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-   -   Where does one find eBooks? (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=23192)

Branchedout 2008-08-27 05:55

Where does one find eBooks?
 
Ah. Many devices give people the option to read eBooks.
Oh, and how they love reading these eBooks!

My question is where they get them.
I can't find no free ones :<


I'd go to the library before I pay for a book.

geneven 2008-08-27 06:48

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
I recommend libraries.

However, this is a PERFECT opportunity to click on the Wiki above -- see it there? On the main page on this site.

There is a section devoted to ebooks and where to get them.



I am currently enamored with www.wowio.com but the Gutenberg Project has enough good reading to keep anyone for more than a lifetime. I'm currently rereading Jane Austen downloaded from there.

iamthewalrus 2008-08-27 07:15

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
I've moved the ebook info to the 'mulimedia' section on the Wiki front page for clarity. It was a bit hidden, although not further than a ctrl-f 'ebook' away.

callanish 2008-08-27 07:24

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
I go to the newsgroup binaries alt.binaries.e-books and then convert the e-books into a format that fbreader can work with. Mobipocket also has a big selection of books for purchase and for free. If you have garnet vm installed, you could emulate the mobipocket reader and run it in the Nokia, but the easiest option would be just to use google and do a search for all the free books online and then find the numerous programs out there that will convert it into a readable format.

pixelseventy2 2008-08-27 08:00

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
I buy mine from ereader.com. There are python scripts available to convert them to DRM-free HTML (google). AFAIK this constitutes fair use, as I've paid for them and I don't distribute them, but I want to use them on the device of my choosing.

gowen 2008-08-27 08:18

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Have a look at Cory Doctorow's site craphound.com. He has a number of books available as free downloads including "Little Brother". I found that the html version displayed best in fbreader.

pycage 2008-08-27 09:22

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
I recommend taking a look at www.gutenberg.org for tons of eBooks of great works where copyright has expired, so that they are free now.

D'ohboy 2008-08-27 12:53

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Baen books has a free library online http://www.baen.com/library/defaultTitles.htm .

Branchedout 2008-08-27 13:19

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by geneven (Post 218035)
I recommend libraries.

However, this is a PERFECT opportunity to click on the Wiki above -- see it there? On the main page on this site.

There is a section devoted to ebooks and where to get them.



I am currently enamored with www.wowio.com but the Gutenberg Project has enough good reading to keep anyone for more than a lifetime. I'm currently rereading Jane Austen downloaded from there.

I feel a tad bit less intelligent.
Though I know I've been to a wiki before by clicking a link from here.
And some articles from there were from "The old wiki."

Why is there three different wikis?


But thanks anywho :)
In the event I'm up for a good book, I'll check 'er out.


Edit: Arg. Seems there's no "Thanks" button in off-topic forum. I thank all of you who posted.

Karel Jansens 2008-08-27 14:04

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Are you looking for ebooks as in: I want to buy some ebooks?
Or as in: I have this sh*tload of paper books that I would like to have as ebooks because I don't want to strain my back carrying them around?

The former is rather easy to solve and has been pointed at above; the latter requires some research and a bit of willpower and restraint. Apparently (I would of course not know) the P2P networks are full of entire libraries of ebooks; one could argue that if one already owns a paper copy of a book, obtaining an electronic version of same would be quite ethical.

The willpower and restraint lies in that one would only keep those torrented ebooks that one indeed already owns.

Naturally: allegedly, apparently and according to rumour and popular lore...

tlacuache 2008-08-27 14:13

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
1. Fire up your IRC client of choice.
2. Join an undernet server (us.undernet.org, eu.undernet.org, whatever)
3. Join #ebooks

You should be able to figure it out from there. :)

eliagp 2008-08-27 14:36

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
emule is also a good choice, to look for single books from the more actual writers. manybooks.net is also good for legal albeit older books and has many formats available

flypunk 2008-08-27 15:17

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
There is a page that lists 25 free ebook libraries.
You can check it out:
http://educhoices.org/articles/Onlin...ks_Online.html

Benson 2008-08-27 15:19

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Karel Jansens (Post 218101)
Are you looking for ebooks as in: I want to buy some ebooks?
Or as in: I have this sh*tload of paper books that I would like to have as ebooks because I don't want to strain my back carrying them around?

The former is rather easy to solve and has been pointed at above; the latter requires some research and a bit of willpower and restraint. Apparently (I would of course not know) the P2P networks are full of entire libraries of ebooks; one could argue that if one already owns a paper copy of a book, obtaining an electronic version of same would be quite ethical.

The willpower and restraint lies in that one would only keep those torrented ebooks that one indeed already owns.

Naturally: allegedly, apparently and according to rumour and popular lore...

I've heard rumors of the strange land of Usenet, too.

anidel 2008-08-27 15:59

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
tor-forge.com

I don't remember how I did it, but every week they're sending me a free e-book to read in HTML, Mobi and PDF format.

Oh here it is from their latest e-mail:

Quote:

Originally Posted by TOR
In the coming days we’ll be announcing other new original material on Tor.com, including more original fiction and art and new e-book giveaways. Some of these offerings will be available only to people who register on the site itself, so if you haven’t done so already, consider signing up right now. It takes only a couple of minutes and it’s entirely free.


grog 2008-08-27 16:57

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by anidel (Post 218128)
tor-forge.com

I don't remember how I did it, but every week they're sending me a free e-book to read in HTML, Mobi and PDF format.

Oh here it is from their latest e-mail:

When was the last time you got a free book from them? I've been collecting them, but recently they announced that they'll only be sending out previews. It's been a couple of weeks & no free ones since.

qole 2008-08-27 17:26

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by geneven (Post 218035)
I recommend libraries.

I didn't know you can get e-books from libraries. I wish you could.

newbiew/Qs 2008-08-27 17:42

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
One group that provides a free, vast library of works in the public domain (works that are old enough to no longer be copyrighted) is the gutenberg project http://www.gutenberg.org

If you feel passionately about free ebooks and have an hour to spare a month, one way to help keep this project alive is to volunteer as a proof-reader. It's painless.

I have had an ebook reader since the rocket ebook came out and I discovered the gutenberg project back when I got my rocket ebook. (My rocket ebook is still my primary ebook reader--I love it. I can take a relatively small device with me when I travel and carry approximately 30 books in it, depending on the size of the books that I'm storing).

Makurosu 2008-08-27 18:04

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by newbiew/Qs (Post 218164)
One group that provides a free, vast library of works in the public domain (works that are old enough to no longer be copyrighted) is the gutenberg project http://www.gutenberg.org

If you feel passionately about free ebooks and have an hour to spare a month, one way to help keep this project alive is to volunteer as a proof-reader. It's painless.

I have had an ebook reader since the rocket ebook came out and I discovered the gutenberg project back when I got my rocket ebook. (My rocket ebook is still my primary ebook reader--I love it. I can take a relatively small device with me when I travel and carry approximately 30 books in it, depending on the size of the books that I'm storing).

Also, check the Project Gutenberg Australia site:

http://gutenberg.net.au/

There are a number of books there not available in the other site, due to differences in copyright laws in Australia, such as the Robert E. Howard "Conan" books. ;)

n9ots 2008-08-27 18:10

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
My favorite is:
http://manybooks.net
you can download in almost any format.

Plus the site works perfectly on a 770 with os2006 & opera!

Have fun

Jejoma 2008-08-27 18:29

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
http://www.memoware.com/ has a vast range of free books in various formats.

geneven 2008-08-27 18:29

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
No ebooks in libraries?

You can get ebooks and audiobooks in many libraries. My library, as part of the Los Angeles County Libraries, has .pdf books and audiobooks, which you can get on the Internet without going to the library except of course to get a library card. Unfortunately, it's not easy to get them to work on N8x0 tablets. Sample pdf books available that might be of interest to someone here would be the Linux Bible (2007 ediition), Windows Vista Bible, and Wireless Hacking. The audiobook selection is much better.

You might wonder how these work as library lendings. I think the audiobooks that go onto cell phones or some other pda type devices like Palms can be kept there forever, but not renewed after the loan time of two or three weeks have expired. The .pdf books just expire in a couple of weeks and I don't think you can read them at all after a few weeks -- obviously they are heavily DRM'd. It's very convenient because you don't have to bring them back to the library, they just vanish.

Laughing Man 2008-08-27 18:58

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Here are some.


http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/cgi-bin...ok-titlesearch

hircus 2008-08-27 21:02

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
And don't forget Feedbooks!

dan 2008-08-27 22:48

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
If any of you use Gutenberg project you can still download the gutenbrowse. Use it with FBReader. The site to download is
http://www.elisanet.fi/ptvirtan/soft...wse/index.html
Just get the deb file, maemo doesn't work. Gutenbrowse works on my N800 with Diablo latest update.

anidel 2008-08-27 23:00

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by grog (Post 218149)
When was the last time you got a free book from them? I've been collecting them, but recently they announced that they'll only be sending out previews. It's been a couple of weeks & no free ones since.

You're right. I was on vacation and busy before leaving and didn't notice the change. :(

What a pity.

anidel 2008-08-27 23:03

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Anyway guys, a very good set of e-books in this thread.
We should collect them up in one single wiki page...

mrklaw 2008-08-28 16:08

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
another vote for manybooks.net. After trying a few different formats, I like the custom html format for fbreader.

iamthewalrus 2008-08-28 16:59

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by anidel (Post 218342)
Anyway guys, a very good set of e-books in this thread.
We should collect them up in one single wiki page...

Actually most of them were already on the ITT wiki, which also shows the limited use of Wikis, i.e. few people read or maintain them.

gemniii42 2008-08-28 21:30

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by qole (Post 218160)
I didn't know you can get e-books from libraries. I wish you could.

I do.
6789

grog 2008-09-12 12:23

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by anidel (Post 218128)
tor-forge.com

I don't remember how I did it, but every week they're sending me a free e-book to read in HTML, Mobi and PDF format.

Oh here it is from their latest e-mail:

Quote:

Originally Posted by grog (Post 218149)
When was the last time you got a free book from them? I've been collecting them, but recently they announced that they'll only be sending out previews. It's been a couple of weeks & no free ones since.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anidel (Post 218341)
You're right. I was on vacation and busy before leaving and didn't notice the change. :(

What a pity.

It looks like the free books are back! From the latest newsletter:

Quote:

More details next week--but yes, we plan to resume giving away selected e-books on Tor.com, at least one title per month. To download them you’ll need to not just visit Tor.com but register as a user; the downloads won’t be accessible until you do. Registering on the site takes maybe thirty seconds if you type particularly slowly...so Act Now, Act Without Thinking, get over to Tor.com and create yourself a user account today.

anidel 2008-09-12 12:25

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Yup, got it too yesterday! :)
Can't wait :)

If only PDF viewer could remember where I stopped reading, it would be perfect.
I have to use evince for that.

grog 2008-09-12 13:07

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by anidel (Post 223325)
Yup, got it too yesterday! :)
Can't wait :)

If only PDF viewer could remember where I stopped reading, it would be perfect.
I have to use evince for that.

Just download the html version & use FBReader. A *LOT* better IMHO.

anidel 2008-09-12 13:09

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Let me try...
..
..
do you use the HTML zipped version ?
..
..
no deal, I can't make fbreader read the HTML version of at least two of the books from Tor.
Is something I am missing ?
I can see the book listed, I can go see the details, but the book does not show up, just a white page.

Hints ?

fgs 2008-09-12 18:04

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
A few more links:

- A list of e-book collections straight from FBReader site: http://fbreader.org/ebooklinks.php
- Onesir's e-book collection: http://www.onesir.com/e-books.html
- Librivox audiobook collection: http://librivox.org/

grog 2008-09-12 19:08

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by anidel (Post 223335)
Let me try...
..
..
do you use the HTML zipped version ?
..
..
no deal, I can't make fbreader read the HTML version of at least two of the books from Tor.
Is something I am missing ?
I can see the book listed, I can go see the details, but the book does not show up, just a white page.

Hints ?

I just tried the Battlestar Galactica book (CarverBSG_HTML.zip), opened fine. In FBReader I choose Library, Add Book. When I selected the zip file it opens up & shows me the html & opf files. I choose the html & hit 'ok' on the book info screen & it displays the first page just fine.

FBReader 0.8.17-1, in case that matters. HTH

Frank Banul 2008-09-12 19:15

Re: Where does one find eBooks?
 
If you start with HTML, you could always use Plucker to convert to plucker format which fbreader understands.

Frank

Quote:

Originally Posted by anidel (Post 223335)
Let me try...
..
..
do you use the HTML zipped version ?
..
..
no deal, I can't make fbreader read the HTML version of at least two of the books from Tor.
Is something I am missing ?
I can see the book listed, I can go see the details, but the book does not show up, just a white page.

Hints ?



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