

Ray Dalio

From the legendary investor Ray Dalio comes a new book that examines history’s most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those we’ve experienced in our lifetimes.

Looking back across five hundred years of history and nine major empires – including the Dutch, the British, and the American – The Changing World Order puts into perspective the cycles and forces that have driven the successes and failures of all the world’s major countries throughout history.

Dalio reveals the timeless and universal dynamics that were behind these shifts, while also offering practical principles for policymakers, business leaders, investors, and others operating in this environment.

⇢ Kindle ⇢ Nook ⇢ Kobo ⇢ Apple

Keep exploring. Here are other popular lists:

[ef-archive number=5 tag=”lists”]

If you are willing to use your new device for reading ebooks and listening to audiobooks, you are most probably going to check out free book-reading apps and audiobook players in the App Store’s Books category, and test which one suits your needs the most.

Apple Books, the native iOS book-reading app, formerly known as “iBooks” (surprisingly, many users still use this term), is no longer preloaded on your iPad and iPhone. You have to head to the App Store and download it.

You will find lots of free book-reading apps in the Books category. Which one is the best?

The most advanced and versatile apps are offered by major digital platforms.

Besides Apple, it’s Amazon Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Google Play Books. These apps are free to use, and all you need to do is sign in with the relevant account login and password.

For the Kindle app, use your Amazon credentials; the login for Google Books is the same as for Gmail.

The only problem with apps from major ebook and audiobook platforms is the lack of free content. Yes, you can find a few free titles in the Apple Books or Google Play Books, but it’s enough only to let you test the interface to decide whether this particular platform and app would be suitable.

The thing is that on the web you can find dozens of thousands of free ebooks that you can download to your iPad and iPhone. These books are available in the public domain – their intellectual property rights expired, and anyone can use them without breaking the law.

Among books available in the public domain, you will find the most popular classic titles by Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Charles Dickens, Franz Kafka, Charlotte Brontë, or Arthur Conan Doyle, to name a few authors.

The latest bestsellers from J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Margaret Atwood, Jodi Picoult, or Neil Gaiman are not available in the public domain, so you won’t see them in the following list.

Instead of pirating them, try to compare the prices on the ebook platform of your choice. From time to time, even the hottest bestsellers are offered at highly reduced prices, sometimes between $0.99 and $2.99, so it’s just a matter of subscribing to deal alerts.

Before the list, let’s briefly go through two important topics:

• How to download your own books?
• What file format to choose?

How to download my own books to iPad and iPhone?

There are four ways to do it:

• Upload a file to iCloud Drive – if you have a Mac computer, download the file to the disc and move it to the iCloud Drive folder in the Finder. Then, open the Files app on your iPad and tap the file to open it.
• Upload a file to the cloud app – you can do the same using the cloud service of your choice, such as Google Drive or Dropbox.
• Send a file via email – download a file to the computer, add it as an attachment and email yourself. Open the email on your iPad or iPhone and tap the file to open it with the compatible app.
• Use Safari on your iPad or iPhone – some sites work very well on mobile devices. Browse these sites directly on your iPad or iPhone using Safari (or any other browser), find the book, and open it directly, without the need to switch devices.

The fifth method is using directly a book-reading app. I don’t recommend it, if you have chosen the app from a major platform. These platforms don’t make it easy to find free books because they want you to buy them.

Which ebooks are compatible with my app?

Everything depends on which app you choose to serve as an ebook reader on your iPad or iPhone.

Books from the following sites are available in different file formats, so it’s just a matter of selecting the format that is compatible with your app.

To make things simple, as of 2022 all major ebook platforms, including Amazon Kindle, support epub file format.

Ebook formats for iPad and iPhone

9 sites with free books for iPad and iPhone

1. Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is the top place to download free classics from the public domain. The books that are published here are then reused by many other sites – including the ones that you find later in this overview.

The site is powered by thousands of volunteers who are first to digitize books that have just entered the public domain. Dozens of new titles are being added every month. Currently, you can choose from over 60,000 free books.

You can start from exploring the catalog of the most popular ebook downloads. The world’s most loved and adored books are here: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, works by Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain’s A Tale of Two Cities, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, or Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. And it’s just the beginning!

Project Gutenberg is the longest established site with free ebooks. It was founded by Michael S. Hart, the extraordinary tech visionary who wanted to make digital books freely available to all. Back in 1971 (to be precise, on the 4th of July), he published the first ebook in the world – the electronic version of “U.S. Declaration of Independence.” It is the No.1 book in the Project Gutenberg catalog – and it’s still there: gutenberg.org/ebooks/1.

As the site is available in a mobile version, you can browse its catalog directly on your iPad. Project Gutenberg offers also a one-click download option to three cloud services: Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft’s One Drive.

Books in epub and mobi are available in two versions: with and without illustrations and pictures from original print edition. Plus, there is an option to read each book as a html file, so you can do it on your iPad or iPhone as well, if you don’t feel like downloading the file.

Popular sections to explore:

• Top 100 books – with the number of downloads for yesterday, last week, and last 30 days.
• New books – the newest additions to Project Gutenberg, sorted by the release date.
• Fiction bookshelf – you can find here adventure books, crime and detective fiction, horrors, and romance books.
• Books in foreign languages – on Project Gutenberg, you can find hundreds of books in over 50 foreign languages.

Mobile site: Yes, available at m.gutenberg.org/
Formats: mobi, epub, text, html

2. Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the mission of “universal access to all knowledge.” The website hosts over 300 billion web pages, books, audio and video files.

The catalog of Books and Texts includes over 2.7 million files, out of which 1.4 million are always free, while 1.2 million are available to borrow. The front page highlights the most viewed books, giving you a hint of what other users were most interested in.

You can browse books by the year of release of the digital version, topics, collection, and language. Collections include American Libraries, Canadian Libraries, books from Project Gutenberg, titles from the Million Books Project, and books for children.

What’s important, the Internet Archive hosts a vast number of foreign-language books. There are over 20 languages with the number of published text works exceeding 1,000 each.

When you find the interesting book, you can read it right away in a browser viewer. Scroll down to see the list of download options in the right-side panel.

Mobile site: Yes, online viewer works on iPhone and iPad as well
Formats: mobi (called “Kindle”), epub, text, pdf, plus usually 10 more

3. Open Library

Open Library is an online platform run by the Internet Archive. It makes a vast catalog of the mother site more accessible and easier to browse.

When you go to Classic Books section, you will find all works from the Internet Archive. These ebooks are “accessible,” and it means they are free to download.

Use the search box to find the book you want to read. When you land on the book description page, you will see a list of all available digital versions, together with available download options. This feature, giving you freedom to choose from a variety of digitized print versions, is unique to the Open Library. By default, on the top of the list, you will see the most downloaded version.

You can immediately read the book by clicking or tapping the “Read” button. Choose the phone icon on the right side of the button to listen to the audio version using Read Aloud technology.

But Open Library is more than just a catalog of free classic books and texts downloaded by users. It also shows contemporary books that are free to read if you decide to borrow them. To do that, you may need to register at Open Library or find the book in your local library using WorldCat or Library Link. Each library book is marked with a “Borrow” button instead of “Read.”

Mobile site: Yes, online viewer powered by the Internet Archive
Formats: mobi, epub, text, pdf, daisy – availability of formats depends on the version of the book

4. Smashwords

Smashwords is the popular ebook platform that offers with the largest number of books published by independent authors from around the world. You can find here books in several languages, all are DRM-free, and many authors offer their publications for free.

Out of over 500,000 ebooks, well over 80,000 are free to download. A few thousands are usually on sale, with price cuts reaching 80%. Plus, many authors offer also their titles for the prices that readers set.

To quickly get to the list of free books, simply use the combination of the three top filter bars. For instance, here is the link to: All Books – Free – Over 100K Words.

You’ll need some time to learn how to navigate the site. Only the top slider features books that are chosen via the catalog selection. Underneath, you will find “Bestselling Books,” “Most Downloaded Books,” or ‘Highly Rated Books” – and most of these books are pay-what-you-like.

To enter the entire catalog of the free books, make sure to click on a “+” button in the top right corner of the “Featured New Releases” slider. This way, you will see a paged catalog of mostly free titles. However, only the book covers are visible.

Another way to search is picking up a favorite category and then limiting the results by “Free” selector at the top.

Mobile site: Yes
Formats: mobi, epub, lrf, pdf, online reader

5. Europeana Collections

Europeana is a popular platform with digitized artworks, books, and films from European libraries, museums, and cultural institutions. It includes almost 60 million items, out of which over 12 million are digitized texts of all kinds.

Opposite to the sites listed above, Europeana collects rare editions and other items you could only find in long-established libraries. Treat is as an aggregator of digitized collections from the most prestigious sources, such as Bodleian Libraries or Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Most books are offered in pdf format so this source is good only for iPad, and only if you use a book reading app that supports this file format.

To find the book, simply write down the term in a search box. Then, use the search filter on the left side to limit the number of results by media (select yes for “full text” field and then “pdf” for file format), providing country,

Mobile site: Yes
Formats: mainly pdf

6. ManyBooks

ManyBooks offers free books in a clean and friendly interface. Most books are sourced from Project Gutenberg and sites that offer books with a Creative Commons license.

In total, over 50 thousand books are available for download, all with proper covers – they would look great in your book-reading app’s library view. Plus, each book is available in several file formats, a lot more than what you can find elsewhere.

There are two disadvantages to keep in mind. First, the site displays ads. Secondly, you have to sign up if you want to download the files. There is also an online reader, but sometimes you will have to wait too long until it loads the content.

Mobile site: Yes, online reader available
Formats: epub, mobi, and many others

7. DigiLibraries

This is another site that makes searching for free ebooks a bit easier. The books are shown by category right in the front page, so you can quickly get an idea how many titles are in a topic you are most interested in.

Unfortunately, the site recently started displaying ads, and it makes using it much less pleasant.

Mobile site: Yes
Formats: epub, mobi, and pdf

8. BookRix

BookRix is a platform that offers books from self-published authors combined with free books from the public domain. A catalog of free downloadable ebooks is an essential part of the website. It’s easy to find and explore – on the top of a list, you will find the most popular categories, including literary fiction, fantasy, romance, thrillers, and young adult fiction.

When you enter a category, you will see books sorted by the popularity. On top, you will see free books offered by contemporary authors. Most classic titles are included in the Fiction category.

Books are only offered in epub format, so if you are using the Kindle iOS app, you won’t be able to add the files unless you convert them to mobi. Also, some self-published books are not available for download; you can only read them online in your browser. This feature works on mobile devices, as well.

Mobile site: Yes, browser reader available
Formats: epub

9. Bookboon

Bookboon is a company focused on providing free and paid textbooks for students and businesses.

The site offers textbooks written by professors from the world’s top universities. There are over 1,000 books that are free to download, but to do that, you have to sign up.

One thing to know is that the free books come with adverts that can take even 15% of the content of each book.

You can find on Bookboon several interesting books from the following categories: engineering, IT & programming, economics & finance, career & study advice, marketing, strategy & management, or languages.

Mobile site: Yes
Formats: pdf

Keep exploring. Here are other posts and tips:

Do you read books on your iPhone? What’s your experience? What would you improve? Did iPhone influence your reading life in any way?

Just like you, I’m a happy user of the iPhone. I’d like to share some thoughts on how this device shaped the way I read, and what I expect from books.

Do you remember when you bought your first iPhone? This image is still unbelievably crispy in my mind, even though it happened 12 years ago: a shiny black iPhone 3G pulled out from a perfect box one rainy and depressing day in October 2008.

I still keep this iPhone and I’m not going to get rid of it. It’s too important. This little device is a milestone in my life. It made me read books again.

One of the first apps I downloaded was Stanza. At that time, it was the most advanced book reading app for the iPhone – a loud and clear example that Steve Jobs was wrong saying a few months earlier in an interview for The New York Times: “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore.”

Twelve years have passed. Ebooks have become a part of daily life. They are not as inspiring as they were a few years ago. Most readers have found the perfect balance between reading print and digital books. They have learned, tested, and fixed enough to assume there is nothing else to discover. Are they right?

It’s never too late to exchange the experience. Here is my story.

[ef-reco id=”123906″ title=”Read also” info=”Top article”]

Reading books on the iPhone

When you read fiction, any other device is one device too many

What kind of books do you read the most? Is it fiction or nonfiction? Do you read textbooks or academic papers? Do you delve into picture books or use digital cookbooks in your kitchen?

If you prefer reading fiction, you don’t need a large-screen device. An iPhone (and any other smartphone, no matter how small or big it is) is perfect for reading novels, essays, or short stories.

90% of books I read is fiction and image-free nonfiction. I had a few iPads and Kindles, but I always ended up reading on the iPhone. It’s the device you don’t need to remember taking with you because you always have it.

Many users buy bigger devices for reading because they want to have a feeling of holding a real book. The 6-inch e-reader has the size of a paperback. The 10-inch iPad is comparable to textbooks. Some readers put their devices in a leather case to bring back the look and smell of an old library book.

Why should you need three devices (a smartphone, e-reader, and tablet), if you could accomplish most tasks by using just a smartphone and e-reader? Why would you need two devices, if you could accomplish most tasks with just your smartphone?

It’s true, a smartphone is not big enough to recreate the print book reading experience. It has the size of a palm and it doesn’t have the weight of something important. Does it have to?

E-readers are good for eyes. Tablets are must-have devices if you work with textbooks, and make many notes. But for someone who reads on a smartphone, they are just spare devices.

E-reader and tablet sales are decreasing not because these devices are not being improved fast enough. Many users bought these devices and had a chance to evaluate their value. There are new devices to test, naming only smart speakers, so why not giving them a chance?

The font size is what matters

Do you remember the size of your first iPhone? It was probably much smaller than the one you have right now. For instance, iPhone 3G had a 3.5-inch display with a 480 × 320 resolution. And it was already good enough for reading.

The width of the smartphone screen is similar or higher than a text block in a newspaper. If you don’t have a problem with reading a print magazine, you should not have a problem with reading on a 4-inch smartphone.

At the beginning, many users were confusing the screen size with screen resolution and font size. Their iPhone’s display was “too small because the letters were not readable.”

From the very beginning, all book reading apps come with a default feature that lets increase font size to a level that is comfortable to users.

You can make the text on your iPhone big enough to be readable. And you can make the text on your iPad small enough to be unreadable.

My previous iPhone was the 7 Plus model. I wanted two things: to keep full functionality of the iPhone, and to use an extended screen estate to read books in a more active way.

It turned out that iPhone 7 Plus was too big for the first goal, and too small for the other.

Conclusion: KISS – Keep it Small, Stupid.

Distractions are not a problem

How does using a smartphone affect your attention span? Is your ability to focus decreasing with time? Do you get distracted easier than a few years ago?

For most people, distractions become a major problem, and smartphones make it only worse. There is simply too much happening on this little outer brain. Notifications appear when you want them and when you don’t; a desire to check out Facebook timeline makes you open the app every few minutes; there are so many new apps to check out, so many Twitter users to block, and so many YouTube videos to like.

Here is good news. When used properly, the same device that creates distractions can eliminate them. It’s all about developing a habit of embracing distractions, not fighting them.

Your favorite book reading app – be it a Kindle, Nook, Kobo, or Google Books – can be a powerful tool to balance distractions and focus on a single task.

You don’t have to use it for a few hours each day. As you already know, reading for only 6 minutes can reduce stress by almost 70%.

I use three simple ways to reduce distractions on the iPhone. You probably do the same:

• Turn on a “Do Not Disturb” or “Airplane” mode every time you want to read a book.
• Schedule “Do Not Disturb” for the time of the day you usually read books.
• Place a book reading app next to the app that is the biggest source of distractions. A Dock bar at the bottom of the display is a perfect place for that.

What other ways to limit distractions are you using?

A book reading app can be a source of distractions, too

A book is a portal to another world. A book reading app is a portal to countless worlds. Their number is determined by how many books you have downloaded to the app, but also free samples you can get in a matter of seconds.

Sometimes this is not good.

When you open the book reading app, you can immediately start reading. But there is always a temptation to check out other books you have at hand. Especially when you are not in a mood to read the currently opened book.

The moment you open the library view in your book reading app is the moment you will most probably stop reading in the current session.

And the more books you have in the app’s library, the more distracted you become. “Have I read this book, already?” “What is this memoir doing in the sci-fi collection?” “Which is the next book in the Witcher series?” “Am I really in a mood to read nonfiction?”

How to limit distractions in the book reading app?

• Download only a few titles – the ones that you are sure to read in the coming days or weeks.
• Remove every book you have finished.
• Disconnect your social media accounts.
• Disable extra features, such as reading stats or rewards.

When reading on an e-reader, you will use your iPhone anyway

When you read fiction, you may want to learn more about a character, place or context. And it’s where e-readers fall short. They are good enough if you use integrated solutions, such as a built-in dictionary or X-Ray.

Things change when you want to find more information using Google web search, translate text, find an image or place in Google Maps. You will have a hard time doing so on the Kindle or Kobo.

You will find it easier to pick up your iPhone to look up words, places, characters from a book you are reading on the Kindle. In other words, you may often need two devices when reading on an e-reader.

It doesn’t work the other way round. On the iPhone, it’s just a matter of switching between apps.

How often do you look for more information about the book you are reading? Which tools do you use? What is your experience with e-readers?

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You can read more often, in smaller chunks

Having a book always with you – and having it one tap away from what you are doing on your iPhone right now – makes you change your reading habits.

Opening a book becomes less of a celebration and more of a time management. Few minutes spent during a day on reading a book is a time well spent. A few such sessions can make you feel you have spent a good day. And there is still a reading time before bed!

This story can be told the other way round.

You love to read in the evening. The only problem is that you fall asleep too soon. How much time does it take before you close your eyes? I’m fast, I usually sleep in less than half an hour.

The iPhone is a way to extend the reading time backwards, in a spare time during a day, and as often as possible. You can read for fifteen minutes in a subway, a few minutes while waiting for your wife in a shopping center, a few more in a queue at the hairdresser.

Have you ever tried to count how many times a day you are reaching for a smartphone? A few? No way, much more. Most people would say “tens.”

Why not making a small test? Pick up your iPhone for the 67th time today and check out the Screen Time (Settings app ⇢ Screen Time). What’s the daily average? What are the most used apps? Aren’t you shocked by the time you spend with the first app on the list?

Why not replacing 5% of the time with a book reading app?

On average, I use Twitter for 100 minutes a day. 5% would make 5 more minutes for reading. Enough to reduce 60% of daily stress!

Eye strain is not a problem

One of the top reasons to buy e-readers is that they don’t cause eye strain, opposite to devices with LCD displays. It’s an incredibly rational decision if you spend a lot of time on reading books – not a few minutes, but a few hours a day.

However, this is not the case for someone who is satisfied with a smartphone as a primary reading device. Reading for 30 minutes on an iPhone doesn’t add up too much to the eye strain caused by long hours of being exposed to a computer screen.

What’s more, the screen of an iPhone is considerably smaller than, for instance, the 11-inch iPad Pro. The amount of light that attacks your eyes is much lower.

And there are improvements that have been added in the recent years.

The Night Shift makes the light warmer letting the iPhone adjust to evening lighting. This feature is now common, and you can have it not only in smartphones or tablets, but also desktop computers, and even e-readers.

Almost every reading app has a few themes to choose from, and a night theme is surely one of them. When you choose it, the background changes to black, and the letters are displayed in a light color. It’s a perfect setting for night owls.

It’s especially convenient on OLED displays. The first iPhone with such a display was iPhone X launched in October 2017. Opposite to LED screens (which use background light to create an image), an OLED display illuminates each pixel separately. The 100% black pixel doesn’t emit light. Therefore, in a book reading app with a night theme on, only the pixels that form text are sending light to your eyes.

A Kindle app with a dark mode on an iPhone creates smaller light aura than a Kindle Paperwhite with a brightness reduced to the level when the text is still visible.

Personal settings are the new book smell

Each time you pick up a paper book, you celebrate a beautifully designed and printed cover, a subtle texture of a cream paper, a balanced font face, and – most of all – a perfect scent.

Ebooks can’t please you that much because their biggest benefit is not pleasure but convenience.

The scent of a printed book is something that evokes nothing else than positive emotions. It can’t be replaced. But other things can.

Imagine that the paper used in a print book you have just bought is a bit too thick. The font is slightly too small, and definitely too fancy.

Ebooks give you something that may make you addicted to them the same way you are addicted to book smell. It’s the opportunity to make each book look exactly as you want it.

What is your favorite book app? What theme do you use the most – White, Sepia, or Night? Which font do you prefer? Is it Literata in Google Books, Palatino in Apple Books, or Bookerly in Kindle app?

After years of testing and hunting for the perfect look, I have ended up with a Kindle app, with the sepia theme, Bookerly as a main font, and reduced line height.

I’m pretty sure that if sometimes Amazon makes a decision to replace Bookerly with another font face, I would be extremely disappointed – most probably to the level I would try to find another book app.

What’s more enjoyable than making the book you are reading look exactly the way you wanted?

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Keep reading. Here are more tips a lists for book lovers:

[ef-archive number=5 tag=”lists”]

With the upcoming iOS 14, I wonder why Apple hasn’t changed that controversial, outdated rule that applies to in-app purchases.

After the launch of iOS 14 in fall 2020, iPhone users will be able to pick up an email and browser app of their choice. Apple’s Mail and Safari will no longer be default apps.

It’s a clear sign Apple is reconsidering their walled-garden strategy which forced iPad and iPhone to use Apple’s own apps.

One element of this outdated strategy is still there, however. Back in 2011 Apple updated rules regarding purchases made within apps from the App Store. The company decided to take 30% cut from any in-app purchase, no matter whether it was an ad-free version of the app itself, a service subscription fee, or a purchase of content from a digital platform (for instance, a movie, audiobook, or ebook). What’s more, all in-app purchases had to be finalized through Apple payment system.

Such a fee is fine (although way too high) if it is applied to the app itself (no matter whether it’s a paid version or subscription), but it’s unreasonable for content from digital media providers. Why should Amazon, Kobo, or Barnes & Noble pay Apple 30% for every ebook sold via their ebookstores? Apple’s move was clearly aimed at crippling competitors and give way to their delayed digital content solutions, such as iBooks Store.

It’s no surprise several platforms removed from their apps ability to purchase content. Users were forced to switch to a computer, buy an ebook, send it to an iOS device, and open it in a connected app.

The good news is that recently Apple started making some exceptions from the in-app 30% commission rate. In April 2020, the company allowed Amazon to use its own payment system for purchases made within a popular Amazon Prime app for iOS. In a matter of days, a new version of the app was released. It already included an option to rent or buy movies right within the app.

One thing Apple could do today, is reducing commission rate for content from other digital publishers to a level that would encourage them to bring back in-app purchases. And this time it should not be an exception but a rule.

When it comes to ebooks and audiobooks, Apple Books app is no longer delayed – it’s just different. It has its pros and cons, and I am sure many users will decide to stick to it after they try it for some time. There is no need to force them into the app.

Apple Books still comes preloaded on new iPhones, but since September 2016, you can remove it, if you are a dedicated user of Kindle Store or Google Play platform. But in the Kindle app, I can’t buy ebooks directly. I am not going to switch to Apple Books because of that, but I get angry every time I have to pick up a laptop to buy an ebook for my iPhone Kindle app.

For the time being, Apple earns zero on thousands of books being purchased every day in other digital platforms. Instead of getting 30% and earning $0, they should get 5% and earn something.

Hardware producers and digital content providers should give users the freedom of choice. The times locking users to platform’s default apps and solutions is over.

Users have the right to switch devices and services – in the end, they pay. Instead of forcing users into their solutions, digital content providers should focus on improving their platforms. Develop a digital platform with friendly interface, great and versatile content, reasonable prices, tailored subscriptions – and users will find you.

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More about iPad and iPhone:

[ef-archive number=5 tag=”ipad”]

Did you know Apple has its own list of the best books of the year so far? It’s worth exploring if you want to stock a few fantastic but lesser-known reads.

While everyone is talking about Amazon’s list of the best books of the year so far, we would like to draw your attention to a similar list that has just been revealed by editors at Apple Books.

The list of Apple’s Best Book of the Year so Far is not easy to find on the web. There is no press release and almost no social chatter. For some reason, the list is being hidden by Apple, and you can’t even find it on the home page of Apple Books, when you open the app on your iPad, iPhone, or Mac.

In fact, it was shared only once in social media, by Harper Collins, with a link that prompts users to open it in Apple Books app: apple.co/bestbookssofar. What’s more, the list only exists in the U.S. iTunes Store, so you won’t be able to open it if you have an Apple account localized in any other country.

Jump to the list

Because of difficulties reaching Apple’s Best Book of the Year ranking, we’ve compiled an easy and discoverable list, together with short blurbs and genre.

The most interesting part are reviews written by Apple Books editors. It’s not only something that justifies why the book has been selected for the list. It also describes the story in a concise and extremely convincing way. In many cases, Apple Books reviews are way better than original book blurbs!

Which books made to the 2020 list of Apple Best Books of the Year?

My Dark Vanessa, a debut novel by Kate Elizabeth Russell, tops the ranking. It follows a complicated relationship between a teenage girl Vanessa and her magnetic and manipulative English teacher Jacob.

The book you can’t find on Amazon’s list is Long Bright River by Liz Moore. It’s a gripping suspense novel about two once-inseparable sisters. When one of them disappears in a Philadelphia neighborhood, the other becomes dangerously obsessed with finding her before it’s too late.

Talia Hibbert’s Take a Hint, Dani Brown, is a summer romantic comedy about a young woman Danika Brown who agrees to fake date her friend after a video of him “rescuing” her from their office building goes viral.

Finally, there is The Last Flight, Julie Clark’s mystery described by Apple Books editors as a combination of Gone Girl and The Bourne Identity. It’s a story of two women who make one agonizing decision that will change the trajectory of both of their lives.

[ef-reco id=”88261″ title=”Read also” info=”Top article”]

Apple Best Books of the Year – complete list

1. My Dark Vanessa

Kate Elizabeth Russell

A debut book by Kate Elizabeth Russell explores the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl Vanessa and her magnetic and manipulative forty-two-year-old English teacher Jacob Strane.

Alternating between Vanessa’s present and her past, My Dark Vanessa juxtaposes memory and trauma with the breathless excitement of a teenage girl discovering the power her own body can wield.

Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its repercussions that raises vital questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood.

Apple Books Review

We couldn’t stop thinking about Kate Elizabeth Russell’s powerful and deeply disturbing debut. Told from the point of view of its titular heroine, the novel maps two distinct eras of Vanessa’s life. We’re pulled into the thrill and turmoil of 15-year-old Vanessa’s experiences as she embarks on a “romance” with her much older English teacher, Jacob, and grows to feel like he’s the only one who truly understands her.

Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Fiction & Literature

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2. Writers & Lovers

Lily King

Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King returns with another instant New York Times bestseller: an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman.

Writers & Lovers follows Casey – a smart and achingly vulnerable protagonist – in the last days of a long youth, a time when every element of her life comes to a crisis.

At thirty-one, Casey is still clutching onto something nearly all her old friends have let go of: the determination to live a creative life. When she falls for two very different men at the same time, her world fractures even more.

Written with King’s trademark humor, heart, and intelligence, Writers & Lovers is a transfixing novel that explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.

Apple Books Review

We loved novelist Lily King’s relatable heroine, who hides her pain and vulnerability behind a sharp wit. King has crafted a world that feels so viscerally real, it’s easy to imagine Casey stepping off the page. Writers & Lovers is a spellbinding and achingly beautiful novel about the sustaining power of creativity, about the paths we choose to follow and those we leave unexplored.

Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Category: Fiction & Literature

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3. Long Bright River

Liz Moore

In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don’t speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.

Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey’s district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit – and her sister – before it’s too late.

Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters’ childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.

Apple Books Review

For this riveting crime novel, Liz Moore draws upon her extensive research and community work to give us thought-provoking insights into at-risk communities. Her heroine’s passion and idealism are a source of inspiration – not a word that’s usually associated with this kind of thrilling, hardboiled mystery.

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Category: Fiction & Literature

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4. The Last Flight

Julie Clark

For fans of Lisa Jewell and Liv Constantine, The Last Flight is the story of two women – both alone, both scared – and one agonizing decision that will change the trajectory of both of their lives.

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband tracks Claire’s every move, making sure she’s living up to his impossible standards.

A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets – Claire taking Eva’s flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire…

Apple Books Review

Alternating between Claire’s and Eva’s viewpoints, Clark’s book feels like a mix of Gone Girl and The Bourne Identity. It’s that fast-paced and that good. Order takeout, because you won’t be leaving the couch until you turn the last page.

Publisher: Sourcebooks
Category: Mysteries & Thrillers

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5. Walk the Wire

David Baldacci

When Amos Decker and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison are called to London, North Dakota, they instantly sense that the thriving fracking town is ripe for trouble.

They are ordered to investigate the death of a young woman named Irene Cramer, whose body was expertly autopsied and then dumped in the open – which is only the beginning of the oddities surrounding the case.

As Decker and Jamison dig into Irene’s life, they are shocked to discover that the woman who walked the streets by night as a prostitute was a teacher for a local religious sect by day – a sect operating on land once owned by a mysterious government facility that looms over the entire community.

Apple Books Review

Superstar author David Baldacci really turns up the heat in this installment of his best-selling Amos Decker series, using visceral descriptions of the sweltering Great Plains summer to heighten the sense of sinister danger. Longtime Baldacci fans will be excited to see Decker and Jamison get an unexpected assist from some fan-favorite characters from his Will Robie series, but newcomers don’t have to worry about coming into the series cold – you’ll be caught up in no time.

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Mysteries & Thrillers

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6. The City We Became

N.K. Jemisin

Three-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, a story of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New York City.

In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn’t remember who he is, where he’s from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power.

In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it’s as if the paint is literally calling to her.

In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels.

Apple Books Review

Jemisin describes New York with an intoxicating rhythmic style, taking pains to get every detail of each diverse neighborhood just right, from the South Bronx to Crown Heights. When the cosmic heroes of her tale come together, they create a captivating crew that would make both Langston Hughes and Isaac Asimov proud.

Publisher: Orbit
Category: Sci-Fi & Fantasy

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7. Reborn Yesterday

Tessa Bailey

It was a night like any other for funeral home director Ginny Lynn, until the exceptionally handsome – and unfortunately deceased – young man on her embalming table sat up, opened his emerald eyes and changed the course of her life forever, making her feel quite fluttery while he was at it.

Humans aren’t supposed to know Jonas Cantrell, or any vampire, exists. It’s kind of a major rule. Despite his instantaneous bond with perfectly peculiar Ginny, he has no choice but to erase her memories of their one and only meeting.

That was the plan. Before a reluctant Jonas can wipe Ginny’s mind clean, she reveals a secret that brings their worlds crashing together. Human and vampire. Past and present. Darkness and light. And while their love is strictly forbidden, it might be the only thing that can save them…

Publisher: Tessa Bailey
Category: Romance

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8. Take a Hint, Dani Brown

Talia Hibbert

USA Today bestselling author Talia Hibbert returns with another charming romantic comedy about a young woman who agrees to fake date her friend after a video of him “rescuing” her from their office building goes viral…

Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt.

Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom.

Apple Books Review

We love Talia Hibbert’s stereotype-busting hero – Zaf’s a big, athletic guy who loves romance novels and is open about his anxiety disorder. Hibbert’s diverse stories deliver laughs while reflecting real-world relationships. With its Muslim hero and black heroine, Take a Hint, Dani Brown stands out from the crowd.

Publisher: Avon
Category: Romance

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9. Hidden Valley Road

Robert Kolker

The heartrending story of a mid-century American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science’s great hope in the quest to understand the disease.

Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don’s work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965.

But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?

Apple Books Review

Hidden Valley Road is such a page-turning read, despite the seriousness and complexity of the subject matter. We can honestly say this is one of the most gripping, fascinating, and moving portraits of a family that we have ever read. It filled us with compassion and a sense of urgency about talking about mental illness openly and honestly.

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Category: Biographies & Memoirs

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10. Upstream

Dan Heath

Upstream probes the psychological forces that push us downstream—including “problem blindness,” which can leave us oblivious to serious problems in our midst. And Heath introduces us to the thinkers who have overcome these obstacles and scored massive victories by switching to an upstream mindset.

One online travel website prevented twenty million customer service calls every year by making some simple tweaks to its booking system.

A major urban school district cut its dropout rate in half after it figured out that it could predict which students would drop out – as early as the ninth grade.

A European nation almost eliminated teenage alcohol and drug abuse by deliberately changing the nation’s culture.

Apple Books Review

In a style reminiscent of Malcolm Gladwell and the Freakonomics team, Heath explores fascinating case studies from the business world and beyond to illustrate how this proactive approach has paid huge dividends, from lowering school dropout rates in Chicago to reducing domestic-violence cases in Massachusetts. Upstream just might change the way you think about problem-solving.

Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Category: Business & Personal Finance

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11. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Prequel)

Suzanne Collins

Apple Books Review: We were floored by Suzanne Collins’ captivating prequel, which proves that even the most nefarious villain is still the hero of their own story – and isn’t 100 percent terrible. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is just as exhilarating as the other books in the Hunger Games series.

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12. The Biggest Bluff

Maria Konnikova

Apple Books Review: It’s fun to tag along as Konnikova masters moves and memorizes hands, but it’s even more amazing to watch how she uses the lessons she learns at the casino table to become more resilient in the face of family setbacks and personal loss. You’ll feel lucky to have discovered this amazing book!

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13. Wildland

Rebecca Hodge

Apple Books Review: Rebecca Hodge’s debut novel explores what happens when everyday people are forced to look death in the eye. After undergoing chemotherapy, cancer patient Kat heads to North Carolina’s mountainous wilderness to ponder whether she wants to continue treatment. But her retreat is far from peaceful.

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14. Sharks in the Time of Saviors

Kawai Strong Washburn

Apple Books Review: Sharks in the Time of Saviors is full of contradictions: Washburn’s writing draws upon magic realism and mythology, but it’s also grounded in the cold stress of family troubles and economic hardship. He possesses a dazzling talent for combining the poetic and the prosaic, making this heartfelt book especially memorable.

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15. Interior Chinatown

Charles Yu

Apple Books Review: Structured like a screenplay, Interior Chinatown made us root for Willis’ dreams to break free from his demeaning reality. Yu has a talent for turning hilarious pop-culture riffs into meaningful explorations of social and racial issues, but his novel really hits home when he touches on the real emotions beneath the jokes.

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16. Afterlife

Julia Alvarez

Apple Books Review: Alvarez’s novel leans in to some difficult subject matter, including the burden of grief and the realities of the Latinx community’s everyday experiences during the Trump administration. But Afterlife is far from an emotionally draining read, thanks to Alvarez’s trademark sense of humor.

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17. Say Yes to the Duke

Eloisa James

Miss Viola Astley is so painfully shy that she’s horrified by the mere idea of dancing with a stranger; her upcoming London debut feels like a nightmare. So she’s overjoyed to meet handsome, quiet vicar with no interest in polite society – but just when she catches his attention, her reputation is compromised by a duke.

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All book covers: Apple Books.

Are you interested in all things Apple? Check out recent news, tips, and lists:

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When you get a new iPhone or iPad, Apple Books will be probably the first book app you try. It’s very well-designed and integrates seamlessly into Apple shopping ecosystem.

Apple Books (formerly known as iBooks) is one of these apps that don’t come preloaded in a new iOS or iPadOS device any longer. You will have to head to the App Store, type “books” in the search bar, and the app should appear on top of a list of results, right under the sponsored app.

Many users start using it, and are happy enough not to try anything else.

Some users, however, are aware there are other book-reading solutions around. Just like there are many book-reading apps for Android tablets and smartphones, you can find many alternatives in the Apple Store. In a separate list, we put together the best book apps for iPad and iPhone.

Does it make sense to spend a couple of evenings to find out which book app is best tailored to your needs and reading habits? Yes, it does – and I strongly encourage you to try as many as possible to find the best two or three.

The more you know what you can do with alternative solutions the better you’ll see what’s missing in the Apple’s own ebook platform.

Below you’ll find facts and tips that will help you decide whether it’s good to stick with the Apple Books or pick up another solution.

Apple Books – facts and tips to know

1. Apple Books is the only properly integrated app

What does “integrated” means? It’s how the app connects with the book store so that the user can conveniently get new content to the personal library.

Three of the four sections in the bottom navigation bar link to the Apple Book Store. You can buy new ebooks or audiobooks without leaving the app. They will appear immediately in your library.

“That’s obvious,” you’ll say, “every app should have that.” True, but the only app that does that on the iPhone and iPad is the Apple Books.

What about other ebook platforms that have their own iOS apps: Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Google Play Books? They don’t have the in-app store feature. They decided not to include it, and it’s not because they don’t care about the user.

In 2011, Apple updated terms of how app developers earned money via in-app purchases. Every developer had to pay a considerable fee to Apple for every purchase performed by the user inside the app. The competing bookstores decided to remove store links from their iOS apps, finding in-app purchases unprofitable.

Since that time, when you wanted to buy the full version of the Kindle book from a link at the end of a free sample, you had to go to the Amazon website using a Safari browser on your iPad or iPhone, find the book, buy it, go back to the Kindle app, and refresh the content. How convenient.

So, if you had used Kindle on your Android tablet before, and has decently decided to switch to the iPad, don’t get disappointed with the Kindle for iPadOS. The app is crippled not because Amazon doesn’t care about iOS users, but because Apple cares too much on taking a chunk of every in-app purchase.

2. Apple Books is not the most advanced app

Many users assume that the app that comes from the company that develops the operating system is the best you can get.

It’s not quite true. When you take book store integration out, Apple Books suddenly becomes a sleek but not the most advanced app. It’s still one of the most beautiful book-reading apps for the iPhone and iPad (and its Mac version as well), but when it comes to features, others offer more.

Kindle for iOS features extended book analysis called X-Ray. Plus you can seamlessly switch between reading the book and listening to its audio version, thanks to a unique technology called “Whispersync for Voice.”

Kobo app includes social reading features – Reading Life. They are designed to help you read better via reading stats and awards, and share your passion for reading (share the book, the passage, and the review to Facebook.

Finally, there are even apps coming from small independent developers, that are more advanced and better thought out than the Apple Books.

3. The app is available only for Apple users

In the recent years, many new users enter Apple ecosystem not by buying a Mac computer, but a mobile device – iPad or iPhone.

If you decided Apple Books would be your book-reading app, be aware you won’t be able to easily get these books to your PC computer or laptop.

Apple’s proposal for book readers is similar to what Henry Ford once said: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”

Any user can read ebooks on any device as long as it’s made by Apple: iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

If you downloaded iTunes app to your Windows-powered computer in order to manage your music library, don’t try to find the book section. You can listen to your audiobooks, though.

4. You can’t read Apple books in a browser

Amazon offers access to Kindle books via the web browser. It’s called Kindle Cloud Reader, and you don’t need any extra device or app to access the books you have purchased in the Kindle Store or added to your personal Kindle library. Maybe Apple does the same?

No. You can’t access, manage, or read books or audiobooks from your Apple Books library using the web browser.

Access via the web browser is very helpful if you seriously think about using digital textbooks to learn. Some things just have to be done on a bigger screen with a full-size keyboard.

Apple puts a lot of stress on the textbooks and using their devices in education, but only the richest students, the ones who can afford iPads and Macs, can study this way.

If you want to access your books and textbooks literally from any device (nowadays, any device that has a browser), you should consider Amazon Kindle or Google Play Books.

5. Apple Books platform can’t be accessed from a web browser

When you think of an online store, you are sure it can be found on Google and accessed from a web browser.

Not Apple Books store. Apple hates browsers to the point where you can’t access Apple digital content on the web the usual way (it’s still possible, but limited – read on to find out how to do it).

Apple’s walled garden lets test how good Apple Books ecosystem works only after you buy an Apple device.

That’s bad because many users who consider buying a device for reading, don’t start from comparing tech specs, but rather compare ebook platforms: their features, prices, convenience, and compatibility.

Apple Books does not have a usual online store, just like Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook, or Kobo. You can still access it online – to find out it’s a boring list of links.

If you want to try it for yourself, go to the link:

books.apple.com/us/genre/books/id38

6. You can still search Apple Books using Google

As you see, exploring Apple Books store online before you decide whether to buy iPad for reading or not (and whether to use a native app for that), does not make too much sense.

However, if you are determined to learn which ebooks and audiobooks are available in Apple Books, you can still do it without the need to use an Apple-made device.

The trick is to perform the site-specific search using Google. Simply paste the line below to the search box in your browser, and replace “Stephen King” with the name of your favorite author or the title of the book you plan to buy.

site:books.apple.com/us/ "Stephen King"

When you click on the first link, you will be shown a carousel with most popular books in the Apple Store. Clicking on a book cover will open a page with book details. At every step you will be prompted to see the content in the app – there is a button “View in Apple Books” in the top right corner.

As you know, digital content from Apple ecosystem is sold worldwide via localized stores. In the example above, we have used a link to the main store – the one in the U.S.

If you want to search Apple Books localized outside the U.S., simply replace “us” in the URL address with the two-letter code of your country. For example, the same search in the German Apple Books store will be:

site:books.apple.com/de/ "Stephen King"

Using Google web search is a way to check out whether the books you want to buy are offered in the Apple Books platform, and check out their prices.

7. Use Apple Books for Mac as a desktop epub reader

As Apple Books app comes preloaded on every new Mac, the question is how to use it beyond the Apple digital content platform.

Obviously, you can use Apple Books app to open and read pdf files. It’s a handy tool to keep all pdf files in one place, together with notes and highlights.

What’s more, and the app comes very handy here – Apple Books support epub format. Many ebooks available online (except Amazon Kindle) can be downloaded in this file format, which is very popular, and lost of iOS apps support it as well.

If you create an ebook collection out of public domain ebooks, you may find Apple Books on your laptop quite helpful. Also, there is a growing number of ebookstores that offer their books without the DRM, or with the DRM watermark. You can open these files in any epub reader, including Apple Books.

You can download an epub file to your Mac computer and instantly open in the Apple Books – it’s the default app for this file format. There is no need to install an epub-reading browser extension or any other app from the Mac App Store.

I found Apple Books for Mac particularly useful with handling free samples. I buy ebooks in a couple of ebookstores. They offer free samples, so I pick up epub format and save it to the desktop to read a few pages before deciding whether I want to purchase the title.

As Apple Books doesn’t sync personal books (the documents you’ve added from outside Apple Books store), you can pack the Mac version with as many free samples as possible, without crowding the book library on the iPad.

8. Apple Books is not compatible with other platforms

We have learned that Apple is using epub, the popular ebook format. Pdf is also supported, but not recommended on the smaller screen of the iPhone, or even iPad Mini.

You can upload own books to without any problem. But if you will ever want to move content from Apple Books to any other platform – think twice.

Most ebook files in the Apple Books store are protected with Apple’s own DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology. And it means that you will have hard time trying to open it on a Kobo e-reader or an epub-reading app on your Android-powered tablet.

9. You can upload your own ebooks in 3 ways

If you want to add own books to Apple Books, you can use one of the following methods.

1. Send an email and open it on iPad or iPhone

The most common method is to email yourself, with epub or pdf file as an attachment. Then open the email in a mail app on the iPhone or iPad – it doesn’t have to be Apple’s native Mail app.

When you open an email, tap an epub attachment, and then tap the share menu in the top right corner. In the list of available apps/tools select Apple Books and tap it.

2. Use Safari to open a file from url address

Some sites (such as Project Gutenberg) have clear URL addresses of book files. When you tap on a link to the epub format (ending with .epub), you should be able to open it with Apple Books app on your iPad or iPhone.

3. Use iOS cloud service app (Dropbox, Google Drive)

Two previous methods are helpful if you want to add one or two files. What about adding files in bulk?

You can use one of popular cloud storage services, such as Google Drive or Dropbox.

Download the files on your computer and open them from within Google Drive or Dropbox app on your iOS device. Then open each file using the share menu.

10. You can gift an Apple Books ebook or audiobook

For a long time, there was no way to gift books from the Apple Books store. Now, it’s available both on a Mac computer and iPhone/iPad.

Gift Apple Books title using Mac app – find the book you want to gift, click on drop-down menu in the button that shows the price of the book, select “Gift This Book” option, and follow instructions.

Gift Apple Books title using iPhone/iPad app – find the book, under the cover you will see gift icon that looks like a wrapped gift box, tap it and fill in text fields (see the screenshots below).

There are two very important things to remember:

• An email address of the person should be the same as the one she or he is using to sign in to their Apple account,
• A giftee should be a user of the Apple Store in the same country. You won’t be able to gift a book to the user in the U.S. Store, if you are signed in the U.K.

11. Apple Books is not the only option you have

Tablets and smartphones offer one wonderful thing: a choice. You can read ebooks not in one book app but many.

You can use Apple Books, Kindle, Kobo, or Google Play Books, or a combination of these apps, depending on what and how you want to read.

Keep exploring. Here are other lists and tips to check out:

Ebook platforms are very slow in introducing transparent privacy rules and settings. Here are some ideas on what features to include to give users the real control over their personal data.

When using a social media app, a user assumes lots of data are being shared. Social media are all about sharing.

Things are different when it comes to ebooks. Reading is a very personal and private activity.

When using a book-reading app or an e-reader, many users assume their personal usage data are being collected by the service at all. You will be surprised to learn how much your ebook store may know about you.

Privacy options offered by ebook platforms are far behind what social networks offer. There are many things to be improved and many options to be introduced. This post lists a few ideas on how to do it.

What options would you like to see in you e-reader or book-reading app? Let’s share the experience on Twitter and Facebook.

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Privacy settings users should have in ebooks

1. Ability to use a book-reading app without the need to sign in

Why is this setting related to privacy? When you are not signed in to an online service, you don’t risk that your private data is processed by that service, or – what’s much worse – leaks from it.

Which ebook platform did you choose to read digital books? Is it Amazon Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, Kobo, or Google Play Books? Do you use its book-reading app on your tablet or smartphone? Can you use this app without the need to sign in?

My primary book-reading app is Amazon Kindle, and my primary reading device is an iPhone. If you are an Amazon Kindle user, you know the pain. The only way to make the Kindle for iOS app work is register it with your Amazon credentials.

The thing is that – although this app is brilliant when it comes to settings, look, and performance – over 50% of books I read do not come from the Kindle Store. These ebooks are in Polish, and they are not available on Amazon. I buy them in Polish ebook stores or borrow from my local public library and import them as personal documents to the Kindle cloud library.

I would love to have an option to use my book-reading app without the need to register it. Obviously, the ebook platform is more than welcome to inform a non-registered user about what features and options would not be available. I also wouldn’t mind receiving frequent reminders to sign in.

2. Ability to control privacy at different levels

Many users have more than one device connected to their ebook platform account, making the most use of seamless syncing of the latest read position, highlights & notes, reading stats, and other features.

Therefore, your book-reading app or an e-reader is not the only place where you should be able to control privacy settings.

Account level

From time to time it’s good to visit the ebook platform’s web dashboard to see the status of your account, currently connected devices, and all added books.

In this account hub, the user should have the ability to overview and change privacy settings for each connected device or app – either one by one or in bulk.

Device or app level

You should also be able to control the settings on the current device or app. For the purpose of clarity, only the settings for this particular app or device should be available.

Book level

If I can change privacy settings for the current app or device, why wouldn’t I have the same possibility for a single book? There may be books I don’t plan to read actively (making highlights or notes), and I’m going to read them on one device, so why should I send any data back to the ebook platform?

It does not seem to be a huge challenge. A simple “do not send data” option could be available in a book reading interface, for instance, where formatting options are displayed.

3. Ability to learn which data is used for which purpose

In book-reading apps or on e-readers that are connected to leading ebook platforms, lots of data are being sent back and forth in order to provide full functionality. Are you aware how many of your activities may be collected and processed by your ebook store?

I don’t mind sharing what ebooks I read and how. Online services can’t operate without collecting and processing usage data. My problem is that, opposite to Google or social media services, ebook platforms are far behind in developing a transparent privacy policy. For instance, Amazon explains that data is collected for “marketing and product improvements.”

In general, each bit of data that is being collected by an online service, serves the following purposes:

• To provide functionality
• To make improvements and develop product updates
• To adjust marketing offers to personal interests
• To sell data to third-party companies

What needs to be done by ebook platforms – and this it the goal of utmost importance – is to clearly inform users about how their personal data is being processed and for what purposes.

4. Ability to disable data collection by kind

Let’s assume, the user knows how her or his personal data is being used by the ebook platform. It’s not the end of a topic. Just the opposite.

The user has to have freedom to decide which data to share and for what purposes.

Let’s assume that the ebook platform collects usage data for three purposes: functionality, improvements, marketing.

I would like to have an option that lets me decide which purpose I agree to send my personal data for. I would most probably uncheck product improvements and marketing offers, leaving only the option that provides the full functionality of the service.

Obviously, even after unchecking improvements and marketing, 100% service functionality should be preserved. There is no reason to disable book or highlights syncing if the user doesn’t want the usage data to be processed for displaying personalized ads.

5. Ability to disable data collection by feature

Major ebook platforms offer common features, such as:

• Syncing of last-reached position in a book
• Managing, syncing, and backing up highlights and notes
• Dictionary and reference tools
• Sharing actions
• Library and in-book search
• Reading stats and achievements

One step further in giving users more control over their privacy would be to provide options to disable data collection by major features.

I would be ready to share data about the last-read position, but I want to keep the highlights and notes for myself, and don’t want the ebook platform to collect even a single line of data about it. I would also disable sharing reading stats and dictionary usage.

6. A smart system that connects features and privacy

I am aware that the more privacy settings the ebook platform provides, the harder it is to control them by the user.

That’s why it’s significant to develop a user interface that makes it easy to combine features and privacy settings.

The easiest solution is to make certain features unreachable once you disable certain privacy settings.

For instance, you won’t be able to sync your highlights with the ebook platform server if you disable data sharing on this particular feature. The setting for highlights in the book-reading app or in a web dashboard should become dimmed and unreachable. The information should be provided that to enable it you should enable this and that privacy setting.

7. Ability to delete usage data the moment the book is being archived

An ebook platform keeps usage data for a certain time. It can be 30 days or half a year. Why not giving the user a chance to have a bit of control over it?

The easiest way would be to provide an option that enables the user to delete data about a particular book the moment this book is being removed from a device. Such a setting could be available in the app’s or device’s settings page, saying “remove book data from the account after archiving it.”

In other words, I can allow my ebook platform to collect and keep data about the books for as long as they are downloaded to each of the connected devices. An action that removes the book from the last device or app – which means the book is only stored on the ebook platform’s server – is initiating an automated process that immediately removes usage data about this book from the account’s data sheet, instead of keeping it for a fixed period of time.

8. A web dashboard for all privacy-related settings

Let’s go back to the account dashboard the user can access from the web. There should be an easy way to control all privacy settings in a single and user-friendly interface.

The best way to do it would be to have a table of privacy settings where on one axis you have connected devices, and on the other the settings to control.

9. An easy way to manually remove usage data

An option to request the ebook platform to remove all usage data collected so far for the account should be easily available not only on the main user dashboard, but also in any connected app or device.

It should be a one-tap activity in the settings section of the app, saying “request to remove all usage data” accompanied by information how it may affect the user’s experience.

This feature should come with an option enabling the user to receive by email all the data that was collected by the ebook platform so far.

Keep reading. Here are other popular lists:

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