bookish

[llcoolvad]

I have been obsessed lately with free or cheap entertainment. I have my Netflix subscription, and I use the Watch Instantly feature almost every day. I listen to Pandora and to Radio Paradise for new music (although this oftentimes leads to a CD purchase, sigh). And around the turn of the year I started exploring cheap reading options. Sure, there's your library. But sometimes there's snow on the ground. Sometimes you want something at 9pm. Sometimes it's just inconvenient to leave the house. So I prefer ebooks. I prefer them in general, anyway. I have way too many dead tree books as it is. I cannot keep overloading my house and stressing my movers.

So over the last few years whenever publishers would release free ebook versions of novels I would usually download them but not necessarily read them, largely due to file format issues, lack of organization, forgetfulness, or just lack of overall knowledge about what I'd need to do so. So I started experimenting, and now I feel the need to collect information in one place.

Stuff I've already used:

• 2 Kindles: 1st gen & latest gen. Both have been great. Excellent battery life (like weeks at a time of heavy reading between charges), great displays, do everything they should. Earlier one more awkward to turn pages than later one, but later one still not perfect. Can load several file types onto it, including pdfs. Downloading files simple both through the kindle store AND by dragging files onto it manually from a computer. Not the cheapest option, since there's the initial equipment fee, but once you have one there are great buckets of free ebooks out there. Unfortunately when I got my first Kindle the max cost for an Amazon store ebook was $9.99, but the publishers fought that and now some new releases are as high as $14.99. Ugly. And since it's so easy to buy, sometimes it's irresistible.
  
• The Kindle app on iPhone: Been using it since the week it was released. Works great, but only lets you read stuff you purchased through Amazon (purchased does not have to mean at great cost. The amazon store has tons of free titles every single day). iPhone screen small. Can't read outdoors in sunlight. Still, you can't read a book unless you have it with you, and I am pretty much never without my phone. I have done the majority of my reading here, at least until recently.
  
• Stanza on iPhone: I can load any .epub file onto it from my computer through iTunes. Excellent little app, gives loads of flexibility. The .epub format is the most common format for every store other than Amazon so there is oodles of free stuff available here, too.
  
• Overdrive on iPhone: Fairly uncomplicated. App allows you to log into your library system through your library card. I have library cards in three local systems: the Boston Public Library system, the Minuteman network, and NOBLE, so I can browse for ebooks in all three — at least once I renew the Minuteman library card I can. Stupid things expire! Who knew? Obviously library books are free. Even ebooks and audio books.

Stuff I will try: Soon there will be the ability to download library books straight into the Kindle, avoiding the Overdrive app. But from what I've read there will be no possibility of downloading library books into the Kindle app, which is a bummer, and means if I want to read library books on my phone, I'll still need to use the Overdrive app. Not a hardship.

I downloaded three random books today into Overdrive, and it was pretty quick and reasonably hassle-free. Of course I had to dig out my library cards so I could copy the numbers into the Overdrive app, but I'm hoping I only have to do that once. The books only have a 14 day lending window, and you can only borrow up to four at a time, so I'll need to read them ASAP.

Problems: My biggest complaint about the Overdrive library system is that your local library (or the wider system it belongs to) still only buys so many ebook "copies" — which means that regardless of your spiffy instant-download technology, you may have nothing to download, as everything has already been borrowed by someone else. It would be nice if the search interface allowed you to filter by what's actually in stock (as if you were looking at things in the actual library), but it only allows you to filter a specific search (for example, searching for Douglas Adams books) by if it's in stock. I'd like to filter "Mysteries" but there doesn't seem to be that option. So you might end up building yourself a huge hold list and still have nothing to read. I downloaded the three I did largely because out of 200 titles they were the ones actually available. As it was an experiment, that's ok, but as a real world thing that's not how I read! I'd like to choose a title I might enjoy.

Other considerations: The Stanza app requires a tiny bit more tech knowledge / ability to experiment. First you need to get your file into a format it can read, then you need to wrestle iTunes to the ground to transfer your file (and that's only for the latest gen of iPhone. Earlier versions have more complicated ways to get the file onto the phone). After that it's cake, but novice users might have some hassle.

Finally, how do you keep track of all your bounty? Damned if I know. Currently I'm running a spreadsheet of titles including data like what file format I have it in, what device it's on, has it been read yet, and how much I paid for it. This allows me to sort by highest price/not read yet and make sure I'm not wasting the money I've spent. I also use the ebook database/file conversion program Calibre, which I can't recommend highly enough. That allows me to take a non-DRMed version of a file and change it from .mobi to .epub and back again, making it simple to read any file on either Kindle or iPhone. It also allows me to set up libraries, so if I want to have one for my iPhone files, and one for my Stanza (need a different file format) I can, making it easier to find the files when I want to transfer them to read.

Ok, so those are my cheap entertainment hacks and more technical details than you wanted. Any cheap entertainment hacks you'd like to share?

Comments

[zanzjan.livejournal.com]

I'm actually starting to think I might have a use for an e-book reader, but haven't gotten far enough in that thought to really compare Kindle versus the Nook. I do still greatly prefer paper books, but man, given how much time lately I seem to spend in doctor's waiting rooms, it'd be nice to have a constant source of non-boredom.

[istemi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reminders. I've been on a reading jag lately, and at $9 a pop it's getting expensive. Time to dust off my Overdrive client, and give Stanza another go.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

If you think you're likely to root the Nook and install the Droid platform on it so you can play games and whatever, then the Nook might be good for you. OTOH, the Nook is more expensive ($250 if you get the color), unless you find it refurbished (vs. Kindle wifi-only at $139). Rooting it makes it basically a color Droid tablet machine. Neat. And the Nook has a micro SD slot so is expandable. It's bigger and heavier than the Kindle (of course, because it's color).

I can let you fondle the new Kindle if you like. I sprung for the 3G version ($189), because I love the idea of a free 3G device for life (it has a browser of a sort and it still has the wifi option too). You're not as limited as everyone always whines re: file formats (as I've listed above). My original Kindle had a card slot, but they got rid of it in the new ones. The size is pretty big already, especially for ebooks — I think it's set up to hold 3,000.

I guess I'm a Kindle fangirl. Ah, well! There are worse things.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

Y'know, everything that's for iPhone above also works for your iPod Touch, you know. You already have everything you need to keep yourself occupied! Just gotta get in the habit of keeping your Touch in your bag/pocket/car. I read on my phone all the time and it's fine (plus you can adjust font size all you need to on each of these apps). So forget buying either one! Download some apps, give 'em a try. I think they were all free.

And back catalog titles from prolific authors are usually sub-$5, so there's plenty to buy even if you can't find free right away.

[p-j-cleary.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have the Kindle app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and all my books are loaded onto both of my devices automatically. The smaller pages make it kind of annoying to read for any length of time at home (where I still read paper books), but whenever I'm out and about and need something to read, I have lots of options now.

I'm glad the library system will be coming to Kindle soon. That'll make things much easier for Mom!

[istemi.livejournal.com]

Yahoo! I hadn't heard about the upcoming Kindle/Overdrive compatibility. I wish "later this year" would hurry up and get here. My parents love their kindles, and they'll appreciate being able to download library books.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

Hopefully their system will have more titles available than mine do, but yeah, assuming they do it well, it should be pretty awesome. I wish I knew what "later this year" meant, also.

[istemi.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to sit down with Instapaper (http://www.instapaper.com/faq) , and you might be interested too. You tag a web page as "read for later", and this aggregates it for you.

There are a bunch of pages I ought to read, for fun or for work. Even with my delicicio.us tags to_read, I never get around to going back.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I have neglected my instapaper account. I switched browsers from IE to Chrome and forgot to add the bookmarklet. I was primarily using it for longer articles/stories, as formerly I was littering a folder with shortcuts and never really going back. Good reminder, thanks! I just installed my read later shortcut in Chrome. Yay!