There are lots of alternatives to the Sony Store for books. For example, right here on Mobile Read there is a book upload section (
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/for...lay.php?f=126) where you can get a seemingly endless supply of free books.
Also, you can buy books from BookOnBoard (
http://www.booksonboard.com/) in Adobe PDF Format. Fictionwise also carries some books formatted for the Sony.
And some public libraries also lend out eBooks. Go to the Mobile Read Wiki here
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/EBook_Lending_Libraries for a list of lending libraries that do eBooks. There aren't any listed in St Louis but some of them will lend you books for a small fee. The Fairfax VA library will allow out-of-towners to borrow books for a fee of $27 a year. I belong to the Fairfax Library and have downloaded and read several books. It's a good system