One Chunk at a Time

 In one of the Goodreads Victober threads, someone mentioned the (free) Serial Reader app. I'd never heard of it but I was instantly intrigued. A quick search led me to the website, which is here (link will open in new window). 

The app has loads of books in many genres, all in the public domain. There are some well-known authors here, such as Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and more. There are also less-well known authors available. When you subscribe to a book, it is delivered to you in daily chunks. What a great way to revisit old favourites or discover new ones in a few minutes per day (the FAQs mention 20 minutes per day, but the book I selected first is less than that). The listing for each book includes the number of installments. 

Count me in! I downloaded the app and started looking through options. I've chosen one book and have read the first installment. I plan to choose another one or two besides. I might go with both shorter and longer works at the same time. I love this idea! It's how so many books were originally published--serially in periodicals. Only after the run was finished did they get bound into a single volume or multiple volumes, depending on length. I think that reading in small chunks like this will allow for closer reading and time between segments to think about what I've read, which is not always the case when zipping through a book. I don't think every book would be enjoyable to read in this way, but I think many lend themselves well to this, especially since it's how they were meant to be read when written. Others, like those in the philosophy section, will be examining ideas that require some thought. I have my eye on a bunch of books so I'm eager to jump right in! It seems like a great resource.

Update: One unexpected benefit is that this app leads me to other books. As I was scrolling through the list of titles, I came across some titles that intrigued me but that I didn't want to read in installments. I hopped over to Project Gutenberg and got them there. Now if I can find the app that will give me more hours in a day, I'll be all set!

Share