The happy life of an e-bookaholic Last night, I stayed up far too late finishing a book "1632" by Eric Flint. I knew when I was through that the smart, sensible thing would be to get some 30, maybe 40 minutes of sleep before morning. Instead, hopeless addict that I am, I bought and downloaded the sequel and kept right on reading. E-books have brought a huge change to my reading habits, which were already pretty excessive. For over 30 years now I've read roughly four or five books a week, barring acts of God or spousal pleading. People in the office are used to me walking the halls lost in fiction and they cheerfully try to trip me in the stairwell in a playful manner.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
quote:Last night, I stayed up far too late finishing a book "1632" by Eric Flint. I knew when I was through that the smart, sensible thing would be to get some 30, maybe 40 minutes of sleep before morning. Instead, hopeless addict that I am, I bought and downloaded the sequel and kept right on reading.
I did the exact same thing!
Bummer that the sequel isn't anywhere near as good.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
You sum up an e-bookaholic so well!!! I have been reading rabidly since getting my pda a year ago. I've read more in the last year than I did in the last 5 years combined I'll bet. I love being able to carry so many books in such a tiny little thing. It also makes the time I have to spend sitting and waiting at customer sites so much less boring (that and because I can play games if I want to too).
[ January 14, 2004, 12:32 PM: Message edited by: ludosti ]
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
dkw - still working my way through it, I got sidetracked writing the column
There are two more sequels after this, have you read either?
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I'd like to stress that the morphine-addiction aspect I referred to is exactly as described. I ge edgy if I don't have something to read handy, even if I know I won't have the opportunity. And nothing makes me feel more content than reading the first book of a long series and enjoying it because that means I know what I'll be reading for the immediate future.
It even works with new books in a series. Whenever OSC comes out with another Alvin or Ender book I tend to go back and reread the rest of them first. Same with Pratchett's Discworld books, Parker's Spenser series, Robinson's Callahan books, etc. Unfortunately, none of these favorites is available (legally) in e-book form. No official Discworld e-books, only two Spenser novels, and only two of the Callahan series so far. Write your favorite authors! Demand more e-books!
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
O_O Free books!? Awesome! (loves CB to pieces)
Eric Flint, eh? He was a guest at my con last year... Should have read his free book before I went... Ah well.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Check http://www.baen.com/library. You can get no fewer than 9 of his books for free, in HTML, Microsoft Reader lit, Palm doc, Rocketbook, or Rich Text Format.
The free library currently has books by Aaron Allston, Andre Norton, Christopher Anvil, Lois McMaster Bujold, Paul Chafe, Rick Cook, John Dalmas, David Drake, Rosemary Edghill, Linda Evans, Eric Flint, Michael Flynn, Dave Freer, Mark A. Garland, Ellen Guon, Karen Koehler, Mercedes Lackey, Keith Laumer, Holly Lisle, Duncan Long, Howard L. Meyers, Charles G. McGraw, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, John Ringo, James H. Schmitz, D. W. St. John, David Weber, and K. D. Wentworth.
There's also free stuff available at Fictionwise.com, and they provide free copies of the Hugo nominees every year. Make sme all tingly, it does.
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
The Baen Free Library was the major force behind the purchase of the John Ringo novels currently on my shelf at home. I've read most of the stuff in there, and liked a lot of it. I'll almost certainly be buying more from Flint, Ringo or Weber at some point.
My one gripe with e-books is that they just enver feel quite right. It interrupts my reading experience to have to scroll or hit the page down button. Plus I find it harder to flip back and forth in case I want to check something from earlier in the story. But you can't beat the easy distribution, and the prices are always good.
Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
Project Gutenburg has AUDIOBOOKS! CB you're my hero. Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
I haven’t read the other sequels, I got distracted by the other series in my subscription.
That’s something you could have mentioned in the column -- Sneaky Baen books putting the latest novel in a series in a bundle with the first novels in three other series. I bought my first e-book because I couldn’t resist getting Diplomatic Immunity three weeks before it came out in hardcover, and then I had to get the sequels to the three books that came with it, and of course those were bundled with other books that have sequels, and . . .
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
Project Gutenberg is kewl! Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I could have done a column just on Baen Books, but I wanted to stay vague. I'll buy the subscriptions if I absolutely have to have the book early, but mostly I buy individual books to replace my own copies. More expensive, but I don't get books I don't want.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
quote:books I don't want
The words look like English, but the phrase makes no sense.
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Yeah, I'd personally rather read a real book than one on the computer. But I've been fond of them ever since I read one as a child on Prodigy, way back when I was ten or so. (sighs) The Secret Garden... ^_^
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*eyes glaze over* Freeee boooooks . . .
A handheld is also the best way to read lots of long fanfics without having your own private paper mill.
Ryuko, you used to be on Prodigy? What handle did you use? Ever hang around the SF&F boards?
Posted by BYuCnslr (Member # 1857) on :
You know...I've never been able to read books on a screen, which makes me sad because I have the entire Sherlock mysteries on CD...perhaps it's because I only have full computers and no handheld...yet another reason for me to get a PDA...sigh... Satyagraha
[ January 15, 2004, 04:57 AM: Message edited by: BYuCnslr ]
Posted by Zevlag (Member # 1405) on :
I love ebooks! Great Article Chris!
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
I can't read too much on a screen or else my eyes start hurting. But then, if I pull an all-nighter reading Crystal City, the effect is much the same.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Wait a minute--there are already *two* post 1633 books out? Are we talking about two sequels in addition to the short story collection Circle of Fire, or Ring of Fire, or whatever it's called? I'm going to have to head over to Baen books and take a look.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Chris,
I downloaded a book from Project Guttenberg.
Now what?
How do I put a reader on my Palm Pilot?
Is there a good free one?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
There are several good ones, Bob, many of which are freeware or shareware. The Baen books site actually has links to some.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
First you'll need to convert the Gutenberg document to a format a reader can read. Try going to PalmGear.com and downloading MakeDocW. It's free, and it does the job. It also helps clean up the formatting and remove hard returns, handy since Gutenberg files wrap text at 70 characters or so. I use that and a program called BigDoc which seems to have disappeared from the Web but is an incredibly easy-to-use little converter.
Once you get the file made (it'll have a .pdb or a .prc extension), install it to your palm and open it up with a reader. There are lots to choose from. My favorites:
Palm Reader(http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/products/palmreader/free) handles most of them, and is free. I liked it enough to buy the Pro version and I hardly ever do that.
Mobipocket (www.mobipocket.com) also has a free reader, and it can handle more in the way of formatted text and cover art. I have it just in case.
PalmGear has plenty more, including a tiny one that takes up something like 18k.
If you like it, go to www.palmdigital.com and sign up for their weekly and weekend newsletters. You get word on new and upcoming books, which is nice, but you also get a coupon code that takes 10% off any purchase of any book over $3. And occasionally they offer advance deals. Right now Robert Harris' new book Pompeii ($24.95 in the bookstore) and Legends II ($28.95) (which it contains a new Alvin Maker short story) are both $9.95 each.
It's a wonder I have money for food anymore...
[ January 15, 2004, 12:57 PM: Message edited by: Chris Bridges ]
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I have not gotten up the urge to buy a PDA. They only thing I would do with it is read books and play games, and I just can't afford either the cost or the waste of time right now.
And my cruel wife has yet to take the hint and buy me one.
I want free books now. I want a PDA and
I can't get it now.
Great article, and yes, I do carry a spare paper book when nearing the end of one I am reading. I have also been known to read three or four books at one time--one in the office for lunch, two at home (one at each end of the house so I don't go too far to read one), one in the car for when I have to wait in line somewhere, I take it with me.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I can't read a book on my computer screen -- well I could, but I think the back ache would come before the eye strain -- but my nice bright Tungsten E color screen is perfect for me.
Dan - check e-bay. Palms go obsolete even faster than PCs do, you can probably get one pretty cheap. I know what you mean, though. Mine was $200, but it took me saving from last May to last December to finally get it put aside. All these darn bills keep interfering... Before this I had a Palm VIIx I picked up for $100 from Palm's Developer site, when they were offering discount rates.
And the best thing about Palms is that when you buy a new one, there's still lots of cool uses for your old one.
[ January 15, 2004, 12:55 PM: Message edited by: Chris Bridges ]
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Addendum: if you have a PocketPC or other WindowsCE-based PDA, I think you have to convert your books to Microsoft Reader .lit files. I'm not as familiar with these, but I know both the reader and a converter program is available at that link for free and they also have some free books there, mostly public domain.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
1632 sequels -- I was unaware that Ring of Fire was a short story collection, but I'll pick it up anyway. If you need any more reason to read e-books, the list price for the hardback is $23, the Amazon price is $16.10.
You can buy the e-book at Baen.com for $6.00 right now.
Or you buy Baen's January 2004 package (Ring of Fire, Demon's Gate by Steve White, The Reaches by David Drake, Freehold by Michael Z. Williamson, Janus by Andre Norton, and Fallen Angels by Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven, and Michael Flynn) for $15.00.
The next 1632 sequel is 1634: The Galileo Affair and it'll be published in April 2004. You can pay for it now and get the first half at Webscriptions, with the rest coming out in installments to finish before the actual publication date. For that matter you can bring the first three stories up and read them on your browser for free before you buy it, Baen Books being solid advocates of the "try before you buy" system of book sales. Works for me.
There's also something called The Grantville Gazette that I hadn't known about until I researched this a few minutes ago, that's sort of an ongoing collection of the best 1632-themed stories and articles that didn't go into Ring of Fire, articles and source material and short stories, and it will only be sold in e-book form. From the cover copy:
In Loren Jones’ “Anna’s Story,” a young German girl whose family was ravaged by mercenaries is taken in by an old American curmudgeon living on borrowed time.
“Curio and Relic,” written by Tom Van Natta, tells a story about Eddie Cantrell before he wins glory and loses a leg at the Battle of Wismar. Eddie learns some lessons in life as well as marksmanship from a Vietnam war tunnel rat who is himself making a difficult transition to the new world created by the Ring of Fire.
In Gorg Huff’s witty “The Sewing Circle,” four American teenagers set themselves the goal of launching a new industry, waging an uphill battle against adult skepticism as well as the intrinsic difficulty of the project itself. Just to make their life more complicated, an ambitious seventeenth-century German blacksmith is angling to marry into their budding commercial empire and take it over lock, stock and barrel.
In addition to these stories, the Grantville Gazette contains factual articles written by some of the people who developed the technical background for the novels 1632 and 1633. And Eric Flint has assembled a collection of portraits of prominent figures of the seventeenth century who figure in the 1632 series, along with a commentary explaining who they were and why they were important.
[ January 15, 2004, 01:19 PM: Message edited by: Chris Bridges ]
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I'm not obsessed or anything, really... Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Hey Chris, you read Palahniuk?
I'm a huge fan, i'm actually reading Diary right now.
[start bragging]I also have a copy of fight club sent to me by the man himself. [/end bragging]
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Sure! Haven't bought Diary yet, but I've got Choke and Lullabye in e-form.
How is it?
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I'll have to get the Grantville Gazette--sounds interesting.
Thanks Chris!
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Well, it's Palahniuk.
the story isn't necessarily as intriguing to me this time as some of his other books, though it's early on still. but as always, his writing and ideas and just sort of how he gets everything across is super cool.
real briefly, without giving any spoilers. The book is in the form of a diary of a man named Peter Wilmot. Except Peter is in a coma, and the diary is being written by his wife. Peter is a consruction worker who unknowingly(till now) to his wife and all his clients, would seal off areas of their houses(vacation homes) while he was supposed to be doing work on them, so these people would come back and a part of their house would just be missing. And what he leaves inside these sealed off rooms is quite interesting.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Chris & rivka!!!
Thanks!
I had a dentist's appointment today and was able to take an Andre Norton book with me in my Palm.
Very cool!
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Ha! Got 'im!
One of us, one of us...
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
We need a secret handshake or something. Trouble is, that would mean looking up from the PDA for a significant chunk of time. Notgonnahappen.
Posted by UofUlawguy (Member # 5492) on :
Funny I didn't see this when it was first posted. I just finished 1632 the other day on the Baen library, and went right on to read 1633 which is there, too. I don't know how many books that makes now that I've read on that site. Some of them aren't so great, kind of lightweight but fun, but a few (like the two aforementioned) are really good. I also enjoyed reading the first three Belisarius books there.
For those who are already familiar with the site, are there any other books there that you would particularly recommend I read next?
Posted by Magson (Member # 2300) on :
On Basilisk Station is quite good. I've enjoyed all of the "Honor Harrington" ones actually. But the earlier ones were better for sure.
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
I did the exact same thing! ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)