Before I go giving away free stuff, I have good reason to be doing so. Finally, I unleash upon the world my first ebook collection. It is a collection of short stories going back right to when I started writing short stories regularly and putting my work on Elfwood – so some of these are 15 years old or more. They have been given significant editing and in some cases, new events have been inserted. In one or two cases, I have restored older material that never made it to Elfwood because I felt it was too long. There were some cases where I felt that the work suffered for having cut it down to that extent. Stories are as long as they need to be! The resulting work feels more complete. Continue reading
Tag Archives: free books
Robert Rankin Christmas Giveaway!
copyright mgm75
Just a very quick note to let you all know that Robert Rankin is giving away free editions of a couple of his ebooks on Amazon at the moment (Kindle edition) and there are discounts on the follow-up books. Continue reading
Site of the Week: Classic Reader
You don’t have to buy an expensive ebook reader to read free books. Classic Reader is another site dedicated to giving you access to copyright-free material at zero cost. All you need is a computer to view them on the web. Continue reading
Site of the Week: Bookins
Last year I highlighted a UK base site for bookswapping called Read It, Swap It. This week’s site is a North-America based version that works on the same principle called Bookins.
There are a couple of differences in that you can trade things other than books. This means that some items will have a higher value than others and this is organised based on a points system so you get an equivalent value of the items you list. Continue reading
Site of the Week: Librivox
Do you know somebody who has never read a book? Know somebody who would like to read but neither has the time nor the patience? Are you that person? One of the options to nag / encourage that person is to introduce them to audio books. On CD these can be pretty expensive.
Another option is to encourage them to visit a site like Librivox. It is a database of public domain and out of copyright work that you can download for free. The non-reader in your life has no excuse and if they listen to music on the way to work or on their mp3 player throughout the day they can swot up on the classics without costing them a penny. Continue reading
Site of the Week: Project Gutenberg
Welcome to the first Site of the Week of 2012. I hope this year’s selection will be as useful to you as last year’s.
If, like me, you are a bookaholic and got a Kindle for Christmas, you might spend lots of money downloading bargain or favourite titles. Or if, like me, you are a still stuck in “cheapskate student” mode you might want to fill your reader with lots of out of copyright titles that are free to download and distribute.
Kindle – first impressions
My first impression now that I’ve been using it for just over a week is that this is a very diverse and useful piece of kit for an avid reader.
The Kindle store is pretty comprehensive but there are some titles that are seemingly not available yet. There are regular deals to tempt you and some of them are quite impressive (I bought Game of Thrones for £1.99 and China Miéville’s Un Lun Dun for 99p last week)
Site of the Week: Books Mirror
If you know of any useful websites or perhaps run one yourself, feel free to recommend it. If I find your site suitable for my weekly feature then I will do my utmost to accommodate it. In return I might merely ask that you link to my blog. But please (and I mean this in the politest possible terms) do not ask me to advertise your commercial service.
Its getting cold, the nights are drawing in. Some days are wet, some are windy, some are both. Not always nice weather to go out in (even if you are a cold-weather lover like me) so what further excuse to sit in and read a good book?
Ever told yourself “I must read more classics”? Now you can with this website full of links to free books all over the web. Each title has several translations / editions to find the right version for you. It’s a pretty basic website compared to some other ebook archives I’ve promoted but pretty extensive.
Site of the Week: Books Should Be Free (free audio books)
If you know of any useful websites or perhaps run one yourself, feel free to recommend it. If I find your site suitable for my weekly feature then I will do my utmost to accommodate it. In return I might merely ask that you link to my blog. But please (and I mean this in the politest possible terms) do not ask me to advertise your commercial service.
About a month ago, I chose as “Site of the Week” a digital archive of copyright free books. This week’s offering Books Should Be Free, is a similar resource for audio books with an ever-expanding archive of material that you don’t have to pay for. Free stuff is always good!
The interface is simple with categories to browse at your own leisure including a “Top 100″ section. In each case, click on the title and you are presented with a list of download options and several formats depending on the device you wish to use. Each book also has wiki links to details on the author, the book itself and other trivia.
You can also stream from Librivox, a volunteer website archive of audio books, poems and short stories.
Site of the Week: Rare Book Room
If you know of any useful websites or perhaps run one yourself, feel free to recommend it. If I find your site suitable for my weekly feature then I will do my utmost to accommodate it. In return I might merely ask that you link to my blog. But please (and I mean this in the politest possible terms) do not ask me to advertise your commercial service.
This is perhaps one of the most amazing sites ever invented. A company called “Octavo” have over the course of a decade taken vhq images of first edition books by the likes of Shakespeare, Galileo, Copernicus, Aesop, Chaucer and many more… the sort of books you would need to go to the Bodleian Library to see and would only get to see by appointment and special permission… and put them on a website.
Rare Book Room is the current result of their efforts. With over 400 works currently online, you can view them at your own leisure without having to travel, book an appointment. And what’s more, they are available at no cost and without having to sign up for a membership.
Enjoy!