Confronting the question: Can we build one more bookshelf in 970 square feet? converted my love of books to Love of Reading. I embraced e-books as both eco-friendly and space saving. We recently moved my 5500+ e-books by wrapping my precious tower and back up drive in a blanket, cradling both in my eldest son’s arms and carrying it out the door. The thought of packing up that many books to move is a nightmare I don’t have to face. However, the 10 shelves of books I can’t live without did require boxes, brawn and bribery but that’s another story. This one is about Page Traveler.
I have an eclectic accumulation of public domain texts/books and images on my drives, organized by folders. Since I began this adventure before e-reader software matured to the awesomeness you find today, I still have my dowdy ole folders in My Documents that is labeled Books - I know, very creative. Fortunately, I can find what I’m looking for quickly because I am old skool.
Now, of course, there are numerous programs out there that will organize everything but the laundry. For those of you just getting started, Calibre seems to be THE e-reader to have for all your e-reading needs. There are links to information, faqs and reviews of e-reader software Here.
Regardless of your platform, there’s a program out there for you. And more books than most of us could read in three lifetimes without ever spending a dime, aside from the back up disk. The best part of public domain e-books is no digital rights stuff to fret over; no fear the bookseller will merge or vanish next year and leave you with a book you can't read because you upgraded your motherboard or hard drive. You can move your books around from desktop to laptop to reader without passwords, credit card info or nasty warnings from your computer.
**Do be careful downloading, there are sites that attach nasty junk to the download and some that try and force you to use their reader which is a disguise for programs you do not want on your computer.**
Where do I find all this (safe&) Good Stuff? All the sites I list have searches, browsing by category and most are free. The ones I have listed that charge a fee have met my requirement of minimal and worth it to support their work. I'm affiliated with nobody.
The next logical question: Is this old book any good? Sure it’s by someone that has a bio on Wiki but what does that mean, really? Aren't these books the very ones I didn't read in English Class back in the day? Maybe so, but now that you've grown and are a mature person, you might actually want to read some of them. Especially since Mrs. Prunella looking over her glasses at you doesn't come with any download I've ever encountered!
I've noticed that few public domain search sites have even one review - unless there is an issue with the download. Folks grab the book and go on with life, they seldom return to post what they found. Now and then you'll see them rated with stars but that's about all you get looking for a clue beyond the title, author and publication date. And that’s where I hope to bring a little light on the e-book public domain universe.
Be warned, if you’re looking for scholarly reviews, there are several places out there in which to be saturated with wisdom, probably not so much here. I adore the written word, history, art, etiquette, crafts, cooking, (ok, I'll stop now) and yeah, all right, I admit it, I love to prowl about and research but I’m a laywoman with life-experience and insatiable curiosity, not vast education or degrees with which to dazzle anyone.
What will you find here, then?
• reviews of individual books, fiction and non-fiction, with links to download and read them yourself, if so inclined.
• links to a list of books & sites for specific topics and comments regarding what I found as I prowled around.
• Collections by specific authors with easy to use links that will save you some search time.
So, Welcome fellow travelers!
Comments and discussion are most welcome. Keep it polite and respectful please, thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment