By Gina Duncan

Our favourite books captivate us with stories of characters that resonate with us. These books inspire us to travel, dream, and take action. They spin magical tales of a school for wizardry, transport us to long-forgotten periods in history and faraway lands.

They’re our favourites because they pulled us in from the glorious opening sentence and kept us intrigued until the end. Losing yourself in a story is one of the most satisfying feelings.

If you love to read, you’ve undoubtedly become tired of lugging your books around on  buses and subways, getting them sandy at the beach, and trying to fit them in your carry-on bag when you travel. Just because you don’t have the space to carry a book doesn’t mean you have to stop reading. Like Apple’s famous advertisement once touted, “there’s an app for that!”

Apps account for over 80 percent of our time on mobile devices, so it’s no surprise that there are so many digital ways to read books. Whether you’re an Android, IOS, tablet, or smartphone user, check out our favourite apps for reading books when you’re on the go.

Scribd

Amazon just released their list of the top twenty books for 2019, most of which are available as audiobooks on Scribd.

Scribd is a subscription service app offering its readers unlimited access to over one million books, magazine articles, academic journals, comic books, and audiobooks. For a monthly subscription of $8.99 USD, you also get a selection of offline books, personalised recommendations, and automatic syncing across all your devices. Start now with a 30-day free trial.

Audible

Prefer to listen to books instead of reading? Amazon’s audiobooks app is for you. Audible has over 180,000 books, claiming to have the largest selection of audiobooks on the market. Features include reading lists, habit’s tracking and social media syncing. 

Audible is free for the first 30 days with one free audiobook, and two Audible Originals, then pricing starts at $14.95 USD for one book and two Audible Originals per month. Audible Originals are exclusively written, produced, and performed by celebrated writers and actors.

Pocket

Don’t have time to read it now? Get Pocket, a free app that lets you store articles, pictures, videos, and stories from any page, publication, or app to view offline at a later date. 

As its name suggests, it is like having a virtual pocket to store your reading materials and other content, keeping entertainment at your fingertips.

Storytel

Storytel claims to be the largest seller of ebooks in Singapore, offering unlimited access to over 120,000 audiobooks, series, and ebooks. There is no limit to the number of books you can download, and they have a child-friendly kid’s mode.  

Start with a 14-day free trial and then sign up to a monthly subscription of $9.90 SGD, or choose a Family account for two at $14.90 SGD or a Family Plus account for three at $19.90 SGD.

Kobo

Kobo is a free app with an extensive selection of books and magazines for purchase. Are you a fan of The Handmaid’s Tale? You don’t have to wait for its sequel, The Testament, because it’s available on Kobo as its best book of the month. 

You can personalise the app with your reading lists, customised text, highlights, and notes. Automatically sync your bookmarks with your other devices so you can pick up where you left off on any device.

Comixology

Comic book lovers, this app is for you! Get ready to explore your favourite comic books, manga, and graphic novels on Comixology, with an Unlimited subscription model or an option to purchase individual comic books. 

New releases or classic comics from Marvel, DC, Image, and independent comic book publishers can be yours without ever leaving the house. The app lets you focus and zoom in on each individual panel, making it an organic reading experience. Get all your favourites in one place with Comixology.

Goodreads

If you’re an avid reader, you have probably heard of Goodreads. Now let me tell you why to join it. You can check out what your friends are reading, share your bookshelf, keep track of what you’re reading and what you want to read, then write reviews about the books you read. 

Goodreads will give you a list of recommendations based on your usage. They give you free sample books–sometimes you even get to read the entire book. Goodreads is the largest app for readers, and of book recommendations in the world. 

Epic

Pan’s Labyrinth, Fire on High, Poet X, and Endgame the Calling; if you are familiar with these books, then Epic is for you. It’s the best app for young readers as it is dedicated to young adult books. The service also offers quizzes, magazines, book clubs, learning videos and fun pop culture references. 

The shift to mobile-focused reading has given us more options for our favourite books, magazine articles, and comics. So, pick up your mobile devices and get lost in one of  your favourites with an app.