What are you reading?

[Oven ManParticipant @ovenman]

Project Gutenberg is an excellent source of out of copyright free books, both fiction and non fiction. Just been reading a book from PG on how to make nitro explosives. Seems you need to build the factory on a hillside as everything is done by gravity to eliminate sparks from motors and pumps.

Have also been reading "The Age of Wonder". It is a book about the "scientists" Joseph Banks, William Herchel, Machael Faraday and others aound 1750 to 1840. Its interesting how literature and science were so intertwined at that time. People like Wordsworth and Colleredge were also very interested in science.

Peter

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

A useful program for e-book management is Calibre which is free on Windows, Mac, Linux. Catalogues and stores and can convert all the various formats into whatever you need. Works with Kindle and other readers. Loads of free resources on line although some of them like Free E book.net keep sending e-mails!

John

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

As someone who has several books on the go at the same time I have found a Kindle to be very useful and am on my second after wearing out the batteries of the first through use.

While I agree that the prices are high on the UK Amazon site this does include VAT which is not charged on printed books, although this is set to change.

The licence (You do not own etc etc) is similar to most other software which is what an eBook is and while you certainly own a physical book you can't copy it etc and if the physical book is destroyed you don't have any rights to the text anymore either – I can't see this is very different to the eBook situation.

I my case I can therefore live with the Amazon licence. I also use the free online sources and save a bit on Kindle books being cheaper and a fortune in not having to buy more bookcases!

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

If you use Calibre as mentioned above you can download a book from your Kindle or other device and save it locally so licensing and Amazon not being available can be circumvented.

John

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Joe I understand your concerns about Amazon with Kindle and their restrictive practices and prices, I received a Kindle as a Xmas present and I really like it., you don’t have to pay the high prices as there are always books on reduced offers and there are millions of books in their library always available , not like your conventional library. I am sure that you will adapt yourself to the different feel and lack of smell, I have found and read books on there that I would never have come across ordinarily, it has certainly broadened my knowledge. You just need to decide if it is for you, as you say you have virtually exhausted books available local to you.
Dave W

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember32069]

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