Ace of Spades HQ

January 02, 2012

Kindle Recommendations Thread
— Ace

Now that I've got a Kindle, I'm reading again. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations.

If anyone's new to Kindle, you have to watch it with cheapie collections of classics, like Poe, or Lovecraft, or Robert E. Howard, because some do not have functioning Tables of Contents -- you have to manually scroll through hellaciously long files, all stories in the same file without any links to their beginnings. I got burned on that on a $1.99 (incomplete) Conan collection.

Last night I downloaded the one Raymond Chandler book I hadn't read, Playback. I'm burning through it (reading is pretty fast on the Kindle), and, as everyone says, it's not just an inferior work by Chandler, but a truly weak one. Gone entirely is his amazing scene-setting and tough-guy poetry. It reads like someone attempting to mimic his style -- but also not trying very hard, because the bulk of it is just prose which, while clean and readable, is also without any color or vitality. He truly is not even trying in this one.

Plus, 60% of the way through the book, I'm really not sure what mystery I'm supposed to care about. A woman's being blackmailed for reasons unknown, and halfway through, we finally had our first body, but it just apparently walked off on its own, so I'm not sure anyone's even dead yet.

So consider this an anti-recommendation (at least so far). But if you haven't read it -- The Big Sleep is incredible. None of his later works really touch it. People claim The Long Goodbye is better but I just don't see it. It's longer, certainly, but I don't see that as a plus. The Big Sleep is short and zippy and just filled with gorgeous writing, which is a trick, because he writes in a Hemmingway-esque telegraphic style, so to convey a richness of color to a scene without resorting to flowery or emotional language is an exceptional thing.

Posted by: Ace at 11:31 AM | Comments (204)
Post contains 334 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Reading is for losers.

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 11:35 AM (zLeKL)

When they make a pop-up Kindle.... I'll be interested

Posted by: Yip at January 02, 2012 11:36 AM (Mrdk1)

3 The Sword of Truth books, while uneven, are generally pretty good. The first two and the 5th (I think) are great. Swords ans sorcery with a slight objectivist bent. Skip the TV series, Even if Bridget Regan is a babe.

Posted by: supercore23 at January 02, 2012 11:37 AM (bwV72)

4 Charlie Huston's "A Dangerous Man" is a great read if you like the "pulp noir" genre.

Posted by: VA Gator at January 02, 2012 11:37 AM (ZZiTD)

5 Just kidding. I'm reading Answering back: Liberal responses to conservative arguments. I hope it well help me become a better debater. I love the dictionary on the kindle as well as the direct link to wikipedia and the 'net. I can read a little blurb on some obscure historical figure and continue with my reading. It helps me better understand the author's point.

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 11:38 AM (zLeKL)

6 Sorry, It's the sixth book in the SOT series that's the really good one.

Posted by: supercore23 at January 02, 2012 11:38 AM (bwV72)

7 If you like sword and sorcery fantasy, I recommend David Dalglish. He self-publishes and writes a pretty good story.

Posted by: mpurinTexas, Evil Conservanatrix, supports Rick Perry at January 02, 2012 11:38 AM (xH9Q6)

8 Mike Allen's E-Book "The Rise of the Right" is an interesting read for just 2.99.

Posted by: tbflan at January 02, 2012 11:39 AM (dZOuN)

9 The Compleat Workes of Traci Lords.

Posted by: Lincolntf at January 02, 2012 11:39 AM (uIz80)

10 Anyone reading 11/22/63 by King? I haven't read it yet, but it's gotten pretty good reviews.

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 11:39 AM (zLeKL)

11 Anyone reading 11/22/63 by King? I got it for Xmas in hardback but haven't opened it yet.

Posted by: supercore23 at January 02, 2012 11:40 AM (bwV72)

12 Anyone reading 11/22/63 by King? I haven't read it yet, but it's gotten pretty good reviews.

I quit reading King after he got hit by the van and his brain went all mushy.

Posted by: mpurinTexas, Evil Conservanatrix, supports Rick Perry at January 02, 2012 11:41 AM (xH9Q6)

13 Ace, check out anything by Mental Floss, such as Condensed Knowledge, those series are really good for quick little tidbits of information. Plus they're fun to read.

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 11:41 AM (zLeKL)

14 I downloaded some Mark Twain and am currently reading CT Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Also downloaded some Zane Grey but just couldn't get into it.

For non fiction I downloaded The Golden Bough.

For pay I went to the Baen site and down loaded 1636 for $6. It was good. Downloaded the new Honor Harrington book in ARC format. It was kinda bleh.

But ace, that Baen site also has a lot of free books. And none of their books have DRM in it.

Baen Free Library

Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 11:41 AM (YdQQY)

15 If you like that punchy style, try Robert Parker's early Spenser novels. I would say the first 10 or so. Interesting characters, fun dialogue, and genuinely interesting plots.

His later stuff suffers from being pretty much caricatures of his early work, so be warned.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJconservative) at January 02, 2012 11:42 AM (nEUpB)

16 Anything by Cormac McCarthy, with possible exception of The Road.

Blood Meridian is essential.

Posted by: Bat Chain Puller at January 02, 2012 11:42 AM (tfbI6)

17 Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 03:41 PM (YdQQY)

Vic, have you seen the Gutenberg sites? They are pretty good too.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJconservative) at January 02, 2012 11:43 AM (nEUpB)

18 >>>If you like that punchy style, try Robert Parker's early Spenser novels. I did. He's clearly mimicing Chandler, and he's not bad at it. I read like six of them. They're decent.

Posted by: ace at January 02, 2012 11:43 AM (nj1bB)

19 Check out the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series. Excellent takes on philosophical problems, and they make it relate to pop culture. For example, Batman and Philosophy asks "why hasn't Batman killed the Joker?" Or "is it acceptable for Batman to have a Robin?"

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 11:45 AM (zLeKL)

20 Speaking of noir, I can't over recommend a couple of novels by Dashiel Hammet. These are two of his Continental Op series. (a nameless dectective working for a agency similar to the Pinkertons). Red Harvest and The Dain Curse. Dain Curse is a excellent mystery - but Red Harvest is FLAT OUT NUTS! Red Harvest is the source material for Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars and Last Man Standing. But the movies don't go All The Way. In the movies you have the stranger move into town and play off one gang against the other. In the novel... it's a Five Way Dance. And, right in the middle, there's a locked room murder mystery. Not bad for something in the 150 page range.

Posted by: Comrade Arthur at January 02, 2012 11:45 AM (CLIf7)

21 Cold Pulp Trio My attempt at hard-boiled fiction. For free today, last day of a 5 day Promo! Please feel free to download and leave a review! Also, if you like my free work, feel free to download my Novel, Scrambled Hard-Boiled Cheers and Thanks!

Posted by: ER White at January 02, 2012 11:46 AM (6K81O)

22 John Dies At The End..

I've read the first part of it..

Two guys take this drug and it lets them see Hell and Demon and other things like that..

It's pretty funny too.

Posted by: Dave C at January 02, 2012 11:46 AM (cZ4+6)

23
Damm, I was just getting my rambling on with Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme in that silly hockey thread.

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 11:46 AM (uap0L)

24 It's still hard for me to pay $10 for an e-book.

Love the old school e-ink Kindle, but $10 for a document file is hard for me.

Even though it's actually a better product than a dead-tree book. I don't have to worry about storing it on a shelf and it usually reads itself in audio form if I want it to, and I can carry 1500 books with me.

I'm just going to have to adjust, like I had to with mp3s over audio CDs (for some reason, this wasn't as hard).

I do note I can lend or give away books and CDs I didn't like or am tired of. They have value that digital stuff lacks.

Posted by: Dustin at January 02, 2012 11:47 AM (rQ/Ue)

25 Okay, how about Jerry Pournelle's West Of Honor? It's the first of his Falkenberg books, and a nice, diverting read. It's Sci-Fi, so if you aren't into that, don't bother.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJconservative) at January 02, 2012 11:47 AM (nEUpB)

26 I want to read those Dashiell Hammett's but they're so expensive. Can't believe they're still in copyright.

Posted by: ace at January 02, 2012 11:47 AM (nj1bB)

27 Vic, have you seen the Gutenberg sites? They are pretty good too.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJconservative) at January 02, 2012 03:43 PM (nEUpB)

Yeah, that's where I got the Twain and Golden Bough.

Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 11:48 AM (YdQQY)

28 Yeah I don't like paying $10 either. Crazy.

Posted by: ace at January 02, 2012 11:48 AM (nj1bB)

29 ace, you don't have the fire, right? which one do you have?

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 11:48 AM (zLeKL)

30 I quit reading King after he got hit by the van and his brain went all mushy.
Posted by: mpurinTexas, Evil Conservanatrix, supports Rick Perry at January 02, 2012 03:41 PM

His brain was pretty mushy before that. The last thing he wrote that I finished was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, which I liked.

Posted by: huerfano at January 02, 2012 11:49 AM (lXi+d)

31 I have the touch. I didn't want the Fire. I wanted something optimized specifically for reading.

Posted by: ace at January 02, 2012 11:49 AM (nj1bB)

32 Can this Kindle thing run external apps? I doesn't sould like it would be too hard to write one that could add a chapter index and keyword search to shoddily produced books.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 02, 2012 11:50 AM (HVxGZ)

33 Spengler has an interesting essay up on Ron Paul.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 02, 2012 11:50 AM (3aXbg)

34 I got the nook color and have one book on it.....the complete collection of mark twain short stories.... I will most likely download all the classics but right now I'm satisfied with the one thing in it

Posted by: phoenixgirl... all in for perry at January 02, 2012 11:51 AM (yIjSR)

35
John Wesley Hardin was so mean that he once shot a man...

for snoring too loud.

Posted by: Leather-bound Kindle at January 02, 2012 11:51 AM (uap0L)

36 Posted by: ace at January 02, 2012 03:49 PM (nj1bB) --- I see. Ever check out the magazine selection? I have the Kindle app on my phone and I can get the bare bones articles for National Review, Soldier of Fortune and others for 2-3 bucks a month. They usually have a 14-day trial if you want to check it out.

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 11:51 AM (zLeKL)

37 I knew the kindle was golden when I brought it to the beach for the first time. Not only did it work its magic with direct sunlight - no sunglasses needed (while my hubby struggled w/his shiny, glary iPad), but I was able to snag a random wireless connection, browsed Amazon, and bought another book. (Naples, FL) Enjoy. And, yeah, not good for reference materials, cookbooks, etc.

Posted by: BeachReader at January 02, 2012 11:52 AM (/MuFf)

38 Lady in the Lake is a terrific piece, so is The Little Sister but yeah, Playback was weak. And for all that is holy, avoid the Robert Parker finished Perchance to Dream. Its just awful. I strongly, strongly recommend Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest and Dain Curse as well. And if you can find him, Frederick Brown's stuff is terrific, if sort of lost these days.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at January 02, 2012 11:53 AM (r4wIV)

39 I have all the dashell hammetts in soft cover great books

Posted by: phoenixgirl... all in for perry at January 02, 2012 11:53 AM (yIjSR)

40 >>> I doesn't sould like it would be too hard to write one that could add a chapter index and keyword search to shoddily produced books. Well I think you can go in and add your own bookmarks, after finding the starts of stories. I don't think it runs apps.

Posted by: ace at January 02, 2012 11:53 AM (nj1bB)

41 Oh, and any book by Loren Estelman, particularly his Amos Walker books and his Detroit series are always, always worth reading.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at January 02, 2012 11:54 AM (r4wIV)

42 I just finished "Crypto" by Stephen Levy and highly recommend it if you want a good history of this key technology.

Posted by: DanInMN at January 02, 2012 11:54 AM (XqeyF)

43 The Fr. Brown Series by G.K. Chesterton was well worth the $2.99 I think I spent. A lot of Chesterton is free but again watch out about the table of contents thingy

Posted by: Heartless Nora at January 02, 2012 11:55 AM (VxqUc)

44 ANd if you like fantasy you can read my book Old Habits as well

I'd recommend my Snowberry's Veil but its too expensive through PublishAmerica and it needs editing.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at January 02, 2012 11:55 AM (r4wIV)

45 Russell Wilson, lately of the Wisconsin Badgers, is going to start his 50th college game this afternoon (in the Rose Bowl). Pretty sure that's right.

Posted by: Lincolntf at January 02, 2012 11:55 AM (Qjh0I)

46
hmmmm, some very encouraging comparisons of Obama to Bush '04 in this 1 minute clip from This Week.

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 11:55 AM (uap0L)

47 I have a confession: I've got a ton of pirated books that I got online. I admit: they work. They're rendered exactly the same as if I purchased the book, except...free. My kindle for PC and kindle for android both read the files as if it's the purchased book. In fact, I bought one of the books to see if there was a difference: none. I try to buy as many books as I can, but sometimes it's just not possible.

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 11:56 AM (zLeKL)

If you do like the sword/sorcery genre, none I've read have surpassed the Black Company series by Glen Cook. Couldn't stop reading it until I'd plowed through them all. Pure entertainment, and I think back on the characters often.

I suppose for something more sophisticated and historical, I'd suggest The World of Yesterday by Zweig. One can catch a glimpse of what we've lost.

Posted by: Reactionary at January 02, 2012 11:57 AM (xUM1Q)

49 Don't know what you like, but the bad cat robot books ("The Last Mage Guardian" and "Firehearted") are very good and not very expensive. I suspect it's a ploy to suck us in; get us addicted then jack up the prices.

Posted by: Anachronda at January 02, 2012 11:58 AM (6fER6)

50
Ron Paul is tough on AIDS. Or people with AIDS.

I think Chris Wallace was trying to embarrass Paul, but it didn't work.

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 11:59 AM (uap0L)

51 Too bad Gutenburg doesn't have Mickey Spillane.

Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 12:00 PM (YdQQY)

52 If you could transfer a book to a flash drive and reprocess it on some PC, that might be a viable mechanism. If the cheapo stuff is coming straight off a scanner in someone's living room, then it should still have the chapter headings still embedded in the text, right?

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 02, 2012 12:01 PM (HVxGZ)

53 ace, on the justice roberts thread there is a commenter audit the fed, which is being an ass. maybe he should be chewed out. sounds like an RP supporter, and a bigot

Posted by: willow at January 02, 2012 12:01 PM (h+qn8)

54 A lot of libraries have kindle books that they loan you as well.

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 12:01 PM (zLeKL)

55 King book is great. Laugh at his transparent liberal politics and enjoy a good time travel story.

Posted by: (Famous Original) My Sharia Moor at January 02, 2012 12:02 PM (KZi9D)

56 you have to manually scroll through hellaciously long files, all stories in the same file without any links to their beginnings.

Kindle Collections or an Ace Movie Review?

Posted by: kbdabear at January 02, 2012 12:02 PM (Y+DPZ)

57 His brain was pretty mushy before that. The last thing he wrote that I finished was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, which I liked.

I finished the Dark Tower series. Then I read Duma Key and King went off on a completely unnecessary Bush bashing rant and had his main character happy that his hard-core conservative father-in-law died and I have refused to buy or read a King book since.

Posted by: mpurinTexas, Evil Conservanatrix, supports Rick Perry at January 02, 2012 12:03 PM (xH9Q6)

58 Amazon wants you to pay $13 for the first three books while the paperback version s $9.

This is the same thing they do with electronic music.

Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 12:03 PM (YdQQY)

59 Get the Amazon Prime membership, if you don't have it already. - If you like source material - there's a lot of Sir Richard Francis Burton's, the polyglot/explorer, work on Kindle. The biography - Capt. Sir Richard Francis Burton by Edward Rice, is worth the while, but it's only in paperback. I got my 12yo a Touch, specifically for reading rather than for video - I downloaded a sampling of Jack London and other staples. He started reading "Call of the Wild" all by his lonesome.

Posted by: BumperStickerist at January 02, 2012 12:03 PM (h6mPj)

60 The Paulbots have been out in force lately spewing their drivel. They're retards thinking they'll attract flies with that vinegar...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 02, 2012 12:04 PM (HVxGZ)

61 Just finished House to House by Bellavia on Nook. It's pretty good. You always think of soldiers having to endure the heavy combat, but you don't think of things like having constant diarrhea.

Posted by: USS Diversity at January 02, 2012 12:04 PM (PddVe)

62 A lot of libraries have kindle books that they loan you as well.

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 04:01 PM (zLeKL)

Our library does that but you have to have the Amazon thread open at the same time and the procedure is rather complicated.

Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 12:04 PM (YdQQY)

63
This reminds me an awful lot like those "record clubs" back in the olden days (pre-1990).

Remember them?

For 1Â¢ a day...

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 12:05 PM (uap0L)

64 "Amazon wants you to pay $13 for the first three books while the paperback version s $9." I've got 30 year old paperbacks. Never had to change/charge any batteries in them.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 02, 2012 12:06 PM (HVxGZ)

65 Can we have an Ellen Barkin bashing thread?

Posted by: mike at January 02, 2012 12:06 PM (iTfHR)

66 Our library does that but you have to have the Amazon thread open at the same time and the procedure is rather complicated. --- I agree, it's more complicated than it should be.

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 12:06 PM (zLeKL)

67
and it involved stamps too

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 12:06 PM (uap0L)

68 The software You Absolutely Must Have is <a href="http://calibre-ebook.com">Calibre.</a> It is iTunes for ebooks. If you get more than a half-dozen books on your kindle, you'll want to organize them. I distrust leaving files I pay for on Amazon's archive, so I maintain my own archive of ebooks on my computer. If you're insane like me, you may also own a SONY eReader and a B&N Nook, and this will let you keep a single archive of all your ebooks for all the platforms.

I'm told that circumventing DRM is an unlawful act. And that one would be in potential violation of federal law if one were to install the Calibre plug-ins that remove the impediments to converting your Kindle books to Nook format.

A much better approach is to buy DRM-free works. (Such as my story "<a href="http://amzn.to/rolJRr">The Aristotelian</a>" that's available on both Amazon and Smashwords for $0.99.)

I definitely recommend Smashwords alongside Amazon. Just to prevent monopolistic behavior from Amazon whom I love.

Despite being personally angry at Baen books, they have a wonderful <href="http://www.baen.com/library/">library of free SF books</a> and they also sell current works by freedom-loving writers like Jerry Pournelle, Larry Correia and Sarah Hoyt.

Buying Baen books for your Kindle is tricky b/c there's some kind of pissing war going on between Amazon and Baen. Just goto Baen's site, buy your books, then download all the ebook formats (mobi, epub, lrf). Unzip them to a temporary directory for quick import into Calibre. Or just download one format and trust Calibre to do the transmogrifying format conversions later.

Posted by: Steve Poling at January 02, 2012 12:06 PM (db5YN)

69 Kushiel's Dart (series). Jacqueline Carey If you haven't. Oldie, but exotic goodie.

Posted by: BeachReader at January 02, 2012 12:07 PM (/MuFf)

70 You could read all of the Piers Anthony "Insert Pun Here" titles. 'Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser' is available on Audible books. There's some Fritz Leiber stuff that might be worth a look. _

Posted by: BumperStickerist at January 02, 2012 12:08 PM (h6mPj)

71 ace if you are still monitoring this thread there is a racist troll over on the Roberts thread spewing a pile of anti-semetic crap. He goes by the handle of "audit the fed". He is obviously a paulbot stormfront plant.

Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 12:08 PM (YdQQY)

72
I recommend Walker Pecy's Love in the Ruins, which is more or less an immediate pre-apocalyptic love story. Sort of a Carl Hiassen meets Ayn Rand kind of vibe, featuring a protagonist named Tom More (after Thomas More).

From an Amazon review:

"Love in the Ruins," written in '71, imagines a U.S.A. in which prevalent (and sometimes contradictory) trends run to their illogical extremes -- political association becomes fragmented to the point of neo-tribalism, mainline churches become secularized to the point of banality or fixated to the point of intolerance, and psychological treatment grows increasing manipulative. Into this world he drops Dr. Tom More, "bad Catholic"...

Amazon link: http://tinyurl.com/7vg2wr5

Posted by: Wodeshed at January 02, 2012 12:08 PM (SgLsM)

73 McCarthy is great, Updike is great, Graham Greene. Downloaded Suttree, still haven't read it. Skip Blood Meridian, unless you like blood.

Posted by: Reckoner at January 02, 2012 12:09 PM (vZQGS)

74 If you like Scifi/fantasy there is all the free ebooks from Baen. There is two places to get them: First is the Free Library here: http://www.baen.com/library/intro.asp The Second place is BaenCD site here: http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

Posted by: boballab at January 02, 2012 12:09 PM (Rpphm)

75 30,000 years from now some alien archaeologists will unearth some tech from our time and be bewildered by this DRM shit as they try to decipher the insanity that gripped our civilization and led to its demise.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 02, 2012 12:09 PM (HVxGZ)

76 If you subscribe to newspapers, the Kindle can be a really good bargain. Pays for itself in savings, and it's a lot better format for newspapers than the actual papers were.

I hate to say it, but this is one field where the gatekeepers were serving a purpose. I don't know if they were doing a good job at it, but it's very hard to find the good authors now because everyone can publish easily.

Most of the cost of a book is the time you spend reading it. Something has to give with book recs (Which is why I appreciate when blogs like this one note books they enjoyed).

Posted by: Dustin at January 02, 2012 12:10 PM (rQ/Ue)

77
Remember them?

You kidding? I'm still on the run from Columbia House.

Posted by: Bernadine Dorn at January 02, 2012 12:10 PM (SgLsM)

78 ace is probably checking out all the books we've recommended.

Posted by: Joffen at January 02, 2012 12:10 PM (zLeKL)

79 Buying Baen books for your Kindle is tricky b/c there's some kind of pissing war going on between Amazon and Baen

I haven't had any problems at all and there is no need to "convert" them. They have all the different formats. I download them straight to my computer and then copy them to my Kindell using Explorer.

Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 12:10 PM (YdQQY)

80 35
John Wesley Hardin was so mean that he once shot a man...
for snoring too loud.

Time-Life book ad as relayed by Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at January 02, 2012 12:10 PM (dVJIa)

81 There are a lot classics in their top 100 free list: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store/zgbs/digital-text

Posted by: mark at January 02, 2012 12:11 PM (Qfcfw)

82 Check out Calibre e-book manager, it will allow you to convert between formats, as well as create an ebook out of any text document (there are ways to input TOCs and such). That combined with Project Gutenberg (and Gutenberg Australia, although it is a bit of a gray area because AUS copyright lasts about half as long as US does on books) you can get a lot of great classics for free (I read all of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars books for free). I just finished reading Hunger Games Trilogy by Susan Collins. I found it ok, I would recommend it if you're into distopian things, parts of the story didn't jive with me... the heroine seems way too weak throughout. My all time favorite for Speculative Fiction though is Orson Scott Card. The Ender series, the Alvin Maker series, the Homecoming series, he is one of the best character writers in the biz. Raymond Feist really hooked me into reading when I was about 12. All of his stuff is good high fantasy as well. Glenn Cook's The Black Company Series is also very very good. Robert Steakley's Armor, one of the best SF books ever.

Posted by: kerncon at January 02, 2012 12:13 PM (S4d07)

83 71 ace if you are still monitoring this thread there is a racist troll over on the Roberts thread spewing a pile of anti-semetic crap. He goes by the handle of "audit the fed". He is obviously a paulbot stormfront plant.

Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 04:08 PM (YdQQY)

Posted by: willow at January 02, 2012 12:13 PM (h+qn8)

84 thanks vic.

Posted by: willow at January 02, 2012 12:13 PM (h+qn8)

85 "I've got 30 year old paperbacks. Never had to change/charge any batteries in them.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 02, 2012 04:06 PM (HVxGZ)"

And when I look at my favorite books, they are pretty badly tore up. I can tell which books someone likes the most because they show damage. Paperback books can take a lot of abuse. It's an interesting issue, but Kindles are getting a lot cheaper so perhaps this isn't a big concern.

But if I'm outdoors, I usually have a book in my cargo pocket in a baggy. It might get a little wet, surely dirty, and banged around, and that's never been a problem.

Posted by: Dustin at January 02, 2012 12:13 PM (rQ/Ue)

86 The Driver I - Decision by Robert L. Turner, available for download at amazon.com. If you like cars and action, this is you baby.

Posted by: DallasGal at January 02, 2012 12:13 PM (sN2sL)

87 Anyone using Kindle on the iPad? That's how I download works from Amazon, although I tend to just download it via iBooks just cuz the bookshelves look so purdy.

Posted by: Christina Hendricks' Mighty Jugs Supports Rick Perry's Hair for President at January 02, 2012 12:14 PM (Bk48m)

88
No Kindle library for 2012 would be complete without a bit of Ragnar Benson.

Posted by: Wodeshed at January 02, 2012 12:15 PM (SgLsM)

89 "85 "I've got 30 year old paperbacks. Never had to change/charge any batteries in them." Maybe you should try something new. Progress.

Posted by: Reckoner at January 02, 2012 12:15 PM (vZQGS)

You kidding? I'm still on the run from Columbia House.

I'll trade you a Rod Stewart 8-track for Styx's Grand Illusion...

Posted by: USS Diversity at January 02, 2012 12:15 PM (PddVe)

91
Time-Life book ad as relayed by Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot.

Was that a skit?

Here's the commercial we all know and love.

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 12:16 PM (uap0L)

92 "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at January 02, 2012 12:16 PM (l9zgN)

93
a Kindle

with the look and feel of hand-tooled saddle leather.

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 12:17 PM (uap0L)

94 "93 a Kindle with the look and feel of hand-tooled saddle leather. Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 04:17 PM (uap0L)" Buy a custom made slip cover. Mine cost more than the kindle.

Posted by: Reckoner at January 02, 2012 12:19 PM (vZQGS)

95 I always considered Playback to be Chandler's Farewell to the Marlowe character, the equivalent of Conan Doyle's attempt to kill off Sherlock Holmes at the Reichenbach falls. It was the last of the series, and seems not only to avoid, but to reverse, all the themes of the other books.

Posted by: That's RACIST! at January 02, 2012 12:19 PM (aLhsm)

96 When I can get fully illustrated Stackpole Military History books on Kindle I might consider buying one.

Posted by: Ed Anger - Certified Kos Kid at January 02, 2012 12:19 PM (7+pP9)

97 Since there's a bit of self promotion going on... If you enjoyed DUNE, Babylon 5, and BSG (either incarnation) you might like my Falco Invictus series, the first installment is free until the 3rd at Smashwords with a coupon code. "Falco Invictus: On the Forge of War" http://alturl.com/5k2rp Promotional price: $0.00 Coupon Code: JW84F (not case sensitive) Expires: January 3, 2012 Rodney/RCJ

Posted by: Rodney C. Johnson at January 02, 2012 12:20 PM (kE9gI)

98
I swear...

when I was a kid I heard "hand-tooth saddle leather."

I used to say wtf is hand-tooth saddle leather???

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 12:20 PM (uap0L)

99
Buy a custom made slip cover.

What's it made of?

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 12:21 PM (uap0L)

100 "Maybe you should try something new." Or not. Will a Kindle still work 30 years from now ( a fair question now that everyone is embracing the stupid RoHS stuff for electronic assembly given high tin content solder's proclivity to generate tin whiskers)? Will they even be in business, or will their format even be remembered/supported? The problem with embracing certain types of fadish techs is thair obsolescence winds up destroying completely any investment you make in them.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 02, 2012 12:22 PM (HVxGZ)

101 I'm gonna finish the book I'm writing someday. Really I am.

Posted by: nickless at January 02, 2012 12:24 PM (MMC8r)

102 Oh, and I highly recommend Arthur Conan Doyle's non-Sherlock Holmes work, such as The White Company. Great reading.

And yeah, that audit guy is the first person I've ever seen use the word "hebe" in a non-ironic or non joke way.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at January 02, 2012 12:25 PM (r4wIV)

103 "99 Buy a custom made slip cover. What's it made of?" Leather. Velvety soft suede. Not really hand tooled saddle leather, that would suck.

Posted by: Reckoner at January 02, 2012 12:26 PM (vZQGS)

104
Why did Newt shit the bed in Iowa?

The Kraut explains in this 1 minute vid.

(No shit, Charles, eh?)

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 12:26 PM (uap0L)

105 Purple, I don't think Kindles are intended to work in thirty years. They are intended to be replaced with new technology, and your library just transfers over (hopefully).

It's a good idea to back up anything you can, if you're able to. I'm certainly not using my first iPod.

That said, it's hard to compete with a physical book for durability. I remember when the Army was experimenting with these tablet computers called "sports" (I'm sure that's an acronym of some kind). They put my maintenance manual on a windows tablet. But I can't work on something banging around, in the mud, like that.

Kindles aren't a replacement for books so much as a different kind, meant for its own place and function.

Posted by: Dustin at January 02, 2012 12:29 PM (rQ/Ue)

106
and here's Mary Matalin saying the same shit we've been saying about Newt for weeks

Here's the thing with Newt: He's hard to trust. But at the same time he has an impressive conservative record.

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 12:29 PM (uap0L)

107 I never consider Newt to be a viable candidate. Too much baggage, too much history, and whatever principles he held 30 years ago are a distant memory.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 02, 2012 12:30 PM (HVxGZ)

108 The Mission, The Men, And Me. Lessons From A Former Delta Force Commander By Pete Blaber

Posted by: Question Man at January 02, 2012 12:30 PM (+o7Q1)

109 Speaking of slip covers. This is what I did: At Barnes & Noble two years ago I saw a glossy paper portfolio with a pad of paper on the left and a calendar on the right. It has a pretty impressionist painting on it.

To reinforce things I put duct tape on the spine and on the flap of cardboard holding the pad of paper in place. Then I set aside the calendar, transferred the pad from right to left side, and slide my Kindle DX into the pocket that used to hold the pad. It's a snug fit, but it's kept my Kindle DX secure for years.

I've lugged it all over England and Out West on vacation: since the portfolio looks a little scuzzy, thieves don't think to target it.

Posted by: Steve Poling at January 02, 2012 12:31 PM (db5YN)

110 That combined with Project Gutenberg (and Gutenberg Australia, although it is a bit of a gray area because AUS copyright lasts about half as long as US does

Some one tipped me to the differences soon after I bought my Kindle, so I check AUS first. So far it ignores the fact that I'm not in Australia, but that might go away.

I found an advantage to those complete-works-in-a-single-file: they're searchable. For example, I downloaded the complete Shakespeare and can search once for a quote and find it even if I can't remember which play it is from. Many now have active TOCs, so pay attention to the publish date and description.

Posted by: Retread at January 02, 2012 12:32 PM (joSBv)

111
nood post

Posted by: soothsayer at January 02, 2012 12:32 PM (uap0L)

112 Thou shalt never take mine clay tablets for thine foul technology. Sanskrit is forever.

Posted by: Grog the Sumerian at January 02, 2012 12:34 PM (MMC8r)

113 "They are intended to be replaced with new technology, and your library just transfers over (hopefully)." The problem with that scenario is there's a legion of programmers and companies out there who have no notion of what backwards compatibility really means. I suppose someone may eventually reverse engineer a Kindle and make a simulator for it like they've got simulators for all the old arcade games that can run the original EPROM images verbatim.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 02, 2012 12:35 PM (HVxGZ)

114 As for Lovecraft, I have a pdf file of his complete works I found somewhere online, in alphabetical order, with a TOC consisting of links to the page in question. It's 1150 pp. long.

Posted by: Crimso at January 02, 2012 12:37 PM (0eqUt)

115 Ace, I read a book recently that I think you will LOVE. I loved it. It's called "Replay" by Ken Grimwood. He published it in 1988 and it got all kinds of awards at the time. It's about a guy who dies at 43 and comes back as his college aged self and this keeps happening over and over, life after life. It's so good. How he lives his life differently each time. You will adore it.

Posted by: Kathleen McKinley at January 02, 2012 12:37 PM (HUtV8)

116 If you goto Australia, you'll find off-copyright works that are currently protected by US copyright. Anything after 1923 in the US is liable to be copyrighted whereas Australian copyrights lapse 50 years after the death of the author. Thus, your friends down under can enjoy the entire corpus of Dorothy Sayers work, but you can only get her early stuff on your Kindle.

Posted by: Steve Poling at January 02, 2012 12:37 PM (db5YN)

117

I got a kindle for Christmas, and have been enjoying being able to read free stuff - I just finished rereading Lorna Doone, and just found Chesterton's The Napoleon of Notting Hill, and Orthodoxy as well as Pilgrim's Progress. I hesitate to pay money for electronic stuff, though, particularly since I have very little at the moment. I don't even like buying MP3s, but those I can at least burn onto a disk or re-download if they are lost.

Also, constantly changing formats mean that it can be difficult to store information electronically long-term. I have 150 or so cassette tapes that I recorded the old "Thistle and Shamrock" on that I would love to listen to again, but can't find a tape player that doesn't eat them on a regular basis.

Posted by: Grey Fox at January 02, 2012 12:39 PM (sEvRn)

118 Oh, Additional you may not know things. Under your amazon account, there are some 'personal document' settings, that you can setup so that you can email your kindle ebooks (over wifi it is free, 3g this method costs $$). This is what Calibre uses to synch books w/ the kindle

Posted by: kerncon at January 02, 2012 12:43 PM (S4d07)

119 "...as everyone says, it's not just an inferior work by Chandler, but a truly weak one"

What does that say about the schuck who downloads that to be their virgin Kindle's first ride?

Posted by: VA Gator at January 02, 2012 12:43 PM (ZZiTD)

120 Didn't read any of the earlier posts as my iPad battery is dying. I cannot say enough good about "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand (who wrote "Seabiscuit"). It's the amazing, true story of Louis Zamperini, Olympic runner, survivor at open sea for 47 days in a life raft, WWII vet and Japanese POW. A truly awesome book. I got it for Christmas last year, but didn't get around to reading it til after this Christmas. So inspiring!

Posted by: runningrn at January 02, 2012 12:44 PM (U9Spd)

121 Been reading a lot of cheesy 99 cent Kindle sci-fi. By far the best I've seen is Wool.

Posted by: Bob Undead Saget at January 02, 2012 12:44 PM (dBvlk)

122 If you enjoy hardboiled fiction I recommend The Parker series starting with Parker The Hunter. http://tinyurl.com/7v7zfhp And for something different Confessions of a D-List Supervillain. http://tinyurl.com/75w3dyr And for flavor a little Dead Sea. http://tinyurl.com/7azfbxr

Posted by: sandbagger at January 02, 2012 12:45 PM (wIT8S)

123 Like others have said get calibre & goto the free spots. The (out of copyright) oldies for .99-1.99 on Amazon are essentially that plus a TOC that someone did for a few .01.

There's other ways to flip thru e-books, goto e-location, search, and IIRC jump 10 pages via shift? or Alt vs. 1 page.

Posted by: DaveA at January 02, 2012 12:51 PM (t/mAc)

124 John Ringo 'Ghost', 'Legacy of the Aldenta', and 'Troy Rising' series

Posted by: HoundOfDoom at January 02, 2012 12:51 PM (KhioZ)

125 115 Ace,

I read a book recently that I think you will LOVE. I loved it. It's called "Replay" by Ken Grimwood. He published it in 1988 and it got all kinds of awards at the time. It's about a guy who dies at 43 and comes back as his college aged self and this keeps happening over and over, life after life. It's so good. How he lives his life differently each time. You will adore it.

Highly recommend as well. Takes a tired premise and really makes it interesting. How long before someone fucks it up in a movie?

Posted by: Phat at January 02, 2012 12:56 PM (0BgHd)

126 Got Kindle for Christmas and was trolling Amazon for the free stuff. Someone here mentioned Vince Flynn's Transfer of Power was free. I searched for the book specifically and it was listed but wasn't free. But when I found the menu of freebies, it was listed there for no cost.
So a caution: searching for a specific book will bring it up but probably not for free. Search the free menu instead.

Posted by: real joe at January 02, 2012 12:57 PM (w7Lv+)

127 I always loved the Spenser books by Parker. And if you haven't discovered Stephen Hunter yet, you are in for a treat.

Posted by: real joe at January 02, 2012 12:59 PM (w7Lv+)

128 113 I suppose someone may eventually reverse engineer a Kindle and make a simulator for it like they've got simulators for all the old arcade games that can run the original EPROM images verbatim.
_______

There's no need to emulate the Kindle to read the files. The .mobi format is a container for HTML. Amazon encrypts it. All that's needed is to decrypt and unpack the files.

Posted by: Anachronda at January 02, 2012 01:00 PM (6fER6)

129 Since there's a bit of self promotion going on...

If you enjoyed DUNE, Babylon 5, and BSG (either incarnation) you might like my Falco Invictus series, the first installment is free until the 3rd at Smashwords with a coupon code.

Done. It looks intriguing. But if I find myself reading until 3 am.....

Posted by: Retread at January 02, 2012 01:01 PM (joSBv)

130 Posted by: Grey Fox at January 02, 2012 04:39 PM (sEvRn)

Fox, there are gadgets out there that let you convert audiotape to CD. I don't have one but a friend does.

Posted by: real joe at January 02, 2012 01:01 PM (w7Lv+)

131 The Ewok tossed aside the Kindle like a used douche. "Shit. I've gotta scroll through all the pages to get to where I last left off?" He reached for the e-cig and took a long drag on it. "That last hobo isn't sittin' right either. I guess I'll write a post." He didn't hear the door behind him squeak open.

Posted by: zombie raymond chandler at January 02, 2012 01:08 PM (sHY5w)

132 I've got 30 year old paperbacks. Never had to change/charge any batteries in them.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 02, 2012 04:06 PM (HVxGZ)

What's the deal with Kindle prices? I thought one of the benefits of an e-book was economy. A lot of e-books are more expensive than the actual book. Amazon needs to lean on publishers.

Posted by: Ombudsman at January 02, 2012 01:10 PM (AxHOT)

133 BTW, Amazon sold over 4 million Kindles for the Holidays

Posted by: Ombudsman at January 02, 2012 01:11 PM (AxHOT)

134 118 Oh, Additional you may not know things. Under your amazon account, there are some 'personal document' settings, that you can setup so that you can email your kindle ebooks (over wifi it is free, 3g this method costs $$). This is what Calibre uses to synch books w/ the kindle
______

You can also plug your Kindle into your computer, where it shows up at as a flash drive. Plunk the .mobi files in the Documents folder, dismount the Kindle, and you're golden.

Posted by: Anachronda at January 02, 2012 01:15 PM (6fER6)

135 The publishers of current books are trying to hold back the e-book tide of the future - they want the public to keep buying dead tree books, so they artificially inflate the prices of ebooks that are currently in dead tree format.

Posted by: real joe at January 02, 2012 01:16 PM (w7Lv+)

136 Like kerncon I'm reading The Hunger Games trilogy through the Amazon Prime free lending library. The three books are the top three downloaded right now, so they're trendy, but there is a reason they are trendy...they're good. Finished the first book in two days. Kind of a 1984 mixed with Lord of the Flies thing. I've been reading with my iPad and Kindle app this last year, but we got the Kindle Fire for Christmas, and I'm loving reading on it.

Posted by: MostlyRight at January 02, 2012 01:17 PM (ZG8Ti)

137 >>>What's the deal with Kindle prices? I thought one of the benefits of an e-book was economy. A lot of e-books are more expensive than the actual book. Amazon needs to lean on publishers. I had a post about that. It is very annoying. However, I'm now liking the reading experience on the Kindle more than a real book, so... in some cases, I might pay those absurd prices. I'm really hoping the prices fall, though. Someone suggested that this is publishers' attempts to discourage this particular technology. At some point they'll have to relent.

Posted by: ace at January 02, 2012 01:18 PM (nj1bB)

138 What % of a book's price actually represents all costs of the physical thing, warehousing, printing, delivery, etc.? One third?

Posted by: ace at January 02, 2012 01:19 PM (nj1bB)

139 Obama promised me if he was elected that I would no longer have to read or do math. Promise kept.

Posted by: befuddled at January 02, 2012 01:24 PM (xJU23)

140 For anyone with a Science Fiction/Fantasy bent (especially the military variants thereof) the Baen Free Library is a no-brainer . . .

Posted by: filbert at January 02, 2012 01:26 PM (smvTK)

141 I'm really hoping the prices fall, though.

Someone suggested that this is publishers' attempts to discourage this particular technology. At some point they'll have to relent.

Posted by: ace at January 02, 2012 05:18 PM (nj1bB)

There was a story in the paper about it. The publishers are forcing Amazon to charge a higher price even though you can buy the book at a book store on sale. I am sure it won't be long before Amazon becomes a publisher and tells them to pound sand.

I got a kindle fire for christmas and absolutely love it. I always had a hard time reading Atlas Shrugs in book form so I just sort of scanned it and called it good. I read the whole thing non stop when I downloaded it to the kindle and loved it. The only time I would put it down was when the kindle needed to be recharged.

I like being able to surf the net with it as well, you can pick it up and read the paper or check blogs you like without the hassle of your laptop.

Posted by: robtr at January 02, 2012 01:28 PM (MtwBb)

142 Baen.com. It's all SF, and fantasy, but they have a great free library, with representative works by many of their more popular authors. And they're free!

Also, check out John Scalzi's "Old Man's War", "Ghost Brigade", and "Last Colony", (search on Amazon). It's a good series.

Posted by: DngrMse at January 02, 2012 01:33 PM (eDbqV)

143 I think I read somewhere that Playback was originally written as a screenplay before Chandler rewrote it as a novel... which probably accounts for its weaker prose.

Posted by: Ryan Garns at January 02, 2012 01:35 PM (mYtDg)

144 My current favorite author is an online author that uses the name FEL, He have a couple of amazing sagas available online. The first and larges is fantasy saga of Tarrin Kael, a young farmboy who gets biten by a were cat. That universe is in 8 volumes and a must read if you are into fantasy. (The first book contains a few spelling errors but the quality is rapidly improving) The second is a sci-fi series of earth invaded by an alien race, it is up to four volumes with more comming. The books can be found here http://www.weavespinner.net/Worlds_of_Fel.htm (for free) in various ebook formates. Fel posts new chapters in his forum over here: http://forums.sennadar.com/

Posted by: olds69 at January 02, 2012 01:36 PM (SCh/q)

145 What % of a book's price actually represents all costs of the physical thing, warehousing, printing, delivery, etc.?

One third?

Posted by: ace at January 02, 2012 05:19 PM (nj1bB)

Actually the cost of printing a book is very little of the price. One of the Morons explained this on one of Monty's Kindell thread. This particular Moron was in the publishing buisness.

As for the Kindell version costing more than the paperback at Amazon there is o big conspiracy to halt Kindell sales. One only needs to look at the traditional reason. Greed. They are charging all the traffic will bear. Look at some of the books that are less popular. The Kindell will be cheaper.

Someone mentioned the Ghost series by John Ringo You will not that Amazon does not have the Kendell version because it is on the Baen site for $6.

Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 01:39 PM (YdQQY)

146 Inexpensive Amazon Kindle books I've enjoyed: The Professor's Assassin, by Matthew Pearl. A Single Deadly Truth, by John Urban Reading and really enjoying: The Detachment, by Barry Eisler. Kindle is hard to put down.

Posted by: nfield4 at January 02, 2012 01:52 PM (wsI67)

147 "One third?" I agree Ace. Still buying hardcovers myself. They look pretty on the book shelves. The wife loves the cheap paper back downloads though, so she goes kindle.

Posted by: Reckoner at January 02, 2012 01:55 PM (vZQGS)

148 "Right Ho, Jeeves," the Wodehouse classic; "Tremendous Trifles," by G.K. Chesterton (best place to start with G.K.C); the Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle. All can be had for free. The Holmes stories are great fun.

Posted by: Raul Johnson at January 02, 2012 02:01 PM (zduss)

149 You have to be careful with that stuff from the Kindle free libraries, I keep getting books with pages torn out - at least the pages are not stuck together, so I got that going for me.

Posted by: Moishe Ali O'Malley at January 02, 2012 02:04 PM (YfVqC)

150 Ace, I had the same issue with the "Collected Works of Jules Verne". The idjits who formatted the book didn't know how to set the Table of Contents so it showed up as one on the Kindle, but it was there -- and I found it after searching online. Try using Go to/ cover instead of Go to/table of contents. You may have to page forward once, but that's how the Jules Verne collection worked.

Besides my excellent value books, I'll be publishing some short stories this month (with teaser selections from the book coming out this year, a different selection in each story).

Posted by: bad cat robot at January 02, 2012 02:08 PM (fwc5w)

151 I thought my Kindle had smell-o-vision, but it turned out I needed a bath.

Posted by: Occupooper at January 02, 2012 02:16 PM (b8q1W)

152 I like most of the Nelson de Mille books- Gold Coast and Lion's Game the most [those have sequels] but he has a great knack with dialogue.

I haven't started yet on the Michael Lewis book I got for Christmas, but we are off on vacation tomorrow, so I will dig in then.

Posted by: museisluse at January 02, 2012 02:18 PM (4Lj43)

153 Ace,

If you like Raymond Chandler's better stuff, try Ross Macdonald. What a mystery writer; he's won many awards and his stuff IMO doesn't get enough credit though his books are (still) always in print.

Stick with his (15 or so) Lew Archer mysteries. The Far Side of the Dollar and The Instant Enemy are two of his best. Talk about hard-boiled poetry.

Posted by: mystery fan at January 02, 2012 02:27 PM (XHTHB)

154

In SF books, you will find collections of Murray Leinster and Phill Dick taken from Project Gutenberg, but w/o clickable Contents.

The best reads I've had have been books never perviously published in dead treeew format, mosr 99 cents. Among them:

John Lumpkin -- Thrugh Struggle, the Stars

Rick Locke --Temporary Duty

Nathan Lowell -- The Solar Clippe series Quarter share, etc.

Richard Fernandez--No way In

And may I shamelessly recomend my oown 99 cent novel, The Reefs of Time,

Posted by: John Costello at January 02, 2012 02:32 PM (1FOL4)

155 Too bad Gutenburg doesn't have Mickey Spillane.

Posted by: Vic at January 02, 2012 04:00 PM (YdQQY)

You can get three classic Spillane novels for about $13 in e-book, so not a bad deal. I've read four Mike Hammer stories (I, The Jury, Vengeance Is Mine, The Big Kill, My Gun Is Quick) and enjoyed them all. I'm currently reading The Long Wait which isn't Mike Hammer but might as well be. If you're looking for two-fisted noir mysteries I'd recommend Spillane.

F. Paul Wilson has put most of his catalog including Repairman Jack on e-book and many are only $2.99, so that would be an solid inexpensive recommendation. Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder detective stories are also a great read. Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar detective stories are very entertaining. John D. MacDonald's A Bullet For Cinderella is a great little mystery. Lee Child's Jack Reacher books are very good (what can I say, I'm on a mystery kick).

Posted by: waelse1 at January 02, 2012 02:45 PM (1M81x)

156 All the Vince Flynn "Mitch Rapp" books. (All but one of his books are.)

"American Assassin" is the latest, but it's really the first. You may want to start with it.

http://tinyurl.com/7k79d8o

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at January 02, 2012 02:46 PM (UTq/I)

157 Ace, Read Paul Revere's Ride, by David Hackett Fischer. It's a stunning exposition of who and what he really was, of why his ride mattered so, and - perhaps even more of an eye opener - exactly what went down during the battles of Concord and Lexington. Fischer also wrote Washington's Crossing, yet another stunning expose of American revolutionary history.

Posted by: CoolCzech at January 02, 2012 02:50 PM (niZvt)

158 Infinite Jest. Very long, but very good (funny, tragic, etc.) -- you'll thank me.

Posted by: Stumbo at January 02, 2012 03:00 PM (YLiyE)

159 69 Kushiel's Dart (series). Jacqueline Carey If you haven't. Oldie, but exotic goodie. Posted by: BeachReader at January 02, 2012 04:07 PM Carey's Santa Olivia is also an excellent, and much less kinky, novel.

Posted by: BornLib at January 02, 2012 03:11 PM (zpNwC)

160 I liked both The long Goodbye and The Big Sleep but absolutely agree that Sleep is better and a classic in the field. A number of years ago I met a guy who wrote a noir called The Last Good Kiss which I really really enjoyed (can't quite remember the guy's name for some reason.) I don't have a kindle so I can't recommend any Pron titles.

Posted by: daybrother at January 02, 2012 03:13 PM (z+hCt)

161 Buying Baen books for your Kindle is tricky b/c there's some kind of pissing war going on between Amazon and Baen. Just goto Baen's site, buy your books, then download all the ebook formats (mobi, epub, lrf). Unzip them to a temporary directory for quick import into Calibre. Or just download one format and trust Calibre to do the transmogrifying format conversions later. You're working way too hard. Just use the Kindle experimental web browser to go to Baen's site, and you can download the mobi version of the ebook directly into your Kindle over the wireless connection.

Posted by: BornLib at January 02, 2012 03:20 PM (zpNwC)

162 For me - I read for a living.... a lot, most of it tedious and technical. My Kindle is strictly recreational (I've had mine for 5 years now). There is very little I read on my Kindle that I'm going to be interested in owning a copy of forever, but if I do stumble on something - I can usually head over to Amazon's used book service and pick up a copy for a couple of dollars plus shipping.

Recommendations -
You can pick up Game of Thrones as a "box set" - still expensive, but not as bad as the bookstore or purchasing individually. The best part of Kindle for me is being able to read complete series (a must if you're into SciFi/Fantasy or Mystery/Suspense) by an author. It's also great to go back and re-read books and even some out of print stuff.

re: Ace on Costs of Kindle books

You can thank Apple and IPad for that screw up. Amazon/Kindle did a great job holding the line with the publishers on a good price for new releases - then Apple introduced the IPad and didn't push for a similar agreement. If you notice, Amazon shames the greedy publishers by noting that they are charging excessively for their books on the download page.

Posted by: 2nd Ammendment Mother at January 02, 2012 03:22 PM (L4CWX)

163 Someone mentioned crypto: A good history of cryptography is "The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography" by Simon Singh--excellent book.

Three other great books I just finished reading in the past few weeks:

"The Affair" by Lee Child. Jack Reacher is a badass.
"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline is a great story full of pop culture for Gen Xers.
"Dead Zero" by Stephen Hunter. Bob Lee Swagger is still a badass.

Posted by: Hoystory at January 02, 2012 03:23 PM (jTfq2)

164 The KindleÂ™ was a superior machine developed without Ruby on Rails but lately it's become polluted by right wing racist political titles like Air America: The Playbook .

Posted by: C. Johnson at January 02, 2012 03:31 PM (z+hCt)

165 Someone mentioned Nathan Lowell, and his Solar Clipper series. The first three, reasonably priced, "Quarter Share", "Half Share", and "Full Share", are available in Kindle format on Amazon. The entire series can be listened to free, read by the author, available at podiobooks.com. Just search the author's name.

Posted by: DngrMse at January 02, 2012 03:33 PM (eDbqV)

166 ooh ooh; http://www.amazon.com/Last-Good-Kiss-James-Crumley/dp/0394759893

Posted by: daybrother at January 02, 2012 03:35 PM (z+hCt)

167 Damn it. How do you post direct links?: http://www.amazon.com/Last-Good-Kiss-James-Crumley/dp/0394759893

Posted by: daybrother at January 02, 2012 03:39 PM (z+hCt)

168

I don't know if you're into this kind of thing, but if you want a list of the best, genuinely entertaining, can't put down, kick-ass Kindle zombie books, lemme no. (You can't trust most of the zombie book lists on Amazon, btw; most people have bad taste.)

Cheers.

Posted by: John at January 02, 2012 03:41 PM (k5Bku)

169 I read a book recently that I think you will LOVE. I loved it. It's called "Replay" by Ken Grimwood. He published it in 1988 and it got all kinds of awards at the time. It's about a guy who dies at 43 and comes back as his college aged self and this keeps happening over and over, life after life. It's so good. How he lives his life differently each time. You will adore it. That is an excellent book. Definitely check it out.

Posted by: BornLib at January 02, 2012 03:42 PM (zpNwC)

170 Let me try this: href="http://www.amazon.com/Last-Good-Kiss-James-Crumley/dp/0394759893 ">James Crumley.

Posted by: daybrother at January 02, 2012 03:43 PM (z+hCt)

171 I give up. wonder what's on TV......

Posted by: daybrother at January 02, 2012 03:44 PM (z+hCt)

172 A good Baen recommendation, the 1632 series by Eric Flint. The first, "1632", finds a West Virginia coal mining town transported to 1632 Europe, right in the middle of the Thirty Years War. It, and it's sequel "1633" are free. And they're complete, and properly formatted. I have them both on my kindle.

Posted by: DngrMse at January 02, 2012 03:52 PM (eDbqV)

173 Also a new-ish Kindle owner here. I just finished Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground. Loved it. It may make you hesitant to install anything from the internet, heh. A very readable look into the computer underworld from the past ten years.

Posted by: doug at January 02, 2012 03:58 PM (iq/yq)

174 I've had a Kindle for a long time, and I could recommend a ton of good books. The Galaxy Unknown series is great, as is the White Flag Of the Dead series. The mysteries by H. Terrell Griffin are wonderful, a recent find.

I could keep going, but, the best recommendation is to join Amazon Prime. With it, you can get a ton of books for free. I thought I had cancelled mine, realized I didn't when I saw that I wasn't getting charged for lots of books.

Also, make sure you try the free samples before paying.

Posted by: William Teach at January 02, 2012 03:59 PM (Pq9u/)

175

Kindle thoughts:

Use bookmarks/notes for the freebie books. Add at each chapter.
A bit of a pain - but you only have to do it once.

Gutenberg is an excellent resource.

Personally, I use the sh*t out of the samples. One of my collections is just samples. I use it for a queue.

The "Wealth of Nations" is much easier to carry around and cheaper on the Kindle. Same goes for any of the great works (before 1900).

I now stand a chance of actually finishing WoN...

Posted by: Ponderosa at January 02, 2012 04:00 PM (djH47)

176 I think the http://www.manybooks.net/ is the best source for free classics.

Posted by: Chuck at January 02, 2012 04:05 PM (8z7kV)

177 One of the best fantasy novels of the last decade is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. The Kindle version is just $3

Posted by: BornLib at January 02, 2012 04:09 PM (zpNwC)

178 There are some good Lovecraft collections out there, but they seem to come and go (talking of Michelangelo) since his stuff is in the public domain now.

I'm too poor right now to buy any more books, but I've got nearly 800 on the Kindle so I should be good for a while.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at January 02, 2012 04:11 PM (i0App)

179 It's not cheap but the Hunger Games trilogy has been great. I'll go out on a limb and say these books could rejuvinate the young adult genres. I've dabled in the genre when I hear that there is a good story but other than Harry Potter they are mostly feelings driving crap. Hunger Games, however, is driven by a character making touch decisions that have consequences. There has not been a single part where I've stood back and said "wth, why did she do that??" and in that way it's been tighter than most adult books and Walking Dead. I'm really hoping they don't just maul it when they make the movie and bring a sort of love triangle (that's not really a love triangle) because this could be a very fun movie to see.

Posted by: AllenLou at January 02, 2012 04:28 PM (70yzA)

180 #25

Plus, it was converted to e-book by me!
(The Mercenary is ready to go when we have a cover. There is some indecision over what to do on that issue. The rest of Falkenberg stories should follow once that is resolved.)

I'm currently ready Throw Them All Out. Remember that Tom Clancy book where a terrorist crashes an explosive laden plane into the Capitol Building while the President is addressing Congress? Well, this new book makes you look back on that and think, "Good."

Posted by: epobirs at January 02, 2012 04:35 PM (kcfmt)

181

kerncon :

I actually like the heroin in the Hunger Games. What books do you read with a stonger lead female? She's in circumstances out of her control but does a good job managing things as she can, and considering she's what 15, she's doing pretty good. She's not surviving at the pleasure of male characters like Sookie in the True Bloods or whats her name in Twilight. Other than Hermoine in Harry Potter she's one of the most proactive in control and least weak female leads I've read in a very long time.

Hell, what genre should I be reading for stronger characters? Dune and Throne of Kings are good books that I've read but I those books are written with damn near omnicient characters.

Posted by: AllenLou at January 02, 2012 04:36 PM (70yzA)

182 #181

There is drug use in 'Hunger Games?' That you approve of?

And here I thought it was for kids.

Posted by: epobirs at January 02, 2012 04:46 PM (kcfmt)

183 SF fans should check out the Baen Free Library.
http://www.baen.com/library/
I've been hooked on David Weber's Honor Harrington series since I tried "On Basilisk Station". He uses different star systems with different political beliefs to weave quite a tale, and the first few books are free.

Posted by: Bildo at January 02, 2012 04:57 PM (eToum)

184

epobirs, What drug does Katniss use? All of the characters I've seen in the first two who use drugs are either pitied or disdained. She flat hates Haymitch and wonders how he's as capable as he is and wonders what his potential was if he wasn't an alcoholic. The morphlin addicts are all pitied for their hollow lives and how empty they look. All the drug and alcohol addicts I've seen are deeply troubled portrayed as quite crippled. The only drugs Katniss or Peeta used were lotions or antibiotics. The books don't romantisize addiction, but they do accept that in a society where life is cheap and people are left to starve to death in the streets, that people will fall into a self destructive cycle. Sounds alot like how Russia was described to me in the late 1980's.

Posted by: AllenLou at January 02, 2012 05:00 PM (70yzA)

185 Maybe way too late, but I'll say this again. Killer, by Steven Carpenter is a heckuva good read. I paid either zero or $.99 for it. And try the free sample of David McCullough's latest, his piece about Americans in Paris in the early 1800s. You would never have imagined that the French could be so wonderful.

Posted by: I am the walrus, goo-goo-ga-joo at January 02, 2012 05:07 PM (ybkwK)

186 You said you like the heroin. Trademark of the Bayer company for their opium derived substance.

Posted by: epobirs at January 02, 2012 05:08 PM (kcfmt)

187 Fierce Invalids, Home From Hot Climates. You won't be disappointed. The man has a way with words, like Picasso had a way with paint.

Posted by: AlaBAMA at January 02, 2012 05:32 PM (GJJC3)

188 You made a few good points there. I did a search on the matter and found a good number of people will agree with your blog.

Posted by: Private: #1 Suspect (Jack Morgan) ePub at January 02, 2012 05:35 PM (9ZcmM)

189 I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thanks , I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your web site?

Posted by: Private: #1 Suspect (Jack Morgan) ePub at January 02, 2012 05:39 PM (9ZcmM)

190

Epi, and now I'm a dumbass.

Seriously though, my wife is reading the third book right now and bawling her eyes out. I get to read the third one this week after she's done. In all seriousness, it's been a great series. I really hope Hollywood doesn't screw it up.

Posted by: AllenLou at January 02, 2012 06:03 PM (70yzA)

191 This info is a terrific read. Thanks for the info.I am looking forward for more updates.

Posted by: The Behavior Gap epub at January 02, 2012 06:26 PM (G6GRV)

192 Inspired by the most recent Sherlock Holmes movie, which I saw over the holidays (never saw the first one), I decided to read some Sherlock Holmes stories -- which somehow I'd never done. Well, now I am hooked on A. Conan Doyle's writing. It is simply dazzling. Have downloaded onto my Kindle all four Sherlock Holmes novels and all five volumes of short stories -- the complete Sherlock Holmes canon, for a grand total of $2.97. Great reading to start the New Year!

Posted by: Kathy from Kansas at January 02, 2012 06:37 PM (F0o5k)

193 Nice commentary. last thirty days I uncovered this internet site and desired to permit you be conscious that iÂ’ve been gratified, heading via your siteÂ’s posts. I should certainly be signing equally as much as the RSS feed and can wait around for another post.

Posted by: Night Reigns Audiobook at January 02, 2012 06:46 PM (TE953)

194 Let me give you a strong recommendation for a book written by the former letters editor of Penthouse, Jainie Speiser, called "Threesomes."

It has this air of reality, like maybe she has seen a DVD on the subject or something.

And, it has pictures! Yes, color photographs of a man and two women, all without clothes.

Posted by: Whitehall at January 02, 2012 09:37 PM (1+mGd)

195 i've had my kindle for a solid year and i love it-- i dig noir, sci-fi/fantasy, horror and history-- try "The Game of Thrones" (first two books in the series)-- try "The Devil All the Time" by Pollock-- try "Carrion Comfort" by Simmons-- and for History try "Retribution" by Hastings-- that should get you started-- forget all those free books available-- i got a ton of them when i first got my kindle and haven't gotten around to them yet, but they're there for when i feel like it-- so many books so little time-- enjoy Ace, t

Posted by: tomc at January 02, 2012 10:14 PM (ICSqq)

196 almost forgot-- "Hyperion"-- best Sci-Fi i've read in quite awhile-- and one more horror novel (over-long but well worth the time) "The Terror" both by Dan Simmons-- i love this guy and his work!

Posted by: tomc at January 02, 2012 10:37 PM (ICSqq)

197
Wow i really found this to be an interesting read; thanks for sharing

Posted by: John Lescroart The Hunter ePub at January 03, 2012 03:35 AM (IO+R4)

198 Love John Ringo's books, particularly, The Last Centurion. It is excellent. It's sort of Sci-fi, but, still worth a look even if you never read the genre. I love my Kindle Fire, have been spending a lot of time in various medical facilities as a loved one undergoes chemo/radiation, so having books on demand and to be able to read in low light or no light conditions has rocked.

Posted by: SherryG_Tulsa at January 03, 2012 06:30 AM (YKewV)

199 Thread's too long; didn't read. (Will try again later.)

The wife read over Christmas, on her iPad (from Gutenberg):

The Scarlet Pimpernel
Little Fuzzy (serious sci-fi for those who don't know the book)
King Solomon's Mines

She's currently working on Les Mis, because she burned through those too quickly. (Strangely, she can't find a public domain copy of Fuzzy Sapiens. Weird. Pretty much all of Piper's other works are available.)

Posted by: Meiczyslaw at January 03, 2012 06:39 AM (Um13g)

200 Ace - I would definitely recommend the "Song of Ice and Fire" series (Game of Thrones). Great stuff although Martin tends to re-tell alot of background throughout the series (which I suppose is a little unavoidable). Read them all back to back this past summer and have just started over. As others have said, the Hunger Game series is a fun, quick read. Reminded me of a contemporary Huxley / Orwell tome.

Posted by: disloyalopp at January 03, 2012 07:41 AM (S/ePb)

201

My late husband gave me a Kindle for Christmas last year. This was before he was diagnosed with cancer. I would not have made it through the months from his diagnosis to his death without my Kindle. I spent 18 days and nights in the hospital with him, countless hours of waiting in clinics and doctors' offices, and countless sleepless nights with my Kindle in hand. It is a great blessing.

Posted by: WarEagle at January 03, 2012 10:48 AM (Suxa1)

202

Raymond Chandler quotes, purloined from IMDB:

If my books had been any worse I should not have been invited to Hollywood, and if they had been any better I should not have come.

Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back and drain your mind of all thought. And there you are watching the bubbles in the primeval ooze. You don't have to concentrate. You don't have to react. You don't have to remember. You don't miss your brain because you don't need it. Your heart and liver and lungs continue to function normally. Apart from that, all is peace and quiet. You are in the man's nirvana. And if some poor nasty minded person comes along and says you look like a fly on a can of garbage, pay him no mind. He probably hasn't got the price of a television set.

I think a man ought to get drunk at least twice a year just on principle, so he won't let himself get snotty about it.

The motion picture is like a picture of a lady in a half-piece bathing suit. If she wore a few more clothes, you might be intrigued. If she wore no clothes at all, you might be shocked. But the way it is, you are occupied with noticing that her knees are too bony and that her toenails are too large. The modern film tries too hard to be real. Its techniques of illusion are so perfect that it requires no contribution from the audience but a mouthful of popcorn.

Hollywood has all the personality of a paper cup.

[on attending the Academy Awards for the first (and last) time, 1941] If you can get past those awful idiot faces on the bleachers outside the theater without a sense of the collapse of human intelligence, and if you can go out into the night and see half the police force of Los Angeles gathered to protect the golden ones from the mob in the free seats, but not from the awful moaning sound they give out, like destiny whistling through a hollow shell; if you can do these things and still feel the next morning that the picture business is worth the attention of one single, intelligent, artistic mind, then in the picture business you certainly belong because this sort of vulgarity, the very vulgarity from which the Oscars are made, is the inevitable price that Hollywood exacts from each of its serfs.

A good title is the title of a successful book.

Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid . . . He is the hero, he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.

The making of a motion picture is an endless contention of tawdry egos, almost none of them capable of anything more creative than credit stealing and self-promotion.

The Blue Dahlia (1946) wasn't a top-notch film by any means, largely because Veronica Lake couldn't play the love scenes and too much had to be discarded.

[on Ernest Hemingway] He never wrote but one story. All the rest is the same thing in different pants - or without different pants. And his eternal preoccupation with what goes on between the sheets becomes rather nauseating in the end. One reaches a time of life when limericks written on the walls of comfort stations are not just obscene, they are horribly dull. This man has only one subject and he makes that ridiculous.# # #

Posted by: Beverly at January 03, 2012 04:52 PM (1hhUA)

203 I have had my Kindle for a year now. Changed my reading habits completely. I never go anywhere without it. If you like Sci-Fi, the best Space Opera (and just plain sci-fi) I have ever read is Randolph Lalonde's "Spinward Fringe" series, starting with "Origins" which is a free download. The series is up to 7 books (they are called Broadcasts) so far with a new one due out soon and the cost for each is less than $3. I have read the whole series 3 times in the past year and I seldom read a book twice. They are that good. For Mystery, you have to read Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books, starting with "The Black Echo". They are excellent police procedural novels and I believe one of them is being offered free at the moment. Lighter but in the same vein, is JA Jance's JP Beaumont series about a Seattle PD Detective who has a great sense of humor. If you like Vince Flynn, try Lee Child's Reacher series starting with "The Killing Floor". If you are not afraid to try a really go adult Urban Fantasy series, you have to try "The Dresden Files". Harry is a practicing wizard and private detective with an awesome sense of humor. These or not your mothers Faries!

Posted by: LakewoodGary at January 04, 2012 02:50 PM (73Uk5)

204 [move]I want my, I want my ONT[/move]

Posted by: Tammy al' Thor at January 29, 2012 06:22 PM (SsG4J)

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