Ebook Ideas

[binstpa]

I thought it would be a great idea to list your top 3 favorite books that you have read (or are available) in ebook format.

1. The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
2. Crime and Punishment - Dosteovsky
3. A Confederacy of Dunces - O'Toole

[dh]

My current bedtime reading is Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb. This is the final part of her Tawny Man Trilogy and it is as good as her other works.

I hadn't realized that any Umberto Eco books were available as eBooks, I'll have to investigate.

As for my three favorites, I'm going to cheat a bit and use series instead of individual books.

1 Song of Ice and Fire - George RR Martin.
2. Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
3. Farseer/ Tawny Man Series - Hobbs.

[Ommadawn]

LOTR has to be my all time favourite series (ever since I first read it in my high school days in the 80's). I still re-read it every 12 months or so. That's why it's handy having them in ebook form (I scanned them from my onw hardcover books myself, of course, so they are always handy now 8) )

I loved the Farseer seried, though I haven't read them in ebook format. I will be getting the Liveship traders and Tawny Man series on Fictionwise when I can fit them into my hectic reading schedule (currently reading Anne Rice's Vampire Armand and Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series (up to book 2 and it's looking good)).

I'd really like to see Peter Hamilton's books in ebook format, as well as all of Brian Lumley's stuff :mrgreen:

Craig.

[PetiteFlower]

Maybe y'all should keep this list to books which are actually legally available in Ebook form, since it looks like people are looking for recommendations!

Not saying that scanning them is illegal(I don't take issue to downloading black market copies of books you purchased legitimately either) but it doesn't help people who are reading this looking for some new reading material!

[dh]

Not saying that scanning them is illegal(I don't take issue to downloading black market copies of books you purchased legitimately either) but it doesn't help people who are reading this looking for some new reading material!
I would never go to all the trouble of scanning a book. If I own a paper and ink copy, I would not have a problem with downloading the file.

The only such books I have are the LOTR ones, which I downloaded from a Pocket PC site ages ago. I would have happily purchased the eBook versions, but they are not to be found.

As much as I enjoy LOTR, and have read many times, some of the newer writers, especially George R R Martin and Robin Hobb are currently producing works that are at least as good if not even better. (IMO)

[Gee Mont]

I thought it would be a great idea to list your top 3 favorite books that you have read (or are available) in ebook format.

I'll stick with books I've read (or own) in ebook format.

1) Honor Harrington Series, Volumes 1 through 5, by David Weber. The first two are available for free from the Baen Free Library http://www.baen.com/library/ I got the whole series as ebooks when I purchased a hardcover edition of the 10th book—I must admit I bought it mainly for the ebooks--it will probably be a year or so before I get around it reading.
2) The Song of Kali by Dan Simmons. Available as multiformat from Fictionwise. This is an early horror novel by Simmons and not everyone likes it as much as his later novels or science fiction, but I thought it was very good.
3) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I think Atwood may have an unfair reputation as chicky and feminist writer distasteful to men. While there is no doubt that she is a chick and feminist, I’ve found her some of books quite interesting and captivating.

I’ll also nominate Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut as a close runner up. Yeah, it is a first novel, not quite as great as his later work, but better than most first novels by other modern writers.

[tanalasta]

I did enjoy some of the free microsoft reader ebooks that were available on their website (as well as my installation CD-ROM for my ppc).

Can't beat classics like: Little Women and Peter Pan

But seeing the forum topic is Ebook ideas -
There is always Isilo for converting your favourite online html books into pda format. For the Australian medico's out there, both the entire Therapeutic Guidelines and Murtagh General Practice series are available in html format for desktop and can easily be converted within minutes to isilo form. These are the two "ebooks" I use the most often.

I've always wondered why these publishers don't take advantage of the isilo format and actually distribute their reference textbooks as an ebook using isilo. (Almost all Australian medico's would recognize the two popular references). isilo format is not only easy to use, very quick to load up, utilizes a very small footprint and allows beautifully formatted pages that allows for html links allowing easy navigation :) Plus, the format is universal for both palm OS and PPC.

As to the legality - my institution has access to the online html / CD-ROM version of these texts. The process of converting the to ebook form is akin to saving the webpages into your internet explorer cache (which i used to do before isilo) and then compiling it into one file - except isilox automates the process. What do other people think?

There seems to be very little discussion on medical ebooks in this forum :P

[dMores]

i'm currently deeply immersed in henning mankell's "wallander" series.
there are 9 books in which detective kurt wallander solves crime after crime.

the first book was tedious, but a nice introduction. the second was boring as hell, but the ones after that were amazing.
what i like is that they're not stylized or anything, but the way he describes the crimes, the persons involved and the personal imperfections of the protagonists is very intense, and doesn't let you put the book away.

henning mankell is a swedish author, so i'm not sure if they're available in english. but i have the german ebooks, since i can read and speak german :)

threre are other books by henning mankell, he "invented" another detective series and a bunch of independent books (i.e. no series), but i have to finish with my wallander series first.

[senfeng]

1. Song of Ice and Fire - George RR Martin
2. Farseer/Tawny Man Series- Robin Hobbs
3. His Dark Materials- Philip Pullman

I just finished Fool's Fate as well. I'm just trying to figure out which series I liked better- Farseer or Tawny Man.

[dh]

1. Song of Ice and Fire - George RR Martin
2. Farseer/Tawny Man Series- Robin Hobbs
3. His Dark Materials- Philip Pullman

I just finished Fool's Fate as well. I'm just trying to figure out which series I liked better- Farseer or Tawny Man.
I can't choose between the two either. I did like the way a lot of the loose ends were sorted out in the final book.

I'm looking forward to the arrival of A Feast for Crows now.

[senfeng]

I can't choose between the two either. I did like the way a lot of the loose ends were sorted out in the final book.

I'm looking forward to the arrival of A Feast for Crows now.So am I. I actually own the SoIaF hardcopy books. I got the ebooks to kill time, hoping that A Feast For Crows would be released by the time I finished. It wasn't so I started reading Farseer, then Live Ship, then Tawny Man. Now I don't know what to read!


SPOILER
I actually liked Farseer better than Tawny Man, even though Tawny did a good job of tieing up loose ends, it didn't have the impact that Farseer had for me. I wanted to see more of Fitz' berserker self and I wanted to see him regain the Skill that he lost when he was a child. Kettle and Verity imply that Fitz was been VERY strong in the Skill, but in Tawny Man, he's one of the weakest Skill users in the book. Oh well... still a good story.[/b]

[divajess]

1.) Dan Brown - The DaVinci Code
2.) Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assassin
3.) Mercedes Lackey - "Arrows of the Queen" series

I *heart* Palm Digital Media. :) I actually liked Dan Brown's other books maybe even a little bit more than The DaVinci Code. He's not the most skilled writer in a technical sense, but his plots keep me on the edge of my seat.

I am looking forward to reading some George R.R. Martin. Right now I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman...it's very interesting.

[dh]

I am looking forward to reading some George R.R. Martin. Right now I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman...it's very interesting.
Fictionwise used to have the first two GRR Martin books in a combined edition for $6.99. If you are lucky PDM will have them in their format as well.

If not, am I right in thinking that you can read Mobipocket format on Palm Reader?

[senfeng]

I am looking forward to reading some George R.R. Martin. Right now I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman...it's very interesting.
Fictionwise used to have the first two GRR Martin books in a combined edition for $6.99. If you are lucky PDM will have them in their format as well.

If not, am I right in thinking that you can read Mobipocket format on Palm Reader?

They still do:
Song of Ice and Fire I & II (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook8629.htm)

[divajess]

I already have the PDM versions, as I really don't like Mobipocket. :) I am so picky about my reader software...I ditched uBook because it just wasn't friendly enough for me.

I just have so many books on there to read it's ridiculous. I haven't gotten to half of them yet. My bookshelves would be full to overflowing if I had all the books on my SD card running around the house.

Of course, I plan on going to a giant local booksale this weekend with 50 cent paperbacks and 1 dollar hardcovers. :drool:

[ironguy]

My library always has paperbacks for 50 cents and hard covers for a buck. Sometimes you can even find a current best seller.

I got several WIlliam Gibson paper backs books recently. Cost me a buck. :D

[divajess]

This is a giant PTA book sale that always has really current books during the sale every year. I *adore* it.

[szamot]

I thought it would be a great idea to list your top 3 favorite books that you have read (or are available) in ebook format.

1. The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
2. Crime and Punishment - Dosteovsky
3. A Confederacy of Dunces - O'Toole

Believe it or not The Name of the Rose is in the top 10 books ever bought and least read together with One Hundred Years of Solitude - another great book.

[Tom W.M.]

1) Honor Harrington series (http://www.baen.com/series_list.asp#HH), by David Weber. Great science fiction. I've read only two in ebook format—ebooks are better than the cheap paperback versions of the books (where the ink smears when you rub it), but the hardcover versions are much nicer than the ebooks.
2) Sabriel, Lireal, and Abhorsen, by Garth Nix. (Available at PDM (http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/search?keywords=Garth+Nix&x=0&y=0).) YA fantasty set in an extremely well realized world. I read these in hardcover. I don't have a credit card, so how am I supposed to get an ebook from PDM?
3) The various novels of Valdemar, by Mercedes Lackey (Heralds of Valdemar series: Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, Arrow's Fall. Mage Winds: Winds of Fate, Winds of Change, Winds of Fury. Mage Storms: Storm Warning, Storm Rising, Storm Breaking. Also many more that I haven't read.). At the time I read these, I wasn't even aware of ebooks as anything but a novelty that require an expensive RCA doicky to view.

[emmfan]

I'd really like to see Peter Hamilton's books in ebook format, as well as all of Brian Lumley's stuff :mrgreen:

Craig.

Palm Digital Media (I still like to call it Peanut Press and Peanut Reader for obvious reasons :lol:) has some of Peter Hamilton's books, particularly the Night's Dawn series:

http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/author/detail/1215

Just starting to go through William Gibson's (https://secure.palmdigitalmedia.com/author/detail/9073) stuff (while waiting for George Martin's (https://secure.palmdigitalmedia.com/author/detail/5283) Feast of Crows).

My favorites of all time are Vernor Vinge's (https://secure.palmdigitalmedia.com/author/detail/1002) A Deepness in the Sky (https://secure.palmdigitalmedia.com/product/detail/5433) and A Fire Upon the Deep (https://secure.palmdigitalmedia.com/product/detail/6144).

[Pat Logsdon]

My favorites of all time are Vernor Vinge's (https://secure.palmdigitalmedia.com/author/detail/1002) A Deepness in the Sky (https://secure.palmdigitalmedia.com/product/detail/5433) and A Fire Upon the Deep (https://secure.palmdigitalmedia.com/product/detail/6144).
Those are really, REALLY excellent books - two of my all time favorites! He's not terribly prolific, but he makes up for in quality what he lacks in quantity. :mrgreen:

If you haven't already, be sure to check out The Peace War (http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/product/detail/15577).