Free eBooks

[sandsys]

I get an email every day from BookBub.com listing books that are free or cheap. You get to chose the genres you want included and the vendors you like. I have reduced my vendors to Amazon because they keep track of what I've read so I don't buy the same book twice. A bonus of that is if I find a series I like, my Amazon Prime membership often lets me read the rest of the series for free. Author Nick Russell has said he gets paid for those free reads so I don't have to feel guilty about doing that. For those of you who enjoy reading as much as I do, check it out. I don't work for them, I just appreciate the service.

Linda Sand

[rynosback]

Thanks Linda.  We find connecting with our home state library and down loading books for free has worked for us.

[folivier]

I've been using Bookbub for about a year now.  I do get a few emails every week promoting other authors books to buy but worth every penny I don't have to pay for it!

[offroad]

am doing the same.  have too many free books.  wish my amazon account with KINDLE let me sort the books better.

[scouserl41]

We joined the library in Arizona (Free) and Florida ($10 a year for a non resident) an California (Before we left permanently). They all get us access to free Kindle books. The Florida system hasn't dropped us yet even tho we only paid for 6 months and that was 2 years ago.

We love our Kindles!

BnB

[Dutch_12078]

We're long time Book Bub subscribers as well, and we also belong to the upstate NY regional library system near our upstate NY cottage that gives us access to the Overdrive book lending system. We've also joined the NY Public Library in NYC that's open to all NY State residents. My wife and I currently have ~1000 books each stored on our phone, tablets, and PC's, and we're reading on average three books a week, so that should last us awhile. In fairness, we won't actually read all of them since sometimes we start one that just doesn't "grab" us and drop it. Our favorite e-reader is "Moon+ Reader Pro" for Android. Moon+ reads many book formats and automatically synchronizes between our various devices making switching from one to another very easy. We also use the free "Calibre" book management program to convert books from one format to another as needed. Calibre has some third-party add-ons available from others that allow it to work with various DRM formats, although that does get into some copyright grey areas. We use DropBox and the DropSync app to automatically update our devices with new book listings.

[packnrat]

i guess i am strange. i like my books made of paper.

a bunch of electrons is bla. having a real book in my hands is good.

i have made great use of used book stores. amazing finds in them.

and these little screens all lit up hurt my eyes. my eyes do not like bright light. or small type. i kinda live in a cave. windows are most always covered to block light.  but then i sleep days. work the night shift.

[LindaH]

I belong to several free (or cheap) book "clubs" where I receive an email each day with the books available, BookBub being just one of them.

Also, because I'm an Amazon Prime member, I get an email once a month for their First Read books.  They list six books, one of which you can select and get for free. 

[sandsys]

4 hours ago, packnrat said:

i guess i am strange. i like my books made of paper.

a bunch of electrons is bla. having a real book in my hands is good.

i have made great use of used book stores. amazing finds in them.

and these little screens all lit up hurt my eyes. my eyes do not like bright light. or small type. i kinda live in a cave. windows are most always covered to block light.  but then i sleep days. work the night shift.

So many things will change when you actually hit the road. Physical books have weight and take up space and it's not always easy to stop at used book stores en route. Many RV parks used to have decent paperback book exchanges but as more people go to e-readers that has dropped off, too. Trying to do everything the old way in a new environment can be frustrating. I hope you succeed in adapting.

Linda Sand

[chindog]

I also subscribe to BookBub, but I seem to get a lot more suggestions from BookGorilla.com.  It's good to have both, though.

[TheDuke]

Pack rat. You are way behind the times. The Kindle ereader has always been just black and grey and you can read in bright sunlight. Most if not all other readers are in color are are hard to read in sunlight no matter what people say. Also the kindle allows all the font sizes you want. 

[Dutch_12078]

The Moon+ Pro Android e-reader we use has variable font sizes and customizable themes that offer a number of background texture/color and text color variations, as well as a night mode that reverses the background and text colors with just a tap. We've found the night mode with white text on a black background is usually easy to read in bright sunlight. It also has a blue light filter that makes reading easier on the eyes in different light conditions, including sunlight.

[packnrat]

maybe as money allows might look into such. just nothing like a good solid book in your hands. no  battriers required.

but i do agree on space and weight. i have a libary to sell off. must have at least  a couple thousand titles ( in hard back) . another couple hundred in paper back.

and yes i have read these and many more. even the tech manuals.

i am a book worm.

[sandsys]

3 hours ago, packnrat said:

maybe as money allows might look into such. just nothing like a good solid book in your hands. no  battriers required.

Huh, I rarely think of my e-reader as having batteries. I just plug in the recharger every now and then. I read a lot buy my batteries never run down far enough to be a concern.

Linda Sand

[vermilye]

3 hours ago, packnrat said:

maybe as money allows might look into such. just nothing like a good solid book in your hands. no  battriers required.

but i do agree on space and weight. i have a libary to sell off. must have at least  a couple thousand titles ( in hard back) . another couple hundred in paper back.

and yes i have read these and many more. even the tech manuals.

i am a book worm.

While I now have and use a Kindle Paper White, I stuck with paper books for years.  I still do at least half my reading on paper - I trade books at campground laundries & libraries, hit the used book stores, often trading at them.  Most offers a 2 for one trade on books.  I can't pass a used book stall at Quartzsite!

[packnrat]

just sad many used book stores are now closed.

high tech has destroyed  enjoying a good BOOK.  something about reading words printed on paper has permintance, and stability.

like this phone must always be pluged in to keep on working. 

 

[justRich]

22 hours ago, packnrat said:

maybe as money allows might look into such. just nothing like a good solid book in your hands. no  battriers required.

 

I've been happy with the Kindle "Paperwhite".  Both it's brightness and text size are adjustable.
At night I turn brightness way down.   It's light enough that I can hold it with one hand while laying down.

Tons of literature available for free download at the libraries - available online anywhere in the country.

Trick:  Manuals, or anything on one's computer can be "printed" to a pdf file.  The pdf file can then be manually transferred to the Kindle by a USB cord. 
This allows me to keep many reference manuals on a wafer thin ereader.

The downside is that one cannot easily and quickly thumb through the pages.  I find it cumbersome to do so.

 

[Sehc]

I do use my Paperwhite. But there is nothing like a real book to skip around or look back to a reference. And the photos and illustrations are best in a real book.

[packnrat]

well seeing as i am trying to convert all my music and movies to storage on a chip.

i am working that way. just old and being dragged kicking and screaming by my heels into the new age.    just woke up ( work hrs) and trying to look at this phone screen hurts my eyes.  even at 2:am it hurts my eyes. plus hard to read. yes a kendel is larger.

does the kendal also serf the web? make/ recive phone calls? send texts?

[SWharton]

You do know you can change the brightness of  your screen. Brightness should be in settings on your phone.

Kindle paperwhite is meant to read books, secondary(poor) is the web. We use our phone primarily for calls and texting, photos , weather. We have a Chromebook for surfing the web(bigger screen) or use our PC.

Brightness is controllable on everything.

[jkoenig24]

I second the free OVERDRIVE App. You do need to belong to a participating library. I love to listen to audiobooks while driving. MUCH easier than hoping to find a good radio station to listen to.

[sandsys]

1 minute ago, jkoenig24 said:

 love to listen to audiobooks while driving. MUCH easier than hoping to find a good radio station to listen to.

I'd be afraid I'd get caught up in the story and forget I'm driving. Music at least has regular breaks.

Linda Sand

[BFT]

Been using bookbub for a longtime. Another one that I really like is: ohfb.com

Just started using Libby to download from my local library.

Enjoy my kindle paperwhite. 

[SWharton]

Linda, Getting caught up in the story in an audiobook happened the first time we tried it. Missed our turn(going to my brother) and almost ended up in New York City.  Never went near an audiobook again.

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, SWharton said:

Never went near an audiobook again.

Back when I was much younger my work caused me to spend many hours driving around WY, CO, and NE where there was lite traffic and over the same roads many times, I used to listen to audio books and my employer even provided a library of motivational books on tape for us to use. It helped pass some long hours and while I didn't listen to them in towns I never seemed to have a problem out in the rural areas so listened unless the weather was bad. Today I find that my "not so young" mind is not as capable of multi-tasking as it was then and so I don't even listen to the radio when driving in traffic.