Suggestions? Best ways to acquire eBooks

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I am going to be nosy, what type of books do you read?
I may can lead you to some inexpensive finds.

I don't mind nosy at all! I'm also interested in getting good recommendations. Here are some of my favorites, arranged most-favorite-author first:

James Rollins - Adventure. I especially loved Subterranean, Ice Hunt, and Amazonia from his stand-alone novels. I bought the entire Sigma Force series, and have read through 75% of that. Sigma Force is very good. I've never found a James Rollins book that I didn't like, I'd rate them all either 4 or 5 stars.

Patrick Lee - Adventure. The Breech, Ghost Country. Both were very good. I have Deep Sky purchased, waiting in queue to be read now.

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - either together or individually. Adventure. I liked The Ice Limit and The Codex. Deep Freeze was OK. Relic was OK, but I didn't think that one was all as great as I had expected. Not really into horror so much.

William Forstchen - Post-Apocalypse. Once Second After, One Year After. I have The Final Day queued up for reading.

Michael Crichton - Adventure. Jurassic Park, The Lost World, others I can't remember right now

Clive Cussler - Adventure. Haven't read terribly many, but they've all been at least decent. Currently reading Spartan Gold right now. Not bad, but a little mushy with the lovey-dovey husband wife team. Not too mushy, but could become that way - the jury is still out on this "Fargo" series of Cussler's. Oregon Files and Dirk Pitt series are a bit better I think.

Suzanne Collins - Future dystopia. Hunger Games good, Catching Fire OK, Mockingjay finished it, but not interest in going further (which is good, since there is no "further" to this series!)

Jean Auel - Historical fiction. Valley of Horses was really good, The Mammoth Hunters good, Clan of the Cave Bear OK. I stalled in Plains of Passage and haven't gotten past 1/3 of the way through that one. Her books can be over-detailed and tedious at times. And I skipped over the parts describing Jondalar's manhood in "romance novel" detail.

I haven't read these guys yet, but I am planning to: Jeremy Robinson, Matthew Reilly, A.G. Riddle

I liked Robert Heinlein (Tunnel in the Sky) and Andre Norton (Here Abide Monsters) and other of their juvenile novels as a kid.

[Barbara1955]

Prime members get 1 free ebook per month..... since you only read on per month .....

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by haertig

I don't mind nosy at all! I'm also interested in getting good recommendations. Here are some of my favorites, arranged most-favorite-author first:

James Rollins - Adventure. I especially loved Subterranean, Ice Hunt, and Amazonia from his stand-alone novels. I bought the entire Sigma Force series, and have read through 75% of that. Sigma Force is very good. I've never found a James Rollins book that I didn't like, I'd rate them all either 4 or 5 stars.

Patrick Lee - Adventure. The Breech, Ghost Country. Both were very good. I have Deep Sky purchased, waiting in queue to be read now.

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - either together or individually. Adventure. I liked The Ice Limit and The Codex. Deep Freeze was OK. Relic was OK, but I didn't think that one was all as great as I had expected. Not really into horror so much.

William Forstchen - Post-Apocalypse. Once Second After, One Year After. I have The Final Day queued up for reading.

Michael Crichton - Adventure. Jurassic Park, The Lost World, others I can't remember right now

Clive Cussler - Adventure. Haven't read terribly many, but they've all been at least decent. Currently reading Spartan Gold right now. Not bad, but a little mushy with the lovey-dovey husband wife team. Not too mushy, but could become that way - the jury is still out on this "Fargo" series of Cussler's. Oregon Files and Dirk Pitt series are a bit better I think.

Suzanne Collins - Future dystopia. Hunger Games good, Catching Fire OK, Mockingjay finished it, but not interest in going further (which is good, since there is no "further" to this series!)

Jean Auel - Historical fiction. Valley of Horses was really good, The Mammoth Hunters good, Clan of the Cave Bear OK. I stalled in Plains of Passage and haven't gotten past 1/3 of the way through that one. Her books can be over-detailed and tedious at times. And I skipped over the parts describing Jondalar's manhood in "romance novel" detail.

I haven't read these guys yet, but I am planning to: Jeremy Robinson, Matthew Reilly, A.G. Riddle

I liked Robert Heinlein (Tunnel in the Sky) and Andre Norton (Here Abide Monsters) and other of their juvenile novels as a kid.

Hi. Please follow me.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=26
Bargains galore.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by haertig

If I stick with the eBooks, then I will probably buy a basic Kindle eReader. Nothing against the Nook Simple Touch, I actually like that eReader itself, but it seems that eBooks from B&N are more expensive than the same eBooks from Amazon.

Calibre and the plug-ins you mentioned will let you buy from Amazon and keep using your Nook.

As for your dilemma, eh, I'd buy the books. You're taking about a book a month.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by Barbara1955

Prime members get 1 free ebook per month..... since you only read on per month .....

Prime members can borrow one book per month from the Kindle Owners' Lending library, if they have an actual Amazon device, i.e. a Kindle or Fire.

Prime members can buy 1 book per month for free, from Kindle First, a group of 4-6 pre-release books. This book is yours to keep.

Prime members can also borrow books and magazines from Prime Reading, a sub-group of about 1,000 books and magazines. These can be read on a Kindle or Kindle app.

[cfrizz]

Buy, strip, convert, read at your leisure.

[crich70]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it but we have a great library of PD ebooks here that are free to download at will. No current best sellers of course as those won't be in the PD but a good assortment of books to choose from in any event. And in both major formats i.e. epub and kindle as well as some in other formats.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by crich70

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it but we have a great library of PD ebooks here that are free to download at will. No current best sellers of course as those won't be in the PD but a good assortment of books to choose from in any event. And in both major formats i.e. epub and kindle as well as some in other formats.

Link to the library
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=132

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

The Fire would be good for magazines, and books with color pictures. The ease of use with Amazon is a huge plus for many users. Even for public library books, it is very easy and seamless as long as your library supports Kindle format.

Tablets are simply better for displaying graphics, color or B&W. I use my tablet whenever I realize that a book has even monochrome map attached. If I were a student, I would definitely use a tablet for reading. Not only is it better for graphics, but I can read both kindle and epub on a tablet.

As to where to find inexpensive ebooks, it's more difficult to find inexpensive best sellers and books that have a Buzz going on about them. Libraries are generally the best way to go for them.

And I find the "Deals, Freebies, and Resources" folder here on Mobileread.com invaluable for finding books of all sorts and popularity that are being promoted with a special or free price.

For new authors, and self published authors (my main interest), I am very pleased with Kindle Unlimited. It is a subscription service from Amazon that allow the subscriber, for the cost of a single paperback book a month, I have an "all you can eat" download availability for authors who sign up for this, lots of 'name' authors offer their older titles this way. I think it's a great deal.

[Tarana]

I buy them on sale and rarely when first issued. I now have most of the books of three long series for between $2 - 5 by waiting. By watching the bargain threads, you'll be able to get deals. Most major publishers offer deals on earlier books when the next book in a series is coming out.

I am not garden dependent. I make certain I can remove DRM and then buy books from any of the big three and others, wherever I can get a deal.

Library books. Simply turn airplane mode on until you finish the book. You can then finish the book even though the return time has passed.

Make use of free libraries (Baen books for instance).

Share with someone- many books in Kindle and Nook gardens can be shared once. Find a friend with similar interests.

Buy one book a month. That's how I acquired paperbacks in the first place until I found Uncle Hugo's.

[4691mls]

Ask for gift certificates for your favorite ebookstore(s) for your birthday!

[Panchax]

I read mostly old stuff, so it is free.
I have 3 library cards, each in a different library system, and intend to get a fourth, a NYPL (New York Public Library) card that should be worth more than the three I have put together. If you live or work or go to school somewhere, you can get a library card, and they never make you give it back.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Library books. Simply turn airplane mode on until you finish the book. You can then finish the book even though the return time has passed.

Now that's an interesting trick!

Unfortunately, I use my Kindle Fire for many other things than reading eBooks, so turning off internet access would not work for me. I doubt there is a "firewall" app I can install and configure on my Kindle Fire to block only the library traffic. I'll have to look, but I'm not hopeful of finding anything like that for Android (technically "FireOS" in my case).

Although, ... I could set up a VPN from my Kindle Fire to my home router and force all network traffic down the tunnel. I've already set that up when I first got this Kindle Fire, but normally I don't leave the VPN up 24x7, I only invoke the VPN when I want to secure WiFi traffic when I'm outside of my home. But I could leave the VPN up 24x7, and then implement the appropriate blocks on my home firewall.

Probably more effort than it's worth. Most certainly more effort than it's worth! However, being a computer engineer, network guy, and Linux guru by trade, I am intrigued just coming up with ideas like this. Even if they're impractical, they're good brain exercises.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by haertig

... I could set up a VPN from my Kindle Fire to my home router and force all network traffic down the tunnel. I've already set that up when I first got this Kindle Fire, but normally I don't leave the VPN up 24x7, I only invoke the VPN when I want to secure WiFi traffic when I'm outside of my home. But I could leave the VPN up 24x7, and then implement the appropriate blocks on my home firewall.

Roger, pay the two dollars

[haertig]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Roger, pay the two dollars

LOL

I can't remember when the last time I heard that was. Been quite a while!