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RE: Books. That plain and simple - 1/19/2012 10:01:34 AM

Fornica

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Has anyone read any of Rohinton Mistry's work? He's my all time fave.

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RE: Books. That plain and simple - 1/19/2012 7:59:18 PM

FirmhandKY

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Exidor

quote:

And yeah, call me a dinosaur, but I am not gonna get a Kindle. I like the whole old fashioned reading experience.

Same here. But every available wall of the house has long-since been paneled with bookshelves. Books on the floor in boxes, books in bins under the bed. I've weeded relentlessly, but none of my friends will take any any more. The library doesn't want them. I've even tried giving them to hospitals and nursing homes, but they only want brand-new books. Must be nice to be so picky.

I want a book reader, but I don't want a freakin' Kindle, or Nook, or any of the others I've looked at so far. I just want something with a moderately sized screen that's visible in direct sunlight and backlit for darkness, adjustable and selectable font sizes, able to read HTML, PDF, and plaintext, with a USB port so I can upload the content I already have on my desktop PC. Some slots for storage upgrades would be nice. I don't need internet connectivity (and there isn't any, most places I would be using it), I don't need a web browser, music or movie playback, built-in games, or being locked in to some proprietary platform. It doesn't need to be a tablet PC, just a viewer.

Unfortunately, my requirements are evidently still too extreme for the marketplace...

I've been waiting a long time. Hopefully, I won't have to wait too much longer.

I have literally tons of books, and 1000s of ebooks.

While I still buy and enjoy deadtree books (and once I get the new house built intend to have a large library to safely store them), I've been reading "ebooks" before ebooks were cool.

I started on my Palm (remember those?), when I discovered the free mobi converter, where I could scan (or download scanned) versions of books in several different formats and convert them to pdb.

I burned through several Palms, and while they were small, it was pretty neat to have a library in my hands, where ever I went, and at night, to read without a night light.

I have one of the Sony ebook readers now, but never really use it, and am back to using my Samsung Galaxy S with Aldiko. Small screen, but the fonts work for me, and since I carry my phone all the time, I always have a book (well, a couple of thousand) handy.

Aldiko has a large selection of public domain books that you can download directly from their service, or purchase others if you wish.

You can get the free version of Amazon's Kindle software for it as well, and download (or buy) anything from them if you wish.

You can use just about any tablet as well, if a bigger screen is an issue.

But the biggest thing you need to know is about calibre ebook software. It will convert just about any format ebook, to any other format. It has loads of other features, but the biggest is that it will rename all your books to a standard (you can set that standard) and allows you to download all the information about each book into a master searchable database.

And it will interface with just about any electronic device. I use a USB to microUSB from my Android phone. You can manage your entire library on your PC, and move and delete as desired from your chosen electronic device.

It will even allow you to set up a server on your home PC so that you can browse (or allow others to browse) your ebook collection from anywhere, on the net.

And the best thing? Free, and very well supported.

Firm

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RE: Books. That plain and simple - 1/19/2012 9:07:15 PM

DaNewAgeViking

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If you're into science fiction, you might try in independent author's web site:

http://www.The-Written-Wyrd.org

He writes some interesting stuff, and the money goes to a good cause.

< Message edited by DaNewAgeViking -- 1/19/2012 9:08:12 PM >

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RE: Books. That plain and simple - 1/19/2012 9:32:51 PM

Azonier

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quote:

ORIGINAL: AttitudyJudy

quote:

ORIGINAL: Clickofheels

WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams...a true classic

Ooh, one of the best books ever written, IMO

ETA-

Ooh, another one that Lilly posted: Handmaid's Tale. Maybe not one of the best ever written, but certainly has to be one of the most thought-provoking.

I could use a handmaid. (to go with my minions)

< Message edited by Azonier -- 1/19/2012 9:33:39 PM >

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RE: Books. That plain and simple - 1/20/2012 12:43:37 AM

FirmhandKY

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DaNewAgeViking

If you're into science fiction, you might try in independent author's web site:

http://www.The-Written-Wyrd.org

He writes some interesting stuff, and the money goes to a good cause.

You might like this as well:

Baen Free Library

Firm

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RE: Books. That plain and simple - 1/20/2012 5:53:03 AM

Moonhead

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Fornica

Has anyone read any of Rohinton Mistry's work? He's my all time fave.

Heard of him, not read him. That's the Canadian writer of Indian descent, right?

To be honest, Salman Rushdie has pretty much put me off ever reading any more Indian orientated fiction ever again. If I want an Angela Carter impersonator, I read Neil Gaiman or somebody else who can do it properly, not Rushdie...

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RE: Books. That plain and simple - 1/20/2012 10:37:10 AM

Kana

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Exidor

quote:

I am reading Neal Stephenson's Reamde. Less than a hundred pages in, I am both hooked, and convinced it will go absolutely nowhere for the next 900 pages.

After suffering through "Cryptonomicon" I was wondering about that. Reamde is in my audiobook queue. Not that "Snow Crash" was a marvel of linear plotting, either.

A few years ago I realized I spent enough time behind the wheel to knock off an audiobook every week or so, and then I found out the library could get them via inter-library loan. They're not as good as a real paper book, but I can listen while it's not practical or safe to handle paper.

How could you not like Cryptonomicon?

I give you that the ending is abrupt (Neal didn't get endings down til System of the World), but the writing is freaking brilliant. Hysterical, full of social commentary, secret history, satire, conspiracy theories ala Pynchon, the secret of how to eat Capt. Crunch, Douglas MacArthur, the birth of computers, codebreaking, nerd geekisms galore and best of all, Bobby Shaftoe, the ultimate fucking marine raider.
It's a damn blast. One of the few books that makes you think even as it leaves you gasping for air, laughing.

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