Kindle
I love reading books, there is just something about the joy of a book that is special, the feel of the pages as you turn them and then if it is an old book it has that certain smell. A while back I heard of these things called e-Readers and I scoffed at the idea. How could you replace the most exquisite learning tool of all time, the book?

Now I understand. I bought my Kindle two months ago after a friend said I should give them a try. With in three hours I was a convert. Amazon have released hundreds of Classic novels for free or for less than a pound. I have so far read Horace Walpole, Edgar Allen Poe, HG Wells and am desperately trying to complete my George Orwell collection in e-Book format. The other great thing about them is that new writers can have a place to self publish and I really like that aspect of it because I have tried too.

It is true that there is a lot of weird and frankly peculiar erotica on the Kindle store, but there are also some really good books there by people who are writing some really inspired stuff. I have just read a series by Michelle Muckley and it was really well written and thoroughly enjoyable.

TLDR : Kindle, used to hate, now like.
( Rev. Jayneflakes Buy my book, I need the cash for drugs and hookers, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 3:18, 49 replies)

You do realise that old books are out of copyright and can be downloaded free, right?
Still, nice Amazon sales pitch.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 8:48, closed)

Yes the Kindle is awesome, and the amazon store is quite convenient.
But please take a look around at your other options.

There are loads of sites offering free eBooks, such as https://www.gutenberg.org/ You have to manually drag them into your kindle via something like Windows Explorer, but once on there they work just like any other books, and you don't have to pay Amazon for something in the public domain.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 10:08, closed)

Alternatively
Calibre works well on most OS's including Android. And it's free!

Here's my goto for textbooks. Search reddit/torrent sites for others.
(shitposter from the anals of posteriority on, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 11:21, closed)

there's no substitute for wandering around a bookshop looking at new and exciting titles and finding heaps of stuff you would never have thought you might like
kindles might have their place for travelling etc. but if they kill off bookshops, i will find them all, and i will burn them all.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 11:49, closed)

Yer, then you could write us a story about it.

( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Tue 7 Apr 2015, 13:44, closed)

If e-readers become as popular as the makers intend,
then what would happen to second-hand book shops? Or charity shops, who do a roaring trade in books? I agree wholeheartedly that a book has a distinct personality of its own and its text on a Kindle (or equivalent) just doesn't compete. I've still got one, though.

My guess is there'll always be the market for books themselves. A Kindle's not for life, just for holidays.
(zebideedoodah likes florence but prefers venice, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 15:34, closed)

they used to do a trade in second hand records too
people who fetishize the medium rather than the content are tragic old duffers
(old man river possible lesbian, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 15:54, closed)

some people like books or vinyl. others like to stack up bricks and burn pizzas on them
everybody needs a hobby.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 16:42, closed)

I've got a pretty nice collection of 18th and 19th century books decorating the walls as it goes
vinyl can fuck off though
(old man river possible lesbian, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 16:45, closed)

this is the first thing of sense i have heard from you
what have you got, what have you got, what have you got???
( rachelswipe with a fork, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 16:50, closed)

I've got a full set of Dickens and an almost matching set of Arthur Conan Doyle
Two sets of the D'Artagnan romances. A bunch of hilarious Victorian housewife guides. Most of Les Rougon-Macquart. Dunno ... other stuff.

I don't read any of them. I've got technology to do that.

edit: except the household guides ... they're excellent toilet browsing after a heavy night
(old man river possible lesbian, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 16:57, closed)

i am jealous
no amount of technology can look that pretty.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 17:13, closed)

they're OK for interior decor
but shit for actual reading
(old man river possible lesbian, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 17:35, closed)

http://b3ta.com/questions/mindchangers/post2492506

(zebideedoodah likes florence but prefers venice, Wed 8 Apr 2015, 18:24, closed)

Quite.
There's no serendipity on Kindle.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 21:26, closed)

Ahhh...
So you're Michelle Muckley...
(zebideedoodah likes florence but prefers venice, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 13:30, closed)

Otherwise known as Mucky Michelle.

(zebideedoodah likes florence but prefers venice, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 13:30, closed)

See also...
Lib Gen. Tons of books. Mostly academic, but have a browse.
(McChinaman banned, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 13:52, closed)

I got £100 in Amazon vouchers as a little bonus at work
...so I got myself a backlit Kindle, having previously been strongly averse to the idea of getting an ereader. If you're prepared to combine the idea with wholesale piracy, you can download pretty much every book you've ever wanted to read - for example I've got about 200 Warhammer 40K novels on mine right now.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 13:59, closed)

Warhammer 40K novels.

(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 15:50, closed)

it's almost like he's desperate for people to sneer at him yet again

(old man river possible lesbian, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 15:55, closed)

I'm not the one carrying around 200 Warhammer 40K paperbacks now, am I?

( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 16:40, closed)

( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 16:44, closed)

sorry, munchkin
you've had your monthly mockery quota
(old man river possible lesbian, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 16:49, closed)

Aw that's a shame
I was really hoping to mock you some more
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 16:56, closed)

Look, GW is fine, but you've got to pick and choose.
Collecting and painting an army, and playing the games is fine; the miniatures are fun hobby, and the games are well designed and fun.

But the novels? If you like sci-fi, you could be reading the Hyperion Cantos, or The Culture Series, or pretty much anything by Philip K. Dick, Kurt Vonnegut, Greg Bear, Alfred Bester. I don't mean to sneer (although I know this is coming off as that), but there are some amazing authors out there, producing sci-fi that is also quality literature, with genuinely amazing ideas, and I cannot recommend them enough.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 17:22, closed)

I have everything by Iain (M) Banks on there
Plenty of Asimov, Dick and Vonnegut (and Heinlein as well, 'cause there would obviously be no 40K without Starship Troopers)...it's just that every now and again I want a straightforward story in which about 20 billion people are needlessly slaughtered on some distant planet.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 17:29, closed)

Fair enough, I guess, so long as you've got some of the good stuff!
Seriously though, go and get Hyperion, and the 3 sequels to it... they're really fucking good.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 17:32, closed)

Will do, I just got caught up on the Horus Heresy so I need something new to get to grips with
though I am going through all of Banks again chronologically so it'll probably be another one of his next
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 19:33, closed)

Get yourself some Laundry Files

( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 19:42, closed)

Ta

( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 19:48, closed)

I really do recommend starting with the first book to avoid massive spoilers

( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 21:28, closed)

* this, very much.

( Colonel Boris "...a desperate Buzzfeed imitation...", Wed 8 Apr 2015, 1:03, closed)

Could I ask a question please?
Just how much Dick do you have on there?
(Chickenwire social lubricator extraordinaire, Wed 8 Apr 2015, 8:15, closed)

Whatever was in the big torrent of Dick that I downloaded
All the Dick, I'd imagine
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Wed 8 Apr 2015, 12:40, closed)

If you read one a month then it's feasible that you'll read a warhammer 40k novel every month for the rest of your life.

( Zuowan, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 16:57, closed)

I cannot die

( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 17:14, closed)

You can't do anything, you useless prick.

(old man river possible lesbian, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 18:21, closed)

Aw you sound cross, don't get too upset on the internet
we all know what happened the last time you went full walrus
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 19:46, closed)

I was much the same...
Taking 3 or 4 books with me when working away to pass the time sitting in airports etc. Now I have my Kindle with 1500 books on it, all in something small enough to slip into my pocket.

Also a big fan of Calibre for sorting my collections (biggest bug bear on the Kindle is not being able to easily sort collections).
( snee held his breath since, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 14:36, closed)

I like the ability to share between devices -
I have found the 'page turning' to be a bit buggy - but was fixed when I dl'ded the script and installed rather than using the package.
(shitposter from the anals of posteriority on, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 22:23, closed)

yeah but
Books = solar powered
( rofl harris, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 15:18, closed)

yeah ... but paper doesn't grow on trees

(old man river possible lesbian, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 16:48, closed)

This subject often brings out the stupid in people whenever it comes up in conversation.
A lot of people seem to think that buying and using an e-reader means that you stop buying and using physical books. The two forms complement each other very well and I wouldn't be without either.
( Pig Bodine., Thu 9 Apr 2015, 13:28, closed)

Reading
What I like most about reading is when you might have been reading for 30mins and then it is as tho you are no longer reading but pictures and events are forming in your mind like a movie as you read. I get this a lot with ebooks. Weird I know.
(luckylife , 0 guests and 3 bots are online, Thu 9 Apr 2015, 15:19, closed)