The following may be of interest (with apologies to those already in the know).
In putting together the next “New Month Old Post” post for Thursday, I
came across a resource called Fadedpage ( https://www.fadedpage.com/ )
which contains a growing number (currently 5659) of free, high-quality,
public domain (in Canada) ebooks in PDF, Epub, Mobi (Kindle) and other
formats.
For example (from a fairly random look through), it has Ian Fleming’s James Bond books, novels by C. S. Lewis, Nevil Shute and Evelyn Waugh, Winston Churchill’s Second World War series, books by Albert Camus in French, lots by George Orwell such as Homage to Catalonia and The Road to Wigan Pier, the Biggles stories of W. E. Johns’s and seemingly everything by Enid Blyton (or if you prefer the American equivalent, books from the Stratemeyer series including a couple of Laura Lee Hope’s Bobbsey Twins stories which I enjoyed at Junior School). Too many to mention, really.
Many, of course, are also available from the Kindle store, but often at a cost, and I tend to find that the digitisation of free Kindle books is of variable quality.
I have made a note of this, is may come in very handy, thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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It seems to be a good match for many of my own reading preferences. Other newish resources may have emerged too.
DeleteThanks for this....previously I’ve used Gutenberg project for a lot of free downloads....this site may have some books not available elsewhere. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised how good it seemed compared with the sites like Gutenberg which have been around a long time and tend to have much older books. There may be others.
DeleteThank you Tasker, I will add this to my list of eBook sources as I do have a Kindle. I love traditional books but I find that I often do better with Kindle books since I can enlarge the font so easily.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in your list if you posted about it.
DeleteThat's well worth making a note of. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI believe other free sites have emerged in the last few years too, as opposed to those like gutenberg that have been around a long time.
DeleteMany thanks for the tip Tasker. It will come in handy when we have run out of appropriate books available from our local library.
ReplyDeleteIt will have a lot more than 5659 by then.
DeleteI have just downloaded A Brave New World and am looking forward to reading it. Thanks for this Tasker.
DeleteI still want to know, looking at the screenshot, how Biggles breaks the silence. No doubt Mr. YP will have some ideas.
DeleteBiggles broke the silence with a resounding fart in his cockpit. Mayday! Mayday!
DeleteNo, that's in Biggles Breaks the Freshness.
DeleteSo far, nearly all my ebooks were free downloads from the Kindle store, many of them old books or classic works. The quality in digitisation does indeed vary, and is sometimes rather detracting from the pleasure of reading. I shall bookmark this page and go back to it when I am looking for good reading material (not that there is any danger in running short of books any time soon - I am such a slow reader these days that I can make do with far less than before.)
ReplyDeleteI like the lists of 100 books on the right, and the alphabetical author index. They seem the best ways in.
DeleteI guess I am old-fashioned but I like the weight of an actual book in my hands. I like to turn the pages and then see how much I have read and I like to look ahead to see how far there is to go to the end of a chapter. I like the smell of books and the cover designs and I like to sit with them in places where there is peace and quiet and no electricity. I admit that I am a ****ing dinosaur but I don't care.
ReplyDeleteI like proper books too for all these reasons and more, but am beginning to realise we don't have space for them all, and find reading my 8 year old Kindle is fine, especially for books I probably don't want to keep after reading. The Kindle charge lasts ages because it only uses power to change pages, not to keep them on, as it is LCD like a calculator.
DeleteThat's a good find!
ReplyDeleteI'll be using it.
DeleteThanks, Tasker. I tend to read digital books (with a black background and low brightness) when I wake up in the middle of the night and don't want to turn on the light to read a regular book. Always good to find new sources for books (besides the monumental pile already in residence).
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering whether to get a new Kindle with a back light (which mine doesn't have), and whether it would disturb the person sleeping next to me.
DeleteHere is my (unrequested) advice: Don't. The back light could not only disturb the person next to you, but it will also put the same strain on your eyes and brain as any regular computer screen does, i.e. the high-frequency flickering that you can not really see with the naked eye but that your optical nerve still registers. It is exactly that which makes us tired after long hours at the computer, and I am sure you feel that reading on the kindle is nowhere near as tiring as reading on a regular computer screen, ipad, laptop etc.
DeleteAlso, charging your kindle won't last as long as before, as of course the back light needs more energy.
The advice is very welcome. I've now looked online and it seems that Kindles are actually side-lit so the light bounces into your eyes as with a book, rather than shining in directly as with a tablet, phone or computer. I'm still tempted for when I wake in the night but don't want to put the light on or go to a colder room. I don't know how much the light flickers, though. With the unlit kindle, I find reading no more tiring than on paper.
DeleteThat looks like a nice site and a great resource. I generally use Library Genesis which often finds books I'm looking for, even if perhaps it shouldn't.
ReplyDeleteGosh! I didn't know of it. Several places point out that LibGen is illegal as it has a lot of still-in-copyright works, and that it may also contain viruses. That being said, I had a look for several favourite books (which I already have so don't need to download) and they are all there.
DeleteX-rated reading, how life has changed. Thanks for the link above I'll take a look. I'll also share it with the others, Marta especially is an avid reader.
ReplyDeleteI like to be helpful.
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