eBook sources, readers and tools

[Jereboam]

I wanted to start a thread (sticky? :wink: ) that can be edited to keep great links we have found in the first post...a couple of people have contributed great links already.

14/11/03 Added: Powells, Baen Webscriptions, University of Virginia, eBooks Watch, eBook Catalog. Thanks to Crystal Eitle and KH.
14/11/03 Added: iSilo, TomeRaider, Memoware.
14/11/03 Added: eBookAd. Thanks to Disconnected.

eBook Readers

MS Reader (free) (http://www.microsoft.com/reader/)

Mobipocket Reader (free and Pro versions) (http://www.mobipocket.com/en/HomePage/default.asp)

Palm Reader (free and Pro versions) (http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/home.cgi)

Haali Reader (freeware) (http://haali.cs.msu.ru/pocketpc/)

Starbuck Reader (commercial) (http://www.thumbsupsoft.com/maphtm/starbuck.html)

Tiny eBook Reader (commercial) (http://www.goldencrater.com/software/phone/TinyReader.htm)

µBook Reader (freeware) (http://www.gowerpoint.com/)

iSilo (commercial) (http://www.isilo.com/)

TomeRaider (commercial - great for reference material) (http://www.tomeraider.com/)

If anyone has others to add, please let me know.

Commercial eBook Vendors

Fictionwise (all major formats) (http://www.fictionwise.com)

Amazon (mainly MS Reader format) (http://www.amazon.com)

Palm Digital Media (Palm reader only) (http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/home.cgi)

Mobipocket (Mobipocket only) (http://www.mobipocket.com/en/HomePage/default.asp)

eBooks.com (all major formats) (http://www.ebooks.com/)

Contentlink (all major formats, NOT Mobipocket) (http://www.contentlinkinc.com/)

Powells (all major formats, NOT Mobipocket) (http://www.powells.com/ebookstore/mreader.html)

Baen Webscriptions (try the free books at the Baen Free Library and then come here for the rest of the series) (http://www.webscriptions.net/)

eBookAd (all major formats, NOT Mobipocket) (http://www.ebookad.com./)

I think that covers all the major ones, I am sure we will flesh this list out.

Free eBook Sources

Project Gutenberg (the major source for classic works, and always in need of a donation! Mainly txt and html) (http://www.gutenberg.org/)

Blackmask Online (many formats, categorised, should be your first stop!) (http://www.blackmask.com/page.php)

Baen Free Library (all formats, great scifi series tasters, I highly recommend David Weber's Honor Harrington series) (http://www.baen.com/library/)

Microsoft (free eBook summer promotion, three new ones every week) (http://www.microsoft.com/reader/promotions/free_shop.asp)

University of Virginia eBook Library (MS Reader and Palm Reader) (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/ebooklist.html)

Memoware (many different formats including TomeRaider and iSilo, best for reference material such as movie databases and so on) (http://www.memoware.com)

Lots, lots more to come I am sure. This should get you going.

Authors Who Support eBooks

Suelette Dreyfus (her free ebook is a history of the hacker movement, great read) (http://www.underground-book.com/)

Cory Doctorow (author of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and a vociferous supporter of the eBook movement) (http://www.craphound.com/down/)

Any more that you know of?

Random Links

Visit Pocket PC eBooks Watch (http://www.cebooks.blogspot.com/) to keep up with the very latest news.

For mobile readers, download straight to your Pocket PC at eBook Catalog (http://www.mslit.com/ppc/), specially formatted for the small screen.

And finally, a great comparison review of eBook readers by Jenneth, read it at her site (http://www.jenneth.info/archives/000229.html).

Also check out Peter Osterversnik's site (http://www.ojster.com/index1.html) which has eBook reviews and links also, and seems strangely undervisited.

That should get any eBook newbies going and round out the libraries of veterans, happy reading...please post anything you'd like to add to this first post, I'm really looking forward to seeing what buried treasure you guys can come up with.

Needless to say, we should stay away from illegal eBooks or DRM circumvention. We can all find them if we want to, so go find (http://www.google.com).

Let's make Pocket PC Thoughts the one-stop location for anyone getting into eBooks!!

J'bm

[bjornkeizers]

I have another addition. There's an IRC channel I visit where you can find thousands of raw files [txt, html, rtf, pdf, pdb, and the occasion lit] of every book imaginable.

[***IRC channel infomation removed by moderator KC 14-Sept-03]

-- I would like to take a moment and point out that this is not.. entirely legal, but I would like to share this as another possible method for interested people. Yes, there are some books on it which are not entirely legal, but it is a good option for hard to find or out of print books. If the mods remove this, so be it. --

[Jereboam]

I'd hazard a guess that your post will probably be removed, but I have taken note... :wink:

I would personally say that this would be ok IF YOU OWN THE BOOK ALREADY IN PRINT FORM and simply want the convenience of an eBook format.

I have no idea of the legalities of what I just said. As previously, if borderline then mods please remove these posts (not the whole thread, took me ages 8O ).

Thanks,

J'bm

[Crystal Eitle]

Another commercial site:

Powells.com (http://www.powells.com/ebookstore/mreader.html)

Another free site:

University of Virginia eBook Library (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/ebooklist.html)

A great eBook blog:

Pocket PC eBooks Watch (http://www.cebooks.blogspot.com/)

eBook portal formatted for Pocket PC:

http://www.mslit.com/ppc/

[KH]

http://www.webscriptions.net

This is BAEN books eBook site. Comparing what they make available evry month with the Locus list of forthcoming books, it appears that a large percentage of their books are available electronically. They also have some free books to introduce you to some of their authors. I have been a happy customer for years. They are right up there with Palm Digital Media and Fictionwise as a major source of my eBooks.

[Jereboam]

Crystal Eitle, thanks will add those...

KH, I've got the Baen Free Library there already, there is information there on Webscriptions. How does that work for you by the way? I read so fast, waiting for new chapters would kill me... :)

J'bm

[KH]

Oops, I looked for BAEN up with Palm Digital Media and Fictionwise, because I mostly buy my books from them (except I was REALLY happy to find David Drake's 'Old Nathan' there for free - and I would have been happy to pay for that one!)

I rarely read their books in the couple of months before the full version is released. I have a tremendous amount of eBook material to read and am always behind anyway, no matter how late I read at night! One exception was Bujold's 'Diplomatic Immunity', which came out on their site before the hard back was even released - and waiting for the last quarter of that one did drive me nuts!

[Jereboam]

Thanks KH, they are different things so have put a separate link to Webscriptions directly. When I found the Baen Free Library first off I thought it was Christmas...and have subsequently bought some more Weber books (from Fictionwise though), so offering free eBook tasters really does work (publishers take note!).

As I thought, the IRC channel info has gone walkies...nevermind... :wink:

J'bm

[disconnected]

I've found some pretty good books at www.ebookad.com.

All the books are unencrypted, and most come in Microsoft Lit, Palmreader, Adobe, and something called Hiebook format.

They have excellent search capabilities. In addition to browsing by category you can go to the advanced search page and find, for instance, all mysteries added to the site since July, 2003. (I wish Powells would have this sort of search capability).

[Jereboam]

Thanks, Disconnected, added.

Memoware deserves special mention.

Basically, the concept is that content should be free, you only pay for the reader. I bought TomeRaider, which is really fast with huge files, so that I could have stuff like...

Internet Movie Database IMDB 1920-Present (http://www.memoware.com/?screen=doc_detail&doc_id=3698&p=category^!Entertainment~!)
The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (http://www.memoware.com/?screen=doc_detail&doc_id=13781&p=category^!Entertainment~!)
CIA World Fact Book 2002 (http://www.memoware.com/?screen=doc_detail&doc_id=11148&back=search_results)
US Army Survival Manual (http://www.memoware.com/?screen=doc_detail&doc_id=11164&back=search_results)
50 Amusing Things to Do in an Elevator (http://www.memoware.com/?screen=doc_detail&doc_id=13514&back=search_results)

...and last but not least...

The Marijuana Growers Guide (http://www.memoware.com/?screen=doc_detail&doc_id=8107&p=title^!marijuana~!description^!marijuana~!author^!marijuana~!)

...on my Pocket PC as reference material, or just fun reading.

Check it out.

J'bm

[Lotto]

Great list started, if you want to peruse for hundreds more sites check this place out:


http://url0.com/

[Uh_Andy]

I've bookmarked URL0 - thanks! Here's a review of some different readers:

http://www.jenneth.info/archives/000229.html

The programs included in this comparison are:
• Starbuck Reader v1.98 by Thumbs Up! Software
• Microsoft Reader v2.00.1128 by Microsoft
• Tiny eBook Reader v1.2 by Golden Crater Software
• Palm Reader v1.2.10 by Palm Digital Media
• Mobipocket Reader Pro v4.6 by Mobipocket
• uBook v0.8a by GowerPoint

The author left out that uBook can read unencrypted .pdb format but I found the review interesting.

Also, here's a good explanation of some of the more common ebook formats - http://www.writingonyourpalm.net/column011105.htm

[Jereboam]

Hi uh_Andy...I put a link into Jenneth's review originally, if you read my whole first post... :wink:

Thanks though...

Might I suggest that people stop adding links for the meantime until the merged thread that Kati put up a poll about is added?

J'bm

[Uh_Andy]

Wow - you're right - how did that get in there ;) There's a lot-o-stuff in that first post... sorry for the repeat.

Maybe you can add the info about what readers are in the review (and the pdb error) to your post and I'll remove it from mine. We mustn't repeat ourselves :D

At least the link to the explanation of formats was new (I hope!). Course you can move that up too and I'll erase it from my post as well.

One thing I think that we could still use is a comprehensive chart of which readers read which formats. What do y'all think?

[ctmagnus]

One thing I think that we could still use is a comprehensive chart of which readers read which formats. What do y'all think?

I concur. Something I would like to see is if, for example, uBook can read Palm Reader "credit card-locked" files. Stuff like opening encrypted books in non-native programs.

[Talyn]

Something I would like to see is if, for example, uBook can read Palm Reader "credit card-locked" files.

No, uBook can only read unencrypted PalmDoc PDB books. It won't read a PDB I make myself with DropBook even; different format that it says is encrypted. Whether or not it will read an encrypted PalmDoc one is another story, I don't have any to test it with.

[KH]

Indeed memoware has great reference books for Tomeraider, which is one of the first applications I load whenever I get a new IPAQ. I have Roget's Thesaurus, Webster's dictionary (old but useful), Probert's, and WordNet Max Dictionary + Thesaurus.

They also have some novels, tr format and a few that can be read by Palm Reader. I have downloaded some copyright expired favorites from my early years - the Green Odyssey by Philip Jose Farmer, and some classic Edmund Hamilton and Lovecraft.