Microsoft Reader Catalog of eBooks

[Ed Hansberry]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mslit.com/' target='_blank'>http://www.mslit.com/</a><br /><br /></div>Microsoft has put up a web page of TUCOMSLEB. (The Ultimate Collection of Microsoft LIT eBooks.) Ok, doesn't quite roll off the tongue like TUCOWS. :) One thing to keep in mind though - I looked up several classics, like Moby Dick. That is part of the public domain now and free. Many of the links MS has in their catalog will take you to a site that will have a minimal charge for the work put into editing and compiling it - usually $2.99 or so. I therefore recommend before you go there in search of a classic, check out Ken Mattern's most excellent <a href="http://esspc-ebooks.com/default.htm">Elegant Software Solutions and Publishing Company</a> ebook site, or ESSPC for short.

[BruceG]

I get a lot of my ebooks from www.blackmask.com. It's a Canadian site, so they have a lot of Canadian authors. They also have thousands of free books in many categories. I am slowly going through _War and Peace_, which I downloaded from the site.

[ppcsurfr]

Now.. doesn't Microsoft have another list of ebook source? One is a University and they have all of the books for free.

Can't remember the exact one really.

ppcsurfr

[Steven Cedrone]

Now.. doesn't Microsoft have another list of ebook source? One is a University and they have all of the books for free.

Can't remember the exact one really.

ppcsurfr

I think you mean this: Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/ebooklist.html)

Steve

[Unreal32]

The category sorting on this "library" site is pathetic. Select "Technology" as a topic for example. In addition to a few technology titles, you also get:

101 More Best Cover Letters
The Art of War (2 entries)
Napoleon on the Art of War

and a bunch more war-related titles that have nothing to do with technology. Not to mention that it doesn't point to most other good sources of e-books... argh. Nice to have a tool... but it would be nice to have a comprehensive tool.

[Gen-M]

The category sorting on this "library" site is pathetic.

I also enjoyed War and Peace under "Litterary Criticism"

But what can you expect from the people that gave use the MS Reader Library function? :roll:

[ebookfan2002]

RE: the "technology" and other categorization problems. The main categories used in this site are based on industry standard subject codes, and this information is provided by the publishers... This leads to some strange categories, like "Technology - Military Science" (The Art of War) or "Technology - Technical Writing" for 101 Cover Letters.

However, you can 'sub-select' categories below the high level "Technology" category simply by using the pull-down. For example, select "Techology - Telecommunications"...

This site, though not perfect, is a *great* resource... It has a 'free ebooks' section that includes all the University of Virginia stuff, plus University of Oregon collection, free offerings from Amazon, Open An Ebook (these are current titles), and even a currency calculator for your PocketPC built as a MSLIT dictionary.

FYI, Here are the current free books from the MSLIT "top 10" list:

Encarta Pocket Dictionary (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=MSMSEBDICT)
The Time Machine (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=EWELTIME)
English-Spanish Pocket Dictionary (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=MSDICTENES)
Sister Carrie (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=ASISTERCAR)
New York: The Rough Guide (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=1858289297)
Currency Converter (U.S. Dollars) (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=TTYCUR2USD)
Lee Chia (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=OLEECHIA)
Sea Glass (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=0759586934)
Total Word Domination (http://www.mslit.com/details.asp?bookid=1589292375)

[Pony99CA]

Well, I'm glad I saw this. I found that Microsoft has added Spanish (and Italian) to their language dictionaries. They had German and French in the past, but I wondered where Spanish was, especially given current population trends in the U.S. It's good to finally see they've produced English-Spanish and Spanish-English dictionaries.

Steve

[Ken Mattern]

Thanks for the plug Ed. I've not posted many books in the past couple of months for three reasons.

First, having lost much of the use of my right arm it is a lot harder to do the work. Hopefully the surgery will fix that.

Second, work on Electric Quill 3.0 is a really major undertaking. Hint - it will do .LIT, .PDF and .PRC (Mobipocket) eBook formats. Watch out OverDrive :wink:

Third, I'm in the process of converting all of my eBooks to PDF and PRC. This will permit so many more people to read my

Free eBooks.

Ken

[GadgetDave]

Anyone know what happened to this site? I could get there the other day, but can't now - can't even find a DNS entry for it ...

[Ed Hansberry]

Anyone know what happened to this site? I could get there the other day, but can't now - can't even find a DNS entry for it ...
I am sure MS knows about it, but I contacted them via the Contact us link at the bottom of www.microsoft.com/reader just in case.

[Brad Adrian]

Are all of these books compatible with Pocket Reader, or are they simply "desktop Reader" versions?

[Ed Hansberry]

Are all of these books compatible with Pocket Reader, or are they simply "desktop Reader" versions?

Unless there are lots of images that invoke the PPC Reader memory leak (most ebooks don't) they should work on the Pocket PC. Of course, if activation is requried, then you need a Pocket PC 2002.

[ebookfan2002]

If you go to www.mslit.com from a pocket pc, the site now provides an optimised view -- formatted properly for Pocket PC! I've noticed a few oddities, but on the whole, the site conforms to 'accepted' practises of not requiring side to side scrolling. Of course, if you link 'off page' to amazon, bn, etc., then you will be back into 'standard' verbose web hell...

On the positive side, the direct downloads in 'free eBooks', however, will download into the PPC and come right up.

[dartman]

I get a lot of my ebooks from www.blackmask.com. It's a Canadian site, so they have a lot of Canadian authors. They also have thousands of free books in many categories. I am slowly going through _War and Peace_, which I downloaded from the site.

I'm pretty sure blackmask is located in Chevy Chase Maryland.

I've been using their site for a year or so now and have purchsed the CD's on .lit and pdf formats. Lots of stuff there.

dart

[st63z]

Too much out there, too little time...

Recently remembered, had almost $100 left in Fictionwise account, so have been consuming it off. Not even time to re-sample peanut, er.. palm digital media, and all that good stuff. I'll never get through what I want just at Fictionwise in one lifetime :(

Must learn to read in a more expeditious, skimming, speed reading method instead of fully absorbing, enjoying the material (could never do both)...