All things books and reading thread - 2016

[rubysmama]

 
I'm now 197 pages into Written In My Own Heart's Blood, and I've been giggling like a maniac for the last several dozen pages.  What a comedy of errors!  For those of you who think that Claire and Jamie suck ditchwater through purple straws, you will just have to pardon my maniacal glee.

 
So your glee is maniacal because you're on the last book and you know that the torture is about to end? 

 

Getting through book 3 was like trying to march through the La Brea tar pits while wearing iron boots for me. Slooooow and painful. 

 This is me hitting Claire. I wish.

 

@Mamanyt1953  @Kat0121  

You guys made me laugh with your comments. I guess I'm kind of in the middle of your opinions on the series, in that some books I like more than others.

Drums of Autumn and The Fiery Cross were not as good as the earlier ones. But I just finished A Breath of Snow and Ashes and really, really enjoyed it.

Just started An Echo in the Bone. Due to things that changed at the end of the last book, I'm wondering if I will like this one as much, but will read it regardless, as I intend to complete the series.

And speaking of the series, I just checked Wiki to get the correct names of the books and it looks like she's working on a 9th book - Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone.  

 

[Mamanyt1953]

 
I also get daily emails from BookBub, and I love it.  In fact, I just finished dealing with today's BookBub.  But I'm also subscribed to a couple of similar email ebook subscriptions:  Early Bird Books: http://www.earlybirdbooks.com/ and Free Nook Books.  There are a couple of problems with the Free Nook Books emails, though:

1. You have to have either a Nook or a free Nook app to use it.  Free Nook apps are available for Android, iPads and iPhones, Macintosh computers, and Windows 10 computers.  Anything earlier than Win 10 is out, even though my first generation iPad has no trouble with the Nook app!  The reason for this is that Barnes and Noble has "partnered" with Microsoft and is doing their share to try to bully people into "upgrading" to Win 10.
2. I'm not sure how I got on this list.  Unlike Early Bird Books and BookBub their emails don't have a "Were you forwarded this email?  Click here to subscribe." link.  I think it basically came with my Nook.  The email address from which these come is [email protected], so I went to http://freebookssearch.com/ and, sure enough, I found a signup page, which also has free Kindle books listed! 
   
     I also found links there to a whole bunch of free books, even though the Free Nook Books email didn't come today (it's a bit more occasional than BookBub).  Therefore, I surmise that they also have a Free Kindle Books email you can get, and I strongly recommend signing up for the Kindle version if you don't happen to have a Nook or Nook app.  About half of the books in th these emails are free, unlike BookBub or Early Bird Books, though they frequently get repeated for several days in a row so that I find myself being told "You can't buy this book because you already own it."  Oh well.  Somehow, I manage to cope.

In searching for the Free Nook Books signup page, I also encountered this website: http://freebooksearch.net/, and a link in a blog to many (it says all) free Nook books: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/nook-books/free-ebooks/_/N-8qaZry0.  The blogger made this link because going to the Barnes and Noble website and searching directly for "Free books" doesn't get a properly sorted list, but, somehow or other, it appears that he has figured out the trick.

Margret

You mean I can get Nook now that I"m dealing with Win 10 at my son's insistence?  That would be lovely for books that I want to sample, but am not sure I want to have and keep and read 5 times a year!  Once I have Trillian under control, I'll see about it.  There are lots of books that I wont buy, simply because I won't spend the money on a book or author I'm iffy about.  This would be such fun!  Maybe I'll even unplug the laptop and put it in my lap, instead of on the desk, on occasion!

As for charging things in the car, I don't have one of those, either....

 

[DreamerRose]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the library. Our local library lends out books for Kindles and Nooks. I have no idea how they do it as I like paper books, but electronic books are available on their website.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

 
@Mamanyt1953  @Kat0121  

You guys made me laugh with your comments. I guess I'm kind of in the middle of your opinions on the series, in that some books I like more than others.

Drums of Autumn and The Fiery Cross were not as good as the earlier ones. But I just finished A Breath of Snow and Ashes and really, really enjoyed it.

Just started An Echo in the Bone. Due to things that changed at the end of the last book, I'm wondering if I will like this one as much, but will read it regardless, as I intend to complete the series.

And speaking of the series, I just checked Wiki to get the correct names of the books and it looks like she's working on a 9th book - Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone.  

I just finished "Written In My Own Heart's Blood.  If it is the last one, I'm fairly satisfied.  There were only a couple of story lines I'd like to have had more resolution for.  I'm not certain there won't be one more, and if there is, I'm going to be reading it.

 

[rubysmama]

 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the library. Our local library lends out books for Kindles and Nooks. I have no idea how they do it as I like paper books, but electronic books are available on their website.

I may not have mentioned it lately, but I've been borrowing e-books from my library for the last year and a half.  And I love it. It is so easy and convenient. I don't even have to leave the house!

The only cons are you can only borrow each e-book for 3 weeks at a time. And they only have so many copies of each book to lend out. So popular books have long waiting lists.  Even the Outlander series has waiting lists.  And because the Outlander books are so long, it can be hard, for me at least, to finish in 3 weeks.  But you can go back on the waiting list again to renew. And if there is no one else waiting for the book, you can renew right away.

The other thing about borrowing e-books from the library, is that the program to borrow books, at my library at least, is not compatible with Kindle e-books. That's why I ended up getting a Kobo e-reader.

 
I just finished "Written In My Own Heart's Blood.  If it is the last one, I'm fairly satisfied.  There were only a couple of story lines I'd like to have had more resolution for.  I'm not certain there won't be one more, and if there is, I'm going to be reading it.

Here's the link from DG's website. I only glanced at it, as I didn't want to accidentally get spoiled about anything in the 7th or 8th books.

http://www.dianagabaldon.com/books/outlander-series/book-nine-outlander-series/

 

[Kat0121]

 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the library. Our local library lends out books for Kindles and Nooks. I have no idea how they do it as I like paper books, but electronic books are available on their website.

I can see why people would want to borrow ebooks from the library but I'm one of those people who will start a book, drop it if it starts to lose my interest and then go back to it at a later date- so I basically have the attention span of a toddler sometimes and when I want something, I want it NOW. Waiting list? No no no no no. That would make the toddler portion of my brain short circuit. 

All that NO-ing was in fact a tantrum. Now I want a juice box, my blankie and my kitties 

 

I used to prefer physical books but they are now getting on my nerves because they take up SO much room so I am starting to want the ones I have GONE. I do have a bunch of Nancy Drew books that DH bought for me years ago that I will likely never part with for sentimental reasons but for the most part, i find myself glaring at the bookcase. I know Sophie would be thrilled if I emptied out the bookcase in the bedroom and lined the shelves with carpet remnants so she could climb it and use it for naps and scratching. 

We have another bookcase in the living room that is full and  90% Steven King hardbacks that were DH's. I always glare at those. DD said she wants them or they'd  be gone for sure. She better take them with her when she leaves the nest or I'm putting them on ebay or whatever.  I can fill that one with cat toys! 

 

[Kat0121]

 
I may not have mentioned it lately, but I've been borrowing e-books from my library for the last year and a half.  And I love it. It is so easy and convenient. I don't even have to leave the house!

The only cons are you can only borrow each e-book for 3 weeks at a time. And they only have so many copies of each book to lend out. So popular books have long waiting lists.  Even the Outlander series has waiting lists.  And because the Outlander books are so long, it can be hard, for me at least, to finish in 3 weeks.  But you can go back on the waiting list again to renew. And if there is no one else waiting for the book, you can renew right away.

The other thing about borrowing e-books from the library, is that the program to borrow books, at my library at least, is not compatible with Kindle e-books. That's why I ended up getting a Kobo e-reader.

Here's the link from DG's website. I only glanced at it, as I didn't want to accidentally get spoiled about anything in the 7th or 8th books.

http://www.dianagabaldon.com/books/outlander-series/book-nine-outlander-series/

FYI to anyone who may be interested in starting the Outlander series- the first book( EBOOK) is $1.99 on Bookbub right now for a limited time. When you get to the categories, it's under historical romance and is on the first page of the listings right now. I paid $9.99 for it. 

 

[Margret]

Yes, @Mamanyt1953, U can haz Nook.  U can also haz Kindle and Kobo and Overdrive (for electronic library books).  The only thing u can not haz is iBooks -- most of those come with an encryption scheme that makes them readable only on Apple devices.

Most of my Nook books come with a "Lend me" option that will allow me to let you read them for 2 weeks.  Even the books on these mailing lists that cost money usually have a "Free sample" option, and if that isn't available in the Nook version it usually is in the Kindle version.  (Free sample is the first however many pages of the book, not a "loan" of the book for a week or two.)

The only problem is that in order to "buy" even the free books you have to have set up a method of payment, say a debit card on which you keep $5.00 so that it checks out as valid.  If you get it at Kroger, that's $3 for the card, and another $3 every time you decide you just have to put more money on the card so you can actually use it to buy something.  This is one of the few online purchases that you can't route through your PayPal account, though you can, of course, use the same debit card as you have for PayPal.

Margret

 

[catspaw66]

As much as I like my e-readers, there is nothing like the feel, smell and sound of a real ink and paper book.

I do have quite a library of books - about 300 to 400 - in my bedside bookshelves and grab one occasionally.

 

[catspaw66]

Yes, and I use it, via the cigarette lighter.  I can charge any of my portable devices except the laptops in my car.  There's no way @Mamanyt1953
could charge her Windows 10 desktop this way!

Look, I like ebooks as much as the next person.  In fact, I adore ebooks.  But @Mamanyt1953
has good reasons for preferring paper, and I don't think we should be critiquing her choice.

Getting back to what I'm reading now; on my cell phone I've been using the free Librivox app to download classics in audio book format, which I generally listen to while doing something that requires eyes and hands but not full attention, like cooking.  I'm currently on The Return of Sherlock Holmes, and plan to move on to Kipling's Kim when I finish that.  In paper, I'm currently re-reading The Gammage Cup, by Carol Kendall, and will move on to The Whisper of Glocken, by the same author, when I finish that.  And on the Nook I'm still reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  (No, I can't read just one book at a time.)  The Carol Kendall books, by the way, are extremely good children's books, and I utterly adore them.

Margret

Didn't mean to be critical, just trying to come up with ideas.

There are inverters that plug into lighter socket and have 110v sockets.

But still hard to use with a desktop.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

 
Here's the link from DG's website. I only glanced at it, as I didn't want to accidentally get spoiled about anything in the 7th or 8th books.

http://www.dianagabaldon.com/books/outlander-series/book-nine-outlander-series/

Many thank yous!   Although the last page of "Heart's Blood" could have ended the series, I was hoping for some resolution between Jamie and his son, who reminds me so much of my elder son!  Large, Scots, tempery, very sure of his own opinion, but with a sweetness under it all.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

 
Yes, @Mamanyt1953, U can haz Nook.  U can also haz Kindle and Kobo and Overdrive (for electronic library books).  The only thing u can not haz is iBooks -- most of those come with an encryption scheme that makes them readable only on Apple devices.

Most of my Nook books come with a "Lend me" option that will allow me to let you read them for 2 weeks.  Even the books on these mailing lists that cost money usually have a "Free sample" option, and if that isn't available in the Nook version it usually is in the Kindle version.  (Free sample is the first however many pages of the book, not a "loan" of the book for a week or two.)

The only problem is that in order to "buy" even the free books you have to have set up a method of payment, say a debit card on which you keep $5.00 so that it checks out as valid.  If you get it at Kroger, that's $3 for the card, and another $3 every time you decide you just have to put more money on the card so you can actually use it to buy something.  This is one of the few online purchases that you can't route through your PayPal account, though you can, of course, use the same debit card as you have for PayPal.

Margret

That's actually doable.  I have a debit card, and my balance is always over $5.  I don't get charged anything but actual purchases, unless I am so foolish as to visit a "foreign" ATM, which I never do.  If I need quick cash, I go to the grocery store and buy a candy bar and get the cash back.  Cheaper that way.  I love my bank, but they do soak one on foreign ATMs.  The ATM charges a fee, and the bank charges another one.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Didn't mean to be critical, just trying to come up with ideas.

There are inverters that plug into lighter socket and have 110v sockets.

But still hard to use with a desktop.

I didn't take it as criticism, but I am limited.  NO car.  Power failures on a regular basis during hurricane season.  I would, at some point, love to have an ebook reader, just for trips to the doctor's office and things like that.  But for at home, I just...well....the heft of a book in my hands, the weight of it, the feel of a page when I turn in, running my fingers over a passage that I especially love (I have books with the ink literally wearing off the pages in spots), the cover art...all of it.  Even the smell of them is precious to me.  I really should have studied library science.

 

[Margret]

I had mentioned a book on this thread quite some time ago about what happens when cats learn to use a computer, and promised that if I ever found it again I would post.  Well, I found it yesterday, while moving things around in the basement for the guys who were coming to install our new furnace/A.C./water heater (ah, cool house again, wonderful!).  The book is Cats in Cyberspace, by Beth Hilgartner.  ISBN 1892065-44-4  It dates from 2001; this was the first publication by Meisha Merlin, and the list price was $14.00.  On the back of the book it says: www.meishamerlin.com, but when I put that address into my browser it was unable to find it.

I'm pretty sure that I bought this book at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival in 2001, when it had just come out.  I'll do some more research online and see whether I can find it still in print anywhere.  Some other company may have taken over Meisha Merlin's list when (if) they went under or they may simply not still be using the same website or have changed their name.

Margret

Addendum:  Since I wrote that I found this: http://www.bethhilgartner.com/   It appears that Cats in Cyberspace is now available in electronic format through Smashwords.  Appropriate; this book really should be published electronically, so that the cats in question could do their own editing.

 

[Margret]

 

 
Yes, @Mamanyt1953, U can haz Nook.  U can also haz Kindle and Kobo and Overdrive (for electronic library books).  The only thing u can not haz is iBooks -- most of those come with an encryption scheme that makes them readable only on Apple devices.

Most of my Nook books come with a "Lend me" option that will allow me to let you read them for 2 weeks.  Even the books on these mailing lists that cost money usually have a "Free sample" option, and if that isn't available in the Nook version it usually is in the Kindle version.  (Free sample is the first however many pages of the book, not a "loan" of the book for a week or two.)

The only problem is that in order to "buy" even the free books you have to have set up a method of payment, say a debit card on which you keep $5.00 so that it checks out as valid.  If you get it at Kroger, that's $3 for the card, and another $3 every time you decide you just have to put more money on the card so you can actually use it to buy something.  This is one of the few online purchases that you can't route through your PayPal account, though you can, of course, use the same debit card as you have for PayPal.

Margret

That's actually doable.  I have a debit card, and my balance is always over $5.  I don't get charged anything but actual purchases, unless I am so foolish as to visit a "foreign" ATM, which I never do.  If I need quick cash, I go to the grocery store and buy a candy bar and get the cash back.  Cheaper that way.  I love my bank, but they do soak one on foreign ATMs.  The ATM charges a fee, and the bank charges another one.

Once you have Nook set up on your PC, let me know and I'll start lending you books I think you'll like.  Ditto Kindle.  I'll check with you first so as not to send them to you when you won't have time to read, and not to send you ones you don't want.

Margret

 

[Primula]

 

[Margret]

Here is the Smashwords link for Cats in Cyberspace: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/541190   If you want to buy through Smashwords, be sure and read their FAQ about how to install their books on whatever reader you have, or how to read them on your PC or Mac.

And when I looked the author up on Barnes and Noble's website I found a sequel: PKP For President.  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pkp-for-president-beth-hilgartner/1107874724?ean=2940013456921

The two cats in these books are sisters, Fluffy and PKP.  PKP is short for "Princess Killer Pinknose," which should give you a good idea of her temperament.  I read part of the sample of PKP For President, and it appears to be a response to our current election cycle.  It also looks to be hilarious.  I'll post a review for each of these books once I've re-read the first and read the second, which I just bought.  I'm about to start following Beth Hilgartner on BookBub so that I'll be informed any time she comes out with a new book or any time there's a deal on one of her old books.

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

 
Once you have Nook set up on your PC, let me know and I'll start lending you books I think you'll like.  Ditto Kindle.  I'll check with you first so as not to send them to you when you won't have time to read, and not to send you ones you don't want.

Margret

Looks like I'll be moving downstairs around the middle-end of next month.  I'll do it at some point after that.  Saving pennies for unexpected expenses during move.

 

[Margret]

 

 
Once you have Nook set up on your PC, let me know and I'll start lending you books I think you'll like.  Ditto Kindle.  I'll check with you first so as not to send them to you when you won't have time to read, and not to send you ones you don't want.

Margret

Looks like I'll be moving downstairs around the middle-end of next month.  I'll do it at some point after that.  Saving pennies for unexpected expenses during move.

That's fine; for one thing you're not going to have much reading time until you're moved in.  But, THIS REQUIRES NO PENNIES!  Installing the Nook and Kindle apps on your computer is 100% free.  And once you have those, you're all set up to start "buying" free books via BookBub et.al., which you can then read at your leisure.

Margret

 

[misty8723]

 
That's fine; for one thing you're not going to have much reading time until you're moved in.  But, THIS REQUIRES NO PENNIES!  Installing the Nook and Kindle apps on your computer is 100% free.  And once you have those, you're all set up to start "buying" free books via BookBub et.al., which you can then read at your leisure.

Margret

Free books rock! If you don't like it, you can hit the delete button and don't feel like you've thrown your money away. And some of them can be surprisingly good.