A (Small) Compilation of Bookish Resources!

Hi friends! I’ve seen a bunch of great resources related to books lately, so I wanted to share them with you all. So this post is a (small) compilation of bookish resources! There are a few things for accessing books, for finding diverse books, and other miscellaneous resources. There are so many more than I haven’t listed here, and ones that I’m probably not even aware of! But I’m trying to do my best to share what I can. So let’s get into it!

And just a brief note: a few of the resources are for a limited time, but are unspecified how long that time is. So I’ve noted the date that I wrote the paragraph about that resource, just in case.

---

For Accessing Books:

---

1.) Free Brooklyn Public Library Card

I saw this on Bookstagram a bit ago, but Celeste’s post reminded me of it! As stated on the Brooklyn Public Library website, “For a limited time, individuals ages 13-21 can apply for a free BPL eCard, providing access to our full eBook collection as well as our learning databases. To apply, email booksunbanned@bklynlibrary.org.” This applies for anyone in the United States, and is for those who do not live in New York state. The site doesn’t further specify the “limited time,” so get it while you can! Or pass along the info to a young adult in your life! For those who do live in the state, “BPL’s eCard is always free to teenagers in New York State. Apply here.” (date written: Feb 27, 2023)

This is part of BPL’s initiative “Books Unbanned.” The initiative is an effort to fight for teens and their right to read what they like. It is a response to the huge increase in book banning across the US. If you are not within the age range for the free card, the website has a few other resources! There are a few links to educate yourself, and a place for donations if you are able. Teens also have other resources on the website, such as book recommendations, ways to help if a book is challenged, etc.

2.) Free Books About Black History

The publisher Haymarket Books is offering three free ebooks that discuss Black history. This is in response to legislature in Florida, US that is gutting what folks are allowed to teach in schools. Black history is American history, and thankfully Haymarket Books recognizes that. I’m not sure how long these three will be free, so better to get on this sooner rather than later. I also believe this is available to anyone in the world. (date written: Feb 27, 2023)

The publisher also notes that for folks in Florida specifically, “If you’re a young person looking for radical books to read and share, an educator looking to grow your library, or part of an organization that’s in the fight, get in touch by filling out this form.” For those wishing to help, you can do so via donation here.

3.) Free Classic Books

This is a pretty well known source, but I felt I had to include it anyway. Project Gutenberg is an online resource that provides over 60,000 free ebooks. They are generally classics and older books, where the US copyright has expired.

---

For Finding Diverse Books:

---

1.) We Read Too

We Read Too is a mobile directory dedicated to helping you find books written by and about people of color. The directory includes picture, chapter, middle grade, and young adult books. This seems like a great resource for teachers, librarians, and parents to help young kids in their lives find books.

2.) Social Justice Books

This site provides curated book lists, book reviews, and articles dealing with social justice and multicultural children’s literature. The book lists have various topics such as food and water justice, gender diversity, Afro-Latinx, and many more. They are broken down by age category, and some lists include books for educators as well. I really like that on the book lists there are links at the bottom to different websites to educate yourself on that particular topic.

3.) Diverse Book Finder

This is a comprehensive database that compiles information about diverse picture books. You can run a search if you have something in mind, or you can browse different categories. Each book’s page lists a summary and the themes of the book, which can include the genre, setting, ethnicity, gender, race, culture, religion, and more. Under their “highlighted books” you can also browse book lists that they have made, and other blog posts highlighting specific books. They also have a page dedicated to their research and resources, which is helpful for further learning!

4.) Diverse Horror Books

This is a blog dedicated to featuring horror books by people of color, people of marginalized genders, and queer people. You can browse through the reviews for different books, and you can also search by different tags! The tags include age groups, specific diverse identities, and different horror sub-genres. The site also has a diverse book list, which compiles many different horror titles in one post (with links to reviews when available).

5.) YA Disability Database

This is a database of 500+ middle grade and young adult books with disability representation!! And there are more being added all the time. It is run by Julie at Struck by Stories. You can just browse through the books, or you can look for books with specific rep such as chronic illness, mental health, and etc. Each book page has a summary of the book, and information about the genre, disability rep, and other rep (i.e. if it is queer, features characters of color, and etc).

Julie also has a page on the disability database with many more resources!! Since she has done the hard work in compiling that, I won’t copy all of the things there but I will simply link it HERE for your exploration!

6.) Queer Fiction Masterlist

This is a database of queer fiction books that can be searched through using filters and preferences! There are some pre-made searches, such as a-spec books, fantasy books, graphic novels, and more. The different filters you can use fall under the main categories of age range, genre, representation umbrella, specific rep, and type of romance. For example, you could search for adult fantasy books with rep under the trans umbrella, with specifically genderfluid rep and no romance. You can also submit missing books at this link.

---

Miscellaneous Reader Resources

---

1.) Trigger Warning Database

This website is super useful for checking a book for particular triggers. You can search the database by author or by book title. If the database is missing a particular book that you’d like to add, you can contribute here.

2.) Does the Dog Die?

This is another great website for checking media for trigger warnings. It has some books, and you can add more. It’s strength lies in that it has trigger warnings for movies, shows, video games, and more, in addition to books. You can also request a new category of trigger if you need it! (Thank you very much to Kathryn at Metaphors and Miscellanea for suggesting this resource)

3.) Book Summaries/Recaps

I know that ALL of us have had the experience of going to read the sequel of a book and realizing you remember nothing about the previous book!! Luckily there are a few resources to help you out. Recaptains and Book Series Recaps are both sites that have summaries of popular books and series that are pretty detailed! I’ve used these summaries before since my memory is sooo bad and I read so many books haha.

---

---

---

Hopefully you find these helpful! And please let me know if you have any other resources suggestions, I can add them to this post!