The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Image via Athabasca University Press

For those among us who love to read, we often find ourselves thinking that we’ve hoarded too many books and should go digital. This puts us on the hunt for a good online platform to read some of the works we’re excited to get into. But since this search is not always very successful, especially given the fact that we tend to be wary of platforms you need to pay a regular subscription for, here are four that we’re sure you would enjoy using.

Scribd

Scribd is a fantastic platform for e-books as well as audiobooks, for which you’ll need a monthly subscription to access. But once you’re in, you’ll have access to about a million titles (literally one million). While they won’t necessarily have all the books on your reading list, their selection remains vast, and the interface is very user-friendly. The best part is that they not only have e-books (including graphic novels) and audiobooks but also sheet music for the musicians, as well as articles from various publications, from entertainment magazines to news outlets.

Abjjad

We tend not to realise what’s out there when it comes to Arabic-language platforms. For Arabic books, in particular, you won’t find a better e-book platform than Abjjad. Their selection is absolutely immense – whatever you may be looking for, you’re sure to find as long as the work in question was initially written in Arabic. Their translated options may be somewhat limited; however, they have a handful of great books available. With a subscription, you can access over 22,000 books, and you’ll absolutely love them.

Google Play Books

You’ve probably already heard of Google Play Books but don’t quite know how to get started. The beauty of Google Books is that you need no dedicated subscription to use it. However, you may need to purchase your own e-book. But for those who aren’t too fond of buying e-books, you can find many of them for free, especially literature by authors who passed away a while ago, such as Shakespeare. An added bonus is that you can find books in your preferred language.

Noor Library

Noor Library is a free platform that you can use for Arabic-language books. They have a very inclusive variety of Arab literature, non-fiction, textbooks, and translated works, as well as a few options in English. Some of the books on “display” in their library are not available to read to protect authors’ property rights, but you can still access synopses and reviews to figure out whether a book is worth your time.