OUR MISSION

Read and Recover donates ereaders (Kindles, Nooks, iPads, etc) to childrens’ hospitals, and, if they wish, we pre-load these ereaders with free ebooks by best-selling authors.

WHY WE DO IT

We have given away thousands of free ebooks to those suffering from hardship. Based on reader’s responses from around the world, we have come to learn that many of those suffering have one thing in common: a medical condition. Many are chronic or terminal, confined to hospitals or rehab centers for weeks or months at a time. Depression is common, and it can affect one’s will to live.

We have come to realize that escaping into a great book can sometimes be the only solace for patients suffering from extreme conditions. Some have told us that reading our books is all they have left to live for, and that it gives them strength to fight. We have learned firsthand about the unintended power of entertainment. Sometimes, escaping into fantasy can be a powerful medicine.

In order to do more and broaden our reach, we have been reaching out to hospitals to ask if they would like us to donate ebooks. Most like the idea, especially since many hospitals are not allowed to receive physical book donations, due to space limitations and bacteria issues. Many say that they would love to have ebooks for their patients–but they cannot accept them because they do not have ereaders.

So we decided to take it to the next step and buy used ereaders ourselves on Ebay. We pre-load them with ebooks (or leave them blank–whatever the hospital prefers), and ship them to the hospitals. Thus far, hospitals have been thrilled to receive them and the feedback has been excellent.

We have just begun our journey and have thus far reached 10 hospitals. Our goal is to ultimately reach every major hospital in the U.S. And one day, every major hospital around the world.

WHO WE ARE

I (Noah Lukeman) have worked in book publishing for over 20 years. I am a literary agent, author and screenwriter. In my years of giving away free ebooks to anyone who needs it, I have received countless emails detailing inconceivable hardship, and I have come to learn of the great need. I am just an ordinary person trying to make a small difference. I chose not to make Read and Recover an official 501-c-3, because I don’t want to allocate the extensive time, accounting and paperwork required to meet all of the government’s requirements. I am just buying the ereaders and paying out of pocket myself.

I am joined in this venture by my assistants, who work tirelessly to handle all of the logistics.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

–You can donate your old ereader. We are happy to walk you through how to wipe it clean of personal information, and to give you an address of a hospital in need, so you can ship it yourself.

–You can visit a site like Ebay and buy a used ereader and wipe it clean and ship it directly to a hospital. We are happy to walk you through the steps.

–If you know of a hospital who could use an ereader (ideally, Childrens’ hospitals, although any hospital will do), please email us and let us know.

–If you know of a school or organization that would like to have an a “tablet drive” or “ereader drive,” we are happy to work with them to make sure these devices get into the hands of the hospitals who can use them. If paying for shipping is prohibitive for them, we can pay for the shipping ourselves.

–If you are a published author who would like to donate (age appropriate) ebooks, we can email your file to the hospitals so that it will appear on their ereaders when they refresh them. Our goal is to eventually amass a library of novels from a wide array of bestselling authors.

–If you are an author, I would encourage you to post on social media and to your fans offering free ebooks to anyone suffering from hardship. You will be surprised at the responses you receive. All it takes is a few clicks, and you can make a big difference in someone’s life. There might be a few who take advantage of a free ebook; but far more will have their lives impacted for the better.

If you are a hospital, or a patient, please click here to following a custom link which will bring you to thousands of free books in the Kobo store. You can download all of the paid titles you see on this page by entering the code: READRECOVER. This link is meant to work with the Kobo ereader.

If you are interested in helping in some other way, or for general questions, please contact me at noah {AT} lukeman.com

“I think this Kobo ereader is cool. I like checking out how many books I can read for free.”
–Colby (patient), 12 years old, Norfolk, VA

Ronald McDonald houses shipped to in December, 2021 (150 ereaders):

Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad

Winston Salem, NC

University of Chicago Comer Ronald McDonald House

Chicago, IL

RMHC Charleston, SC

Charleston, SC

Vidant Medical Center

Greenville, NC

VCU Health

Richmond, VA

Ronald McDonald House Charities Norfolk

Chespeake, VA

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central PA

Hershey, PA

Nationwide Children’s RMHC

Columbus, OH

Seattle Ronald McDonald House

Seattle, WA

Akron Children’s Hospital

Akron, OH

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Madison

Madison, WI