The Book of Life can now be read if it is bound to the same lot as the Sim trying to read it. You can now truly get a life, or at least read about it.
Fixed in Patch 1.44.77
I started playing my current save file in early October (2017), at which point my main Sim was a toddler. Her mother completed the bestselling author aspiration, wrote a book of life, and bound it to her daughter. The daughter then took her own Book of Life with her when she moved out and into an apartment. Her then-boyfriend (live-in) had it in his inventory for a while (in case of an emergency), but when they broke up, I gave it back to her. Finally, I ended up giving her Book of Life to her husband who had it ever since. Periodically, I would check to make sure that it still said that it was bound to her and still had the option to "Read her epic tale" because I was paranoid that the combination of time and being passed from inventory to inventory would cause it to stop working.
My main Sim then completed the Bestselling Author aspiration herself and wanted to give her husband his own Book of Life (with plans to bind additional volumes to their future children). At this point the family had moved to Brindleton Bay, so I know for sure that it was after the November 7 patch. However, I cannot say for sure when I last checked her Book of Life prior to writing his- - I could have sworn that I checked it just before she wrote his, but I remember that their life was incredibly hectic at the time and she barely had time to write the Book of Life, so it's entirely possible that I, feeling confident after checking her Book many times over her lifetime, forgot to check. Regardless, I had her write and bind the book to him. Everything seemed in order, so I put it in her inventory and when I went to verify that it was working the only option I had was "Place in World" (When I did this, the only options I had were "Put in Inventory" and "Put Away.") I then checked the Book of Life that she had brought with her from her parent's house and found the same issue. I deleted both books and had her write another one-- with the same result (she then published it and never earned any royalties on it-- I'm not sure if this is part of the issue or simply what happens when you publish a bound book of life).
I am running with all of the packs, some CC (CAS items and build/buy items), and no mods (well, I have mods in my folder, but after the patch I disabled the script mods option). I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I think the only CC that I am actually using in their house is some clutter objects and wall art (no bookshelves, desks, computers, chairs, sofas, etc.).
So, the bug isn't related to the need to rename book before using?
In my game, some books have option to read, some don't. Sometimes the option to read gets restored and then vanishes again.
I still think it's somehow related to the old bug caused by having more than one book in any kind of inventory: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/Fixed-Inventory-malfunction-if-two-Book-of-Life/m-p/6732101#M61333 The workaround was to rename the books. Maybe it also works here?
EDIT. Checked other answers. Yes, the sim coming in and out of the lot would explain why the options are being there and then vanishing.
Hey, uh.. I saw somewhere else that the sim that the book of life is written about has to be on a different lot, for example, at work or someplace else. Then another sims can read the book and the needs will be fulfilled. Worked for me, hope this helps!
