PRS-505 Suggest books to load onto a gift 505

[DixieGal]

Hi All!

I have not used my 505 in about a year. I charged it and it still works just fine. I never used it very much because the screen did not have enough contrast for me.

My sister thinks she might like to start reading again, so I told her she could have the 505. So I need your help with content.

She thinks maybe the Christian fiction, such as is so available for free for Kindles, would be interesting. Do you know of a nice easy DRM-free site that she could download Christian epubs from?

Thanks!

[DixieGal]

BTW the freeness is important. They lost everything this year after they both lost their jobs within 24 hours of each other in Feb. So free is about all she can afford right now.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Hello, DixieGal! Much of the same free Christian fiction that is available for Kindles is also available for the Sony ereader. You can use a website like inkmesh to find the freebies. See the link below. However, even though it is free cost, it still has DRM which will be linked to your Sony account if you purchase it. Thus, if she authorizes the 505 to her own Sony account, then she won't be able to read the files.
http://inkmesh.com/free-ebooks/?site=sony

christianbook.com has over 3000+ DRM-free books, although not free cost. Some of their bestsellers are inexpensive, less than $5 per book.
http://www.christianbook.com/Christi...Enumber%5Fsold

I gave a 505 as a gift last year. I also loaded it with DRM-free ebooks that I knew the person would appreciate. I used public domain books from sites like feedbooks.com, manybooks.net and gutenberg.org.

Also, if you have a source for DRM-free Kindle books, then you could use a program like calibre to convert them to EPUB format for the 505.

Good luck! I hope your sister likes the gift!

[Bookworm_Girl]

You posted your second message while I was typing mine! I am so sorry to hear of her difficulties, and I hope her family's situation improves soon. After you gift the 505 to her, she will be able to use the website inkmesh and find free ebooks in the Sony store. So that should be a great solution for her!

Also does her local library have ebooks? I am a big fan of my local e-library. I buy far fewer books than I used to because of all the free options out there. You can use the e-library finder at this link to check:
http://sonysearch.overdrive.com/

Also, for an annual fee of $15, the Free Library of Philadelphia offers cards to out-of-state residents. I have not tried it myself, but I've seen others recommend it.

[SeaBookGuy]

I just did the same thing as well with my 505 -- a friend had expressed interest in e-books, but would be unable to buy a reader himself, so I loaded a few books to get him started with e-reading.

If your sister likes Christian fiction, would she be interested in public domain books from Project Gutenberg, such as Little Women (though not specifically Christian, it might be a good book for you to pre-load for her)?

[DixieGal]

Inkmesh! Perfect! I forgot that existed. DUH!

[Bookworm_Girl]

In this economy, most of us have friends or family that have had difficulties. I had a close family member in a similar situation. It took awhile for her to find a new job. Birthday and holiday gifts to her during this period were gift cards like to the local grocery store and Walmart so she could buy basic necessities. She was very proud and didn't want to feel like she was just accepting cash from everyone. Last Christmas, I thought she needed something fun mixed in with the practical so I gave her a Kindle (she needed the 3G wireless capability that Sony didn't have). She loves it!!! She is a huge reader, and she had given it up because she couldn't afford the books and she lives in a very small town with not many options at the local library. But the Kindle allowed her access to loads of free ebooks, especially since she enjoys the classics. It gave her fun and free entertainment and was positive to her morale while searching for a job. Eventually she found a new job which she enjoys better than her old one, but it took over a year to find something. So I sincerely hope it turns around soon for your sister and her husband.

[DixieGal]

Me too! He found a job for about 3 months, until the factory went bust in Oct.

[JSWolf]

Has your sister had a look at her local public library to see if they have eBooks?

[Bookworm_Girl]

When my family member finally found a job, they disbanded her new organization about 2 months later - like eliminated the entire department! Luckily, they were able to move her to a new department. For awhile she thought she might be out of a job again so I understand. Even if you can find a job there is no guarantee it's stable but at least it's work.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Has your sister had a look at her local public library to see if they have eBooks?

Unfortunately, she is even less tech savvy than I. I am not sure that she could handle Overdrive. But it is a good idea. She could get a library card and I could download them for her. That might just work.

[doreenjoy]

What a nice gesture, DixieGal.

The library offerings are actually pretty easy. They do have DRM though.

Harlequin's Steeple Hill imprint is Christian fiction, and they give titles away free from time to time. You can also check out Mills and Boon for a few free titles. Inkmesh should have them listed.

[laughingdragons]

She could go by subject on sony's site then see all titles and then sort by price. She can fine a lot of free books that way.

[ATDrake]

There are 3 free (and DRM-free) "Inspirational" books from Harlequin's Steeple Hill Christian romance line on their promotional Try Harlequin site.

Also, you might like to try loading up some of the public domain Christian "classics" like Pilgrim's Progress, although the writing style in those might be too antique for your sister's taste.

Or perhaps surprise her and pre-load a selection of books you think she might enjoy from our library here at MR, while giving her pointers to where to find the Christian fiction online.

[ATDrake]

Oh, and to best take advantage of the promo Christian freebies, I suggest you encourage your sister to set up an Adobe ID and Reader/Kobo store accounts, if she hasn't already.

You don't need any of their devices or even CC# info to secure the freebies at those stores (NB: at Kobo you have to click the "Add to Library" link under the cover to keep the free books in your account for later re-download), and in my experience, they tend to only last about a week or so.

A couple of days ago I made a round-up of all the currently available recent Sony promo freebies, and there's a good selection of Christian fiction (about a dozen titles, some holiday-themed) in the lot.

If she moves fast, she can get stocked up on her reading list even before she has the 505 to read upon.