alright i need to start reading again (its been years). two related questions

• where do i get ebooks (ideally the cool kind you dont have to pay for) and how do i use one. no space for a physical collection right now and while there is always The Library idk if the one around here is any good
• send book recs please. anything you find interesting really

@it at least for question 1: annas-archive.org is the ideal location because it's an index of shadow libraries and so absurdly comprehensive

@alyaza @it On the ebook question of “how do I use one”, in relation to annas-archive.org Depending on how old/well known the book is, it’s possible to find it in different formats there, pdf, epub, etc. So you may be able to choose a file type fitting for whatever device or app you want to read them with.

As far as apps, I’ve been using Calibre ( calibre-ebook.com ) to read a lot of my ebooks and it seems to work pretty well. You can download it for; Windows, macOS, Linux, “portable” (for windows), and Android and iOS for tablets and mobile phones ^u^

@RebaRabbit

@alyaza @it I didn't know calibre has a mobile app, I've just been using koreader on android with the calibre content server on my pc

@it For free ebooks, guilt-free, Standard eBooks is a group that takes public domain books (which you can also find at Project Gutenberg) and combs through them, tweaking them for the best possible ebook experience possible, rather than just converting text to epub.

@it Chiming in with some book recommendations since no one else seems to have yet!

If you’re at all into sci-fi (or want to be) there’s been some recent discussion here on the league about people’s recs in that genre! Here are a couple of posts with lists to peruse: https://lilypad.frogge.cafe/@kuchaibee/statuses/01JDPNF3J8DTJDRXDKHQSYN0XE https://lilypad.frogge.cafe/@h_m_m/statuses/01JDN1BCZN68N5K7582020XADM

If you’re more of a fantasy type, I’m partway through Wolf of Withervale by Joaquin Baldwin at present and would recommend it, it’s got some fun worldbuilding going on. For some contemporary queer fiction, Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon (mild-to-moderate horror), Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (strange and epic tale incorporating diverse genres/themes), and Less by Andrew Sean Greer (satirical comedy romance) are all books I’ve enjoyed in the past couple years. And Devon Price’s Unmasking Autism is a nonfiction psych/self-help title I ceaselessly promote to folks. It’s been invaluable to me in my personal growth this year, and has a lot of useful stuff for allistics with other forms of neurodiversity or who are close to ND people.

Also worth noting- I’ve found I personally jive with audiobooks much better these days, so if you’ve never tried them I’d encourage giving it a shot. Like ebooks, they take up little/no space and can be easier to enjoy throughout your day while doing other things. Libraries frequently have means of digitally ‘checking out’ ebooks and audiobooks, or have older audiobooks on CD that you can rip and return. Libro.fm is a nice way to get audiobooks sans-DRM and support local bookstores in the process. And Audible sometimes does free trials which you can use to join, download a bunch of books from their sizable free-to-members collection, grab something of choice with your free intro credit, rip it all to DRM-free formats with AAX Converter, and immediately cancel your membership.

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#readingrecs #reading #audiobooks #ebooks #freebooks #heckamazon #yoho

@adam @alyaza @it Yeah, I wasn’t aware until I checked last night either. They may have added mobile more recently as I hadn’t checked their site since the beginning of the year.

Also, I didn’t know Koreader was a thing. It’s good to have options ^u^