Finding and Reading Great Fiction for Free
Recently a friend told me that reading fiction was a great cure for insomnia. If you are like me, sometimes you can get so cranked up by a busy day that it’s hard to unwind and get a good night sleep. My friend Stan was right. Start reading novels was his advice…and it worked. Being the type-A, work-a-???? (never mind let’s skip that description) who only read “serious” stuff, I found myself ignorant about how to find good fiction and unwilling to plop down $15-$30 every time I wanted to buy a book and read it. I was especially concerned that I might purchase books and not like them. Not to mention that living in Oakdale (a.k.a. “the sticks”) we don’t have a Barnes and Noble or Borders to quickly stop into. It’s just simply inconvenient to “drive to town” for a book.
I now see reading fiction and intentional unwinding as a positive discipline and life skill. Developing the habit and making it part of my life has been much like developing any other good habit. One of the biggest challenges is simply removing the hurdles of lack of information about fiction and the inconvenience of getting my hands on good books. Here’s what I did:
Step One: Choosing Books. I googled phrases like, “top novels,” “top 100 novels,” “best novels” and came up with many lists. My favorite is found at Wikipedia’s Modern Library 100 Best Novels article. This is a list of 100 novels selected by the Modern Library publishing company. I am not suggesting that this is the only list to use, but it works for me as a great starting point. What I really like about this list is that each novel has a hyperlink to Wikipedia articles about the book and the author. Warning: you may want to simply skim the article so as not to ruin your experience of the plot when you read the book.
Step Two: Getting the Books. As I have already mentioned, I needed a quick, inexpensive (preferably free), convenient way to acquire books. Using the list from Wikipedia I simply select a few books that I want to read and then go online to the Stanislaus County Library online search to see if the Library has them (most library systems have a similar online system). This online search tool allows me to search the entire Stanislaus Library system and pulls results from all branches. When I find the books I want, I simply request them and they are shipped to my local Oakdale Library. An email is sent to me letting me know that the book or books have arrived. I simply drive over to the library and pick them up.
I would love to hear about your experience with fiction reading, books you like and more. Please comment below.
Tags: Free things to do in Oakdale, Fun stuff, Oakdale, Oakdale library
