10. 1 Insight, 1 Update & 1 Fun Fact [May 2023]
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10. 1 Insight, 1 Update & 1 Fun Fact [May 2023]
Towel Day is coming :)
Dear Reader,
Welcome to another edition of the Letter to the Reader - a fortnightly peek into all we do here at Project Bibliotherapy.
Before we dive in, don’t forget to subscribe.
Insight: It’s an excellent time to be a fan
It’s no secret that we adore The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Since Day One at the Project back in 2020, we have been nudging you to read this classic trilogy in five volumes.
Back in mid-2000s India, when we both read it for the first time, the experience more or less ended with the turn of the last page.
Now, with a couple of swipes and taps on our phone screens, we can listen to the original radio programmes, watch clips of the BBC TV show, feast on Stephen Fry narrating the audiobook, relive Douglas Adams’s last public stage appearance, read his prophetic 1996 essay about technology enabling the creator economy, tune into an old episode of the BBC Book Club featuring the author, watch him strum the guitar on his 42nd birthday with Pink Floyd on stage, play the classic text-based role-playing game, mix a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster or two with help from experts, and so much more.
The Internet is the greatest library known to humankind. It has everything to offer to a curious soul anywhere in the world. It takes a little effort to browse its infinite shelves, but we have access beyond what previous generations could even dream about.
The Internet also enables people from different walks of life to get together and bond over common interests, form communities, and meet up IRL.
We believe that the Internet can be used for good. It isn’t all toxic gloom and doom!
A simple tip that helps us: Choose what you consume. (After all, you only have 24 hours in a day).
Event Alert (Delhi NCR): On May 25th, along with fellow froody fans of Douglas Adams, we are celebrating Towel Day 2023 in collaboration with Pan Macmillan India at Kunzum Vasant Vihar, our friendly neighbourhood bookstore. Lots of fun guaranteed!
Keep your towel at hand and RSVP here.
Update: Substack subscriptions launching soon
Our paperwork is almost over. Soon, we will enable paid subscriptions for Readers of 42 through a simplified process. Through this, you will also be able to gift annual or lifetime ‘Readers of 42’ subscriptions to your loved ones anywhere in the world. You will also be able to subscribe as a group.
Over 1100+ days, this project has evolved to its current state beyond our wildest dreams. Thank you for reading!
We will do our best to nudge you to read more, and read better, always :)
Reach out to us with thoughts, feedback, and words of encouragement. We would love to hear from you.
Fun Fact: Children's books aren’t just for children.
You can travel back to your childhood through the written word. Your inner kid also deserves to be treated to books.
Here are a few reasons why, courtesy of Katherine Rundell.
As for your inner child’s reading pleasure, here’s a treat from our childhoods, straight from the USSR.
Read When Daddy Was a Little Boy here.
To access Volume 2 of the 42 Good Reads zine, join the Readers of 42 here.
Till next time. Happy reading :)