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TomG2's avatar
TomG2
Explorer
Dec 28, 2015

Good eReader and free books?

The Subject line says it all. I am wanting to explore the world of electronic books with little or no cost.
  • The Kindle, NOOK, and Overdrive reading apps for Android are all free, and seem to work well. I have them all three installed on my tablets, and everything but the NOOK app installed on both of my NOOKs. In adition, most new tablets have some type of e-reader already installed that can be used for most e-books, and PDFs
  • coolmom42 wrote:
    Get a generic Android tablet---not a Kindle, not a Nook. You want something like a Samsung. You can use it for reading and a lot of other stuff as well. Do NOT get an Ipad!!! That way you can install 3 different apps that will let you read anything out there. The apps are Nook, Kindle, and Adobe Digital Editions.


    X2! When Samsung took over the Nook spot, we got 2 of the Galaxy Tab 4 7 in. This tablet blows away the Nook HD and HD+. Not locked down like the iPAD, Kindle, or old Nooks. Lots of options. And I use it for email, weather, and tons of other things. Not to mention everything syncs with my Android phone. Get a anti-glare screen cover and you can read everywhere except direct sunlight. BTW, we have a Kindle Fire HDX and it doesn't hold a candle to our Galaxy Tabs.

    Free books? Do online searches. Both B&N and Amazon have tons of free books. B&N has "Free Fridays". Sometimes they are just books that are always free, others are only free for a short period. I'm also a big fan of using http://manybooks.net/ and https://www.gutenberg.org/.
  • Lady Fitzgerald wrote:
    Dutch_12078 wrote:
    Fizz wrote:

    Kindle reads only Amazon MOBY format.
    The Calibre program will convert to/from any format but nothing that is copy protected
    http://calibre-ebook.com/

    With a bit of Googling, Calibre will also convert copy protected formats. There may be some copyright issues with that though.


    The software for that doesn't always work well. I often have chapters get truncated.

    I have run into conversion problems with Amazon's AZW3 format books at times, but usually converting to a different format fixes it. Using FB2 instead of EPUB for instance, usually gets it right for me. The older MOBI format books usually convert ok.
  • Bookbub.com will send you daily alerts of discounted or free e-books in both the Amazon and Apple stores in the categories you specify. I highly recommend it.
  • Dutch_12078 wrote:

    With a bit of Googling, Calibre will also convert copy protected formats. There may be some copyright issues with that though.

    Specifically, the DMCA. :W
  • 1492 wrote:
    Dutch_12078 wrote:

    With a bit of Googling, Calibre will also convert copy protected formats. There may be some copyright issues with that though.

    Specifically, the DMCA. :W

    Yep... Making an unprotected copy of a legally purchased ebook for personal use seems to fall into some undefined grey areas relative to backups, but hopefully the courts and legislatures will get that all sorted out eventually. That doing so violates Amazon’s terms and conditions is pretty much black and white though.
  • Also keep in mind that Calibre itself cannot decrypt protected books. You need plugins. And not all encryption can be broken.
  • I have not read all the entries, but many libraries offer digital books free. You might want to check out a library near you.

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