New to E Books with a few questions.

[BrickyBrian]

When I am studying I find that as soon as I take my eyes from the book and look at the computer screen I forget what I had just read. This might be to do with the dyslexia I experience.
I then started to scan a page that I required pasting it onto my computer to use as an aide-memoire. I hope that being able to load an E Book onto my computer would relieve me of that task.
Exposing my absolute lack of E Book technology suggests to me that I don’t even need an E Book reader such as a Kindle. However, I assume that depends upon the application that the E Book is built with. I have a couple of questions:
Will I be able to open whatever EBook I buy on my computer or do I require a “specific reader” for each type of EBook?
There appears to be a large number of “Free” E Books and I placed, “Free” in inverts because as soon as I opened one up I found that it was far from free. I should make it clear that I have no objection to paying for E Books but would anyone care to say what “Free” E Book sites are worth looking at. In fact what commercial E Book sites are worth looking at?
Many thanks in anticipation.

[maddz]

I would suggest downloading a programme called Calibre. It's designed to interconvert between different ebook formats (although the latest Amazon format - kfx8 - is problematic), and also has a built-in ebook reader. (If you purchase mostly from Amazon, you may wish to check the Calibre forum here about dealing with .kfx8 files which requires an older version of the Kindle app with automatic updating turned off.)

You may also need to download a store app - so for Amazon, you'll need the Kindle app for your specific operating system, for Kobo, you'll need the Kobo app. Some stores will additionally require you to use Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) - when you purchase an ebook, you get an .ascm file which you open in ADE to retrieve the text. If the book has DRM enabled, then you may not be able to save bits to your computer.

Books saved as PDF files will open in whatever programme you have installed as a PDF viewer. Apple computers will open .epub files in iBooks, Windows I think have a Windows ebook programme (I don't know - we're a Mac shop in my household). I've mentioned the 2 Amazon formats - .azw3 & .kfx8, and if you want to send a file to a Kindle (or Kindle app on a mobile device), you need to convert the file to .mobi first. PRC files are old Palm OS files - they're effectively .mobi.

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by BrickyBrian

Will I be able to open whatever EBook I buy on my computer or do I require a “specific reader” for each type of EBook?

It all comes down to DRM. Most commercially sold ebooks are protected by Digital Rights Management. These are technical measures that are supposed to stop you making unauthorised copies.

If you buy DRM-ed ebooks then you will need to read them using reader or app they were designed for. The majority of ebooks are either Amazon formats (Mobi/AZW/AZW3) or epub. Amazon use their own DRM and have a app you can download for the PC. epub vendors vary a bit but most will supply you an ebook protected by Adobe Digital Editions. ADE is a library/reader app for the PC. The vendor would supply a small file, a .ascm, which when you load into ADE it downloads the book for you. ADE can also be used with libraries which means you can borrow books and after they expire ADE will not allow you to open them any more.

There are also some 3rd party reader apps which can open the ascm file and download your book.

epub vendors include Kobo and Google. Kobo also have their own format "kobo epub" which uses a different form of DRM.

There's also Apple iBooks which is a form of epub but has its own DRM. I don't know much about them.

So depending on where you get your ebooks you might need a different app but you can in theory read them all on a PC.

There's a very nice open source program called Calibre which acts as a library, reading app, editor and converter for ebooks. It only deals with DRM-free books however.

That said most DRM has been broken and there are tools that will strip DRM. Many people feel it's OK to use such tools to remove DRM if they have paid for a copy so that they can convert it to other formats and thereby use it on whatever device they like.

So many people would say, buy books from Amazon, Google, Kobo and other sites, or acquire them from free sites (see below), strip the DRM, load them into Calibre, convert to their format(s) of choice, and use Calibre as their central library of ebooks.

At which point you'd be dealing with a single program to read your ebooks.

We are prevented from discussing the details of removing DRM on this site by the forum rules. If you google "Apprentice Alf" you will find a blog that tells you everything you need to know, and can ask questions, if you want to go down that route.

There appears to be a large number of “Free” E Books and I placed, “Free” in inverts because as soon as I opened one up I found that it was far from free. I should make it clear that I have no objection to paying for E Books but would anyone care to say what “Free” E Book sites are worth looking at.

Project Gutenberg is one of the oldest and biggest sites for out-of-copyright works. So you'll find a lot of old classics here.

Mobileread itself has a library of free ebooks. The Patricia Clark Memorial Library. I often find the formatting of books from here are better than those from PG.

There are many other sites but I tend to avoid the more obscure ones because there are pirate sites (many are not, some are).

Also you'll find free books in the catalogs of Amazon and Kobo. They tend to be less prominent than they were.

In fact what commercial E Book sites are worth looking at?

I usually find Amazon are the cheapest. Kobo do discount vouchers that can make them cheaper on occasion. There's a thread here that lists Kobo voucher codes.

[Adoby]

Some books are "locked" using DRM, digital rights management software, and can only be read using software that confirm that you have paid for the right to read the book.

Some books are unlocked, but stored in a format (there are lots of formats...) that only some software can read and display.

Many here unlock/crack DRM, but it is not something we discuss here... Because it can be seen by some as illegal, a form of theft, unethical or simply bad(TM).

In another part of this forum you find the software "calibre" discussed. It is software to manage (mainly) unlocked collections of ebooks, and read them. calibre can display most eBook formats, and can also be used to do an incredible amount of other things to eBooks and collections of eBooks. For instance convert an eBook from one format to another. I really recommend you to use calibre to read books on your PC, even if it may be a little complex and daunting to start with...

it would be easier to recommend free or commercial sources of eBooks if you give some indications of what type of books you like. I think you can find a lot of other suggestions here.

Sources of "free eBooks" on the internet are giving away unlocked/cracked "stolen" books. This is obviously unethical. Some may do this to get you to look at ads or to get an opportunity to infect your computer with malware. Beware!!!

But some sources are legit!

For instance this forum has a huge collection of really free books you can download. It is typically older books where there is no copyright left. But it is also often great literature, lovingly hand crafted into fantastic eBooks. Without any DRM or other restrictions.

Baen sell and give away a lot of great science fiction and fantasy books. And they even have a "real" free library of eBooks.

http://www.baen.com/catalog/category...ibrary/id/2012

They give away the first part of a series, or a few early books of an author, in the hope that you then be hooked and later will buy more books in the series or from the same author. Still, it is a great way to start a eBook-collection if you are into SF/Fantasy. And you can download the books in different formats for free. And best of all: The books are all without DRM!!!

I suggest that you download and install calibre and then download some free books from this forum or Baen (or some other site with free eBooks) and try it out.

I like the epub format a lot... It is used as the "base" format by calibre. That means that you can easily use calibre to convert epub eBooks into any other formats that calibre supports. So I recommend that you start downloading epub-books.

Software: calibre
Free books: This forum or legit sources on the internet!
EBook format: epub, to start with.

[BrickyBrian]

Right, the first thing I need to do is to thank you all for such a collection of information which I will attempt to assimilate and the next thing is to ask a supplementary question.
My key interests are History and politics which at the moment cover the following subjects:
Looking at modern Chinese history in an attempt to discover how the Chinese managed to move from the announcement by Mao Zedong announced a new Marxist republic in 1949 to Xi Jinping announcing what is little more than a dictatorship a few weeks ago.
Looking at the history of Islam in an attempt to discover how it degenerated into a murderous religion.
Looking at 20th century British political history in an attempt to discover how Britain became involved in two horrendous wars.
I suspect that I will have to find specialist E Book sites and would ask for any advice regarding that suggestion.
Thank you all for helping me along which looks like a very steep learning path.

[Alpha o]

Originally Posted by BrickyBrian

Right, the first thing I need to do is to thank you all for such a collection of information which I will attempt to assimilate and the next thing is to ask a supplementary question.
My key interests are History and politics which at the moment cover the following subjects:
Looking at modern Chinese history in an attempt to discover how the Chinese managed to move from the announcement by Mao Zedong announced a new Marxist republic in 1949 to Xi Jinping announcing what is little more than a dictatorship a few weeks ago.
Looking at the history of Islam in an attempt to discover how it degenerated into a murderous religion.
Looking at 20th century British political history in an attempt to discover how Britain became involved in two horrendous wars.
I suspect that I will have to find specialist E Book sites and would ask for any advice regarding that suggestion.
Thank you all for helping me along which looks like a very steep learning path.

You might try with the specialist publishing houses. Springer comes to mind, so does O'Reilly. They both sell PDF versions of their offerings.

[BrickyBrian]

Many thanks.BML

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by maddz

(If you purchase mostly from Amazon, you may wish to check the Calibre forum here about dealing with .kfx8 files which requires an older version of the Kindle app with automatic updating turned off.)

One minor correction. The new problematic format is KFX (Kindle format 10), not KFX8.

The more easily converted KF8 (Kindle format 8) is often referred to by the file extension most commonly used for it, .azw3.

[BookCat]

For the British History, I'd recommend A.J.P Taylor's English History 1914 - 1945. The cheapest way to buy this is to find a secondhand copy on Amazon. The Kindle version isn't cheap, but could be read on their Kindle 4 PC software.

For many of the subjects you're interested in, you might be better off, financially, borrowing books, or ebooks from a library.

[BrickyBrian]

Because I sometimes speed read regrettably I then miss important points such as your mention of libraries which this uncivilised government has done so much to eradicate but I will try our local one out so many thanks.
"For many of the subjects you're interested in, you might be better off, financially, borrowing books, or ebooks from a library."

[BrickyBrian]

As a new to E-Books person its only just become obvious to me that my primary interest is not E-Book readers but E-Book publications which I can access on my computer so I have to ask the following question:
Will I be able to open any and all E-Books on my computer or will I require different applications to do so. My apologies for being so stupid.

[maddz]

As explained previously, it depends on where you plan on obtaining your ebooks from and what format they will be in. I would suggest you research your sources first and then come back and ask about specific formats and whether the books will have DRM and where you plan on obtaining them from.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by BrickyBrian

As a new to E-Books person its only just become obvious to me that my primary interest is not E-Book readers but E-Book publications which I can access on my computer so I have to ask the following question:
Will I be able to open any and all E-Books on my computer or will I require different applications to do so. My apologies for being so stupid.

For "any and all" ebooks, the answer is yes.

If you *only* look at DRM-free, Calibre can do almost all ebooks. It is an extremely powerful and flexible tool that takes a while to master but if you just want to use it to read ebooks you can be running in minutes: you just select a book in the file manager and tell Windows you want to open it with the Calibre ereader. You do it once for every ebook format you run into.

There are also several free and paid-but-cheap apps that can handle DRM-free Ebooks in most formats plus ADOBE DRM epubs. Slicker and smoother than the calibre reader app.

You almost certainly will need more than one application if you are looking to buy contemporary, commercial books. Especially the non-fiction books you've said you're interested in.

It's not a big problem: all the apps are free and easy to find and they all do most of the same things in very similar ways. They're easy to learn and become easier as you go along.

You will definitely need a separate App for Commercial ebooks via Amazon. Either one of the free Kindle Reader Apps or the main Calibre Management App with appropriate deDRM Plugins. That will require some upfront work to set up and an extra step of Kindle-to-epub conversion between buying and reading.

The simplest approach is to start with two reader apps; one for DRM'ed books and one for DRM-free. Then later, when you have enough books that managing them is an issue, you can add Calibre.

A good way to start is to go to the BAEN Free Library and pickup a book or ten and download them in a couple of the supported formats. Say, epub, kindle/mobi, and HTML. 1632 is a nice, accessible adventure book to start with.

http://www.baen.com/categories/free-library.html

Then you can try different reader applications to see which one suits you best. Different people have different preferences: some prefer animated paging, some prefer scrolling or paging without animation. Some prefer single column displays, some dual column. You can try different fonts. (You mentioned dylexia. There are a couple of free, installable fonts that claim to be easier to read for dyslexics. Some reader apps come with such a font. Most will let you add one.)

Once you start customizing things to get it exactly right you'll be tweaking things left and right.

But getting started is easy.
If you have a Windows 10 pc you already have everything you need to get started: the Edge browser.
Just go to the Gutenberg or Baen website and download an Epub book.
Then you go to the browser's Downloads pane and click on the name of the downloaded file.
Then you can start reading.

Just take it one step at a time.

Once you're comfortable with that you can try the Kindle or Kobo apps. Run the App and tell it to search for free ebooks (or free non-fiction) and download one.
See how it works for you, what you like and don't like. Play with the settings.
It's your eyeballs, go with whatever app/settings suit you.

Above all, try to have fun.
Ebooks are a useful tool but they can also be a lot of fun. Don't neglect the fiction side.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by BrickyBrian

As a new to E-Books person its only just become obvious to me that my primary interest is not E-Book readers but E-Book publications which I can access on my computer so I have to ask the following question:
Will I be able to open any and all E-Books on my computer or will I require different applications to do so. My apologies for being so stupid.

It really depends on the format that a given book is in as to which application you need. Adobe reader is good for epub for example but won't open Kindle. Calibre which I note has been mentioned before in this thread is able to open both epub and kindle books. If the books have DRM they may not open as easily. Not all books have DRM and those that don't can be converted from say epub to kindle or vice versa with no problem. If the book does have DRM then your best bet is to google Apprentice Alf since we can't discuss DRM removal on the forum.

[cfrizz]

Go here and download Sony Reader for PC. This will allow you to download epubs, pdfs, and library books, including DRM infested books to your pc.

http://sony-reader-for-pc.en.lo4d.com/