12. Introducing: A Launch, A Guided Reading Meditation & A Readathon!
Meet us at Kunzum GK2 on 2nd July!
Hi and welcome to another edition of Letters to the Reader! :) Bringing you reading recommendations, tips, insights and updates on all that we do here at Bibliotherapy HQ.
Before you scroll on, if you haven’t yet, do take a second to subscribe - we post on the first and last Thursday of every month.
What’s a Guided Reading Meditation?
In February 2021, a group of curious people got together at Greenr Cafe, Vasant Vihar, in Delhi for a ‘Guided Reading Meditation’ with Nitin.
Following that, when the world closed itself again, we did this on the Clubhouse app.
Our latest ‘GRM’ was on Terry Pratchett’s birthday at Kunzum Vasant Vihar, and finally at The Bookworm, in Bangalore, both in 2022.
The Concept
The concept is easy to understand, yet tough to do in the age of ‘time poverty’.
If ‘I wish I could, but I don’t have the time’ is your excuse for most things, read on!
During a Guided Reading Meditation, we (Nitin and Nandini) first find a spot that’s the perfect environment for reading (so easy to do in a beautiful bookstore!)
Using our 42 Good Reads of the Internet zine as our guide, we get our attendees to pick 3 pieces from there, open them in a browser without distractions and turn off the internet.
60 minutes of pure, unadulterated bliss while we read, led by Nitin and me. No distractions, no pretences. Just all of us, reading together in a world that has forgotten to slow down.
Sign up if you:
Grew up reading a lot but let it go in adulthood and need a nudge or two.
Are curious about building a reading habit from scratch but don’t know how.
Would like to experience something unique and relaxing over the weekend.
Just want to know what the fuss over reading is all about :)
What’s the 42 Good Reads of the Internet zine?
“The Internet is the largest experiment involving anarchy in history. Hundreds of millions of people are, each minute, creating and consuming an untold amount of digital content in an online world that is not truly bound by terrestrial laws.”
― Eric Schmidt, The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business
In August 2021, we launched our very first zine—a library in your pocket.
A solution to the most common question: How do I find great stuff to read?
So we scoured the back shelves of the internet for months to curate the most brilliant reads we could find by 42 authors across time.
Each article can be accessed with a simple QR code, aligned with our motto of Scroll Less, Read More.
Each article also has 3 media links to enrich your reading. From podcasts, and interviews, to fun games and trivia.
Every article has its own activity corner for you to track your reading or scribble notes :)
All you have to do to build a steady reading habit is to read one a day, for 42 days. Pick up the author’s book if you loved their article!
42 Good Reads of the Internet, Volume 1 has travelled with us far and wide, to wherever we have readers.
From reading events in Delhi to the vibrant Jaipur Literature Festival where it debuted, to the Bangalore Literature Festival, Bombay Zine Fest, Spoken Fest, and even Phuket, over the past two years.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F524a46fe-4159-467c-83c1-a65618fdc7e5_1852x3693.jpeg)
We want to continue to delight you with our curations and nudge you to read more, read better :)
As a Readers of 42 exclusive, we’ll release a new zine every quarter with new and diverse writers to discover in each edition. We’d love to welcome you to be a Reader and experience all that we have for you.
Surprise: We’re Launching Volume 2!
We heard you: a lot of you asked when we’re coming up with the next volume of our zine and…it’s here!
This time, we’re officially launching it with a fun event and we’d love to see you there :)
📅When: Sunday, 2nd July 2023, 4 pm-6 pm. Details to follow on our Instagram
📍Where: Kunzum Books, 4th Floor, M Block Market, GK-2, New Delhi (Google Maps location here)
Entry fee: Complimentary for Readers of 42. Rs. 500 for others*
(*the fee covers our basic expenses for the event - we are fully Reader-funded :) also to avoid no-shows)
What We’ll Do: We’ll start with our Guided Reading Meditation. Next up, we’ll officially launch Volume 2, kickstart our 12-week Readathon, and end with an informal Q&A and refreshments :)
We’ll also have a curated section featuring books by authors featured in both zines, at a special discount just for attendees.
This is our second event of the year after Towel Day. We would absolutely love to see you there and take you through the magical experience that reading is! :)
P.S. Feel free to email (project.bibliotherapy@gmail.com) or DM us if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading,
Nandini and Nitin,
Project Bibliotherapy