I got a nook simple touch for a gift. Crack cocaine is nothing to it...

[TygrBright]

I had no idea.

First thing I did: Visit the Gutenberg project. Loaded over 100 wonderful books absolutely free, including a Complete Shakespeare, the Diaries of John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys, Quiller-Couch on the Art of Writing (and Reading,) all of Jane Austen, Pickwick Papers, the poems of TS Eliot, Lewis Carroll, George MacDonald, A. Conan Doyle.... All the Raffles collections, P.G. Wodehouse, oh, my...

Next: Went to B&N and typed in "free" in the nook books search window, loaded another 15-20 books including a mystery collection that includes all of the Father Brown stories, Don Quixote, a bunch of other good stuff.

Next: Went to the B&N nook books site and sorted by price from low to high. Had to page past dozens of pages of self-published soft porn and other irrelevant crap, but ended up with another 15-20 excellent items all for under $3.

Then I remembered getting a CD with a recent book purchase and found that the author and her publisher had generously issued her entire previous catalog in that series of novels as a bonus. Went to the publisher's (Baen books) website and found a FREE library that included all of the James H. Schmitz material they'd recently republished. Plus they'd issued all of the omnibus editions of some of my favorite authors (including 2-4 full length novels plus the occasional novella or short story collection) in the $5-7 price range.

The reader uses e-ink technology. It's smaller than a paperback novel and lighter than most. E-ink is amazing. It looks EXACTLY like reading a book page, except that I can adjust the type size, line spacing, and even the typeface (font) to my preference. I can highlight and gloss and bookmark.

I copied all of my books onto a memory chip, onto my computer (downloaded Adobe's Digital Editions reader free,) and backed them onto a static drive.

I invested a few more bucks into one of those tiny LED clip lights and can now read in bed without keeping my esposo awake. I can slide my reader into my pocket or purse and take it everywhere, and if I'm not in the mood to read one book I can switch to another... They are all there at my fingertips.

My ongoing project is now to replicate as far as I can my paper book library so that when they cart me off to the warehouse I've got it all with me.

I am a VERY happy camper.

joyfully,
Bright

[Little Star]

1. Congrats Bright!

You're gonna love it. I have a kindle and have well over 200 free books loaded on it waiting for a rainy day! lol Enjoy!

[Chemisse]

2. I am so glad you posted this.

I got a Nook for Christmas and now I have ideas on how to get books without paying a lot of money.

Also, I didn't know you could copy the books on a memory card!

[TBF]

3. Love it!

I still have some bins of books I won't part with, but I have gotten rid of so many. I especially like to read mysteries on my Kindle. It's not like you re-read mysteries unless it's an old Agatha Christie or something ... there is no point in heaving bins of those around.

I have one of the older Kindles, but I may upgrade now that I've seen my husband's new Fire. Can't decide. My Kindle is so light (which is very important now that I've got arthritis - and I'm sure when my eyes go I'll be happy to be able to enlarge the print). I'm really glad I switched.

[Melissa G]

4. Thank you, thank you!

I needed a list of what to do with mine. I got frustrated with trying to down load from the library and have not used mine much.
You have inspired me!


edit to ask if you could do this straight through your nook or what had to go through your computer?

[TygrBright]

5. You can't access the Gutenberg Project, etc., through a nook simple touch.

The simple touch is just a plain e-reader, no tablet features. It has a wireless connection, but only to the B&N nook library service.

It was a lot easier to just go online and do all my book-hunting there. I set up a folder called "TBU nook" (to be uploaded to the nook) and just DL'd every book I wanted into there.

Then plugged my nook into the USB port on the computer, and found the nook and the memory chip in the nook in "my computer" and copied everything directly to that--very fast, very easy.

I am seriously thinking of putting in some copyright enquiries for "old favorites," and if they are out of copyright, scanning and cleaning them up and donating them to the Gutenberg project. That is an AWESOME resource.

helpfully,
Bright

[Melissa G]

6. I will try your method.

The adobe program was giving me fits with library books.

might have just been 'then'.

[ohheckyeah]

7. I got a Kindle just before

Christmas and Amazon gift cards for Christmas to buy books with. I've already spent $40 of my $200.

I LOVE my Kindle. It's the coolest thing since sliced bread.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

8. aren't they great?

I use an iPad for reading books, but I've bought a couple of Simple Touches as gifts, and I think they're wonderful devices. This will be the device I run to should I ever lose or break my iPad.

[Mz Pip]

9. Thanks for all the info

I got a Nook and clip light for Christmas and opened elibrary cards for the San Francisco Public Library and the Alameda County library. I have 2 current books - A stranger's Child and Doc that will keep me busy for a couple of weeks and quite a few others on the waiting list.

I'll also check out the free B & N site and epubbud and gutenberg ebooks.

I am hooked. I really didn't think I would like an ereader but it is so much easier than holding a large book and continually having to turn pages. I have arthritis in my right thumb and the ebook doesn't annoy it at all. I can get comfortable and not have to shift around with ever turn of the page.

This is going to be wonderful for vacations and traveling.

I, too, am a very happy camper.

[russspeakeasy]

10. Thanks for the post.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. With the Kindle app and the iBooks app, I've downloaded a ton of free e-books

to my phone and iPad.

Recently, I read through the whole Sherlock Holmes canon.

I even read The Communist Manifesto in one sitting (poor Karl needed an editor badly, but he had some good insights).

Now I'm reading a Willkie Collins novel called "No Name."

The advantage is that I carry my iPhone everywhere anyway, so I can always whip it out and read whenever I have some downtime, such as eating lunch out (as I often do after a morning of work at home) or waiting for a bus.

It is much handier than my former custom of stuffing a paperback book into an already bulging purse.