The Kindle Books and Resources List

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Impenitent
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The Kindle Books and Resources List

Post by Impenitent »

This is a merged topic. It consists of Impenitent's thread Kindle and eBooks: sources for low cost and free eBooks (opening post after the line) and Inanna's thread The Kindle Books and Resources List (opening post here). Impy and Inanna both graciously agreed that it made sense to have a single thread containing links and resources for Kindle users (with a focus on free and low-cost books). They remain joint threadstarters. Enjoy!

—Primula Baggins, for the Marshals


_________________________________



I'm a total convert to eBooks (well, not total; I want to feel the rustle of paper in my hands when it comes to a story that gets under my skin) and, as I'm both frugal (cheap! :D ) and broke, I've been seeking free sources to feed my love.

I know there are others here who are eReader converts, so I thought it would be a useful thing to have a dedicated eBooks thread to share our discoveries.

SOURCES

Amazon's Kindle bestsellers
The column on the right lists the free books
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/di ... 154606011/
Check the price before downloading, because occasionally the book is NOT free. If it was a limited-time offer, they can increase the price, but there's a lagtime before it moves from the free list to the paid list.

Free classics on Amazon
These are public domain books published before 1923:
http://www.amazon.com/s/?node=2245146011

Amazon Limited-Time Offers
Books that are on sale for a limited time (most are not free):
http://www.amazon.com/s/?node=2279458011

Amazon Sunshine Deals
These are daily offers for Kindle eBooks in the $2.99, $1.99 and $0.99 category.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/r ... &docId=100\
0692281&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=hero-quick-promo&pf_rd_r=15J0RRXB0JJ6MSCD3\
4QE&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=1300924422&pf_rd_i=B004K1ESKS

Pixel of Ink posts Kindle deals of various types. You can select the “Free Kindle books” link to the left if that’s all you’re after.
http://www.pixelofink.com/

Sassy Girls' Book Club on Facebook has daily posts about recommended books, many of which are free:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pag ... -Book-Club

Smashwords
Mostly self-published (so you must find the gold amongst the chaff)
http://www.smashwords.com/books/categor ... 0/free/any

Internet Archive
Offers over 2.5 million free titles
Visit http://www.archive.org/details/texts and search for a title or browse one of the sub-collections like American Libraries.
When viewing a title, click the link on the left labeled "Kindle (beta)" to download the file to your computer and then transfer to your Kindle.

Open Library
Offers over 1 million free titles
Visit openlibrary.org and search for a title. Make sure to check the 'Only show eBooks' checkbox. When viewing a title, click the 'Send to Kindle' link next to the edition in which you're interested. You will be directed to Amazon.com to choose a device for wireless delivery using the Kindle Personal Document Service (charges apply).

Project Gutenberg
Offers over 30,000 free titles
Visit gutenberg.org and search for a title or browse the book shelves by topic. When viewing a title, scroll down to the 'Download this ebook for free' section and click the download link for 'Mobipocket' or 'Mobipocket with images' format.

ManyBooks.net
Over 26,000 free titles
Visit manybooks.net and search for a title or browse by genre. When viewing a title, choose the "Kindle (.azw)" option on the right hand side and click the 'Download' button.

freekindlebooks.org
Books in the public domain. Very user-friendly, no-fuss interface, listing authors.

www.webscription.net/c-1-free-library.aspx
Appear to be mostly science fiction and fantasy, and mostly for free.

http://blog.booksontheknob.org/

http://dailycheapreads.com/

http://www.feedbooks.com/
Lots of free books, some quite contemporary (I downloaded I, Robot, by Cory Doctorow, for my son - written in 2008, an excellent s/f short story which inspired a pretty good movie), all above board. Conveniently tagged into categories - fantasy, sci/fi, juvenile, classic, non-f, etc.

Untreed
http://store.untreedreads.com/
Short stories and novellas (including some by Axordil by his regular name)
------------------------------------------------------

FOR KINDLE-LESS PERSONS
Amazon has free Kindle software for PC, MAC, Android, Blackberry and iPod/iPhone/iPad. Download from the Amazon "Kindle Store" page (the column on the left lists them all)
http://www.amazon.com/kindle-store-eboo ... =133141011


---------------------------------------------------

FOR NOOK eBOOK READERS From Lali:

Free NookBooks

NookBooks Under $5

Nook Site on FB (It puts things like Free Fridays in your FB feed.)

Free Fridays links to the NookBook blog: http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/ ... %20fridays

Pixel of Ink now also offers Nook book deals, free and low-cost.
http://www.pixelofink.com/

----------------------------------------------------------

CONVERTING eBOOK FORMATS
Yes, you can do this! But you need a conversion program such as Calibre, which is free. The beauty of Calibre is that it also allows one, with one click) to read newspapers from around the world, reformatted for easy reading onscreen without the distraction of advertisements and flashing bells and whistles.
You can view a demo of how the software works, and then download it, here: http://calibre-ebook.com/

I hope this is useful for others, and please add your tips and discoveries for us all to share.
Last edited by Impenitent on Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:07 am, edited 8 times in total.
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Primula Baggins
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Post by Primula Baggins »

Oh, thanks you, thank you! :love: We're going to have a lot of fun with those links.

I look forward to reading about particular free or cheap gems others find. We all have favorite old and obscure books that might be new discoveries for someone else.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Post by Impenitent »

I hope we all find it useful! I'll try to edit new links and sources into the first post whenever anyone digs up a new one, that way it will be an easy reference source apart from any discussion that may follow.

Sorry I double posted; don't know how I managed that.
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Post by Frelga »

As a certain literary urchin said, "Through why are there so two of you?" :D Never saw a double thread yet.

Thank you so much, Impish, great resources. :hug:

I'll be back.
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Post by Impenitent »

I have a question for Vinnie:

As we all know, some Amazon titles are available for purchase only within the US (that includes Kindle titles) because of an arrangement made by Amazon with the publishers.

Therefore, whether one can purchase a particular title is dependent on one's physical location - which is boo! for me, because (for example) I could not "purchase" a free version of "The Art of War" though I could purchase versions that were not free. This is a public domain title.

Mind you, I could have purchased it while I was in the US last year, by quite legitimately using the US address of any of my US friends while I was staying with them.

So, my question is, if my details on my Amazon account include a US address as an alternative, therefore enabling me to purchase US-only titles, would that be considered illegal?
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Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

I doubt you could go to jail for it. ;)

I really don't know, but I can't see why it would be illegal.
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Post by axordil »

Calibre is great. You can convert Word documents to epub with it.
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Post by Impenitent »

Well, that makes me feel good! (and I am now an occasional resident of Virginia; virtually)

ETA: cross-posted with Ax; the above in response to Vinnie, and yes, I'm finding calibre is quite a boon!
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Post by Lalaith »

I have a nook. Here are a few links that are helpful:

Free NookBooks

NookBooks Under $5

Nook Site on FB (It puts things like Free Fridays in your FB feed.)

Free Fridays links to the NookBook blog: http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/ ... %20fridays
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Post by Impenitent »

lali may i include those links in the first post for easy access?
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Post by Lalaith »

Sure! Thanks! :)

I know I'm in the minority with my nook, but someone out there may find it helpful.
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Post by Primula Baggins »

I haven't thought about the Nook. I know it's color, and that's definitely an advantage; but . . . I paid $23.97 to buy my own damn books for Kindle, so I probably will stick with that investment. :P

ETA: Minus $2.88 that counts against my advances. Let us by all means be precise.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Post by Lurker »

Thanks for the links Impy! I gonna start browsing now. :)

I have to agree with Voronwë, most of the sites say "must have US address", it doesn't state "must be a US resident". I like the Art of War, too, if they have a free copy then I'm a virtual resident of Illinois as well. :D Oh, you have to find The Art of War for Women. Princess has a copy but we found it in a used bookstore back in Toronto.
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The Kindle Books and Resources list

Post by Inanna »

Now that a few of us bookwyrms have Kindles, a thread for the links for free books, and any other tips and tricks should be handy.

This is that thread. :D

And to start, this is a great list of Kindle tips:

http://kindletips.slickferret.com/
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Post by Inanna »

A cute classic I just finished reading:

The House of a Thousand Candles; it's a light and interesting read (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12441)


And Cory Doctorow has all his books, free, in e-pub format. I really like his stuff. I finished:

1. With a Little Help. Collection of his short stories.
http://craphound.com/walh/e-book/browse-all-versions

2. Makers. Awesome novel about a not-too-distant alternate future.
http://craphound.com/makers/download/
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Post by Impenitent »

I haunt the "free" listing at Amazon, so I pick up some odd books - not that I'd call Georgette Heyer odd, but I wouldn't buy one of her paperbacks whereas I'm not averse to downloading (just one click needed) a copy of one of her books as an eBook for free. :D

Anyway, I just read Cotillion and enjoyed it so enormously! Well aware it's not everyone's cup of tea (romance, you know, and Regency), but I enjoyed every moment of it and was sorry it was over.

The characters were a riot - beautifully sketched - and the heroine, while abiding by the innocent, fresh and young tag, was vibrant and smart and compassionate and ballsy without becoming a stereotype. Plot was lovely and frothy and funny and quick, it was so witty I laughed out loud throughout and I just had the best time.

Of course, it's now no longer on the free list - though I doubt there'd be a stampede from HoF to Amazon for it even if it were.

Ah, me! That was fun.
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Post by Primula Baggins »

<stampedes to Amazon>
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Post by Lalaith »

<would stampede to Amazon but has a nook> :(
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Post by Inanna »

Waaah. I would have stampeded to Amazon for that book.

Do share the good free ones here. Those are invaluable tips. :)
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Post by Inanna »

This was a good one. Still free:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Abandoned-ebo ... 21&sr=1-28
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
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