Sample books

Laurens · 10-18-2006, 09:53 AM

"1984" is great of course, but has anyone read "Excavation"? Sounds like mega pulp to me. (I won't bother with "The Italian's Stolen Bride".)

da_jane · 10-18-2006, 10:34 AM

I hope no one thinks that the Italian's Stolen Bride is an example of the quality of romances because it is not. I could barely finish it and I am a romance reader. I won't begin to guess how Sony choose it's free books, but it certainly wasn't by quality.

Bob Russell · 10-18-2006, 10:50 AM

Don't know anything about excavation. These Amazon reviewers seem to like it, but their description seems to rule it out for me. I'd rather buy another that I'd really like than read this one just because it's free. As was said in another thread, life's too short to read books we don't care for.

I liked the Star Trek Vanguard book. Unfortunately it's Book 1 of a series, and Book 2 is not available yet. It has, however, got me interested in reading more Star Trek books.

Jake · 10-18-2006, 11:12 AM

Aw, I dumped 'em all immediately and inserted things I really want to read! (can't beat Jane Austen though, of course) . No accounting for taste. As the cliche goes, so many books and so little time!

As an aside, don't you think a big gorilla like Sony could have popped for inserting a couple of complete works (public domain titles even, geez!) instead of just sample extracts. They probably figured most of us would delete what was there anyway...

Leaping Gnome · 10-18-2006, 11:18 AM

I too thought the Vanguard book was decent, the first Star Trek book I've read. I just went through last night and culled all the samples, I left a few on there that I thought looked interesting from reading Amazon, like Excavation and Cell.

I just finished Ilium by Dan Simmons last night, 1,300+ pages on the reader, available in the Connect store. It was a pretty good sci-fi book, I've never read anything by him before. Some interesting ideas I haven't seen elsewhere. I also grabbed the Sherlock Holmes works from gutenberg and reformatted in Word to RTF, etc... and put it on there. It was my first non-Connect book so it took a few tries to get the formatting how I liked it, but it looks pretty good now.

Laurens · 10-18-2006, 11:38 AM

Well, I bought The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman from the $50 registration credit and just finished the 1st chapter. (Approx. 100 pages) Good book so far and the reading experience itself was completely "transparent". (I've never read an e-book beyond the first few pages because I find reading from LCD too tiring.)

Now if only they accepted non-US credit cards, I would be completely happy.

Leaping Gnome · 10-18-2006, 02:16 PM

Laurens, do you have paypal? I'd be willing to try a giftcard swap for you if you'll cover the fees. We can try a small amount first like $5 just to make sure it works?

Kaitou Ace · 10-19-2006, 12:38 AM

Speaking of good trek books, the New Frontier series by Peter David is a read I recommend (and it happens to be available at the reader store too)

Laurens · 10-19-2006, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leaping Gnome

Laurens, do you have paypal? I'd be willing to try a giftcard swap for you if you'll cover the fees. We can try a small amount first like $5 just to make sure it works?

Just wanted to let people know that buying gift codes this way works well. Thanks, Leaping Gnome!

yvanleterrible · 10-19-2006, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leaping Gnome

I too thought the Vanguard book was decent, the first Star Trek book I've read. I just went through last night and culled all the samples, I left a few on there that I thought looked interesting from reading Amazon, like Excavation and Cell.

I just finished Ilium by Dan Simmons last night, 1,300+ pages on the reader, available in the Connect store. It was a pretty good sci-fi book, I've never read anything by him before. Some interesting ideas I haven't seen elsewhere. I also grabbed the Sherlock Holmes works from gutenberg and reformatted in Word to RTF, etc... and put it on there. It was my first non-Connect book so it took a few tries to get the formatting how I liked it, but it looks pretty good now.

I just started the Hyperion series by him. Interesting mix of Sci-fi and Fantasy.

NatCh · 10-19-2006, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

I just started the Hyperion series by him. Interesting mix of Sci-fi and Fantasy.

I only got through the first one, I thought it was more of an interesting mix of delusion and hallucenogenic substances, myself.

Just too bizarre for my tastes.

yvanleterrible · 10-19-2006, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

I only got through the first one, I thought it was more of an interesting mix of delusion and hallucenogenic substances, myself.

Just too bizarre for my tastes.

That is what I feel about fantasy usually. It is the type of writing that is totally up to the whim of a soul. I prefer earthy plausible sound scifi with real bases on science. But this series has just enough to keep up my interest.

NatCh · 10-19-2006, 01:08 PM

Oh, I like fantasy generally, though I do lean toward SciFi for the most part these days. But Hyperion was just way too strange for me.

bostonte · 10-19-2006, 02:13 PM

Excavation wasn't bad. Clearly not literary prize material, but it was ok enough to provide a decent distraction -- considering it was free.

A bit sci-fi meets Da Vinci Code meets romance novel.

Leaping Gnome · 10-19-2006, 02:46 PM

A couple of people have recommended the Hyperion books, but I did not see them on the Connect store, and the sequel to Ilium is falling into the "still hardcover price even though out in paperback" category on Connect.

10-18-2006, 09:53 AM	#1
Laurens Jah Blessed Posts: 1,295 Karma: 1373 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: The Netherlands Device: iPod Touch	Sample books "1984" is great of course, but has anyone read "Excavation"? Sounds like mega pulp to me. (I won't bother with "The Italian's Stolen Bride".)

10-18-2006, 11:18 AM	#5
Leaping Gnome Evangelist Posts: 490 Karma: 1641 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Louisville Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	I too thought the Vanguard book was decent, the first Star Trek book I've read. I just went through last night and culled all the samples, I left a few on there that I thought looked interesting from reading Amazon, like Excavation and Cell. I just finished Ilium by Dan Simmons last night, 1,300+ pages on the reader, available in the Connect store. It was a pretty good sci-fi book, I've never read anything by him before. Some interesting ideas I haven't seen elsewhere. I also grabbed the Sherlock Holmes works from gutenberg and reformatted in Word to RTF, etc... and put it on there. It was my first non-Connect book so it took a few tries to get the formatting how I liked it, but it looks pretty good now. Last edited by Leaping Gnome; 10-18-2006 at 11:21 AM.

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10-18-2006, 10:34 AM	#2
da_jane Evangelist Posts: 405 Karma: 692 Join Date: Sep 2006 Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 \| Kindle Paperwhite \| iPad Mini	I hope no one thinks that the Italian's Stolen Bride is an example of the quality of romances because it is not. I could barely finish it and I am a romance reader. I won't begin to guess how Sony choose it's free books, but it certainly wasn't by quality.

10-18-2006, 10:50 AM	#3
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Don't know anything about excavation. These Amazon reviewers seem to like it, but their description seems to rule it out for me. I'd rather buy another that I'd really like than read this one just because it's free. As was said in another thread, life's too short to read books we don't care for. I liked the Star Trek Vanguard book. Unfortunately it's Book 1 of a series, and Book 2 is not available yet. It has, however, got me interested in reading more Star Trek books.

10-18-2006, 11:12 AM	#4
Jake Renaissance Man Posts: 45 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle Device: Sony Reader	Aw, I dumped 'em all immediately and inserted things I really want to read! (can't beat Jane Austen though, of course) . No accounting for taste. As the cliche goes, so many books and so little time! As an aside, don't you think a big gorilla like Sony could have popped for inserting a couple of complete works (public domain titles even, geez!) instead of just sample extracts. They probably figured most of us would delete what was there anyway...

10-18-2006, 11:38 AM	#6
Laurens Jah Blessed Posts: 1,295 Karma: 1373 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: The Netherlands Device: iPod Touch	Well, I bought The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman from the $50 registration credit and just finished the 1st chapter. (Approx. 100 pages) Good book so far and the reading experience itself was completely "transparent". (I've never read an e-book beyond the first few pages because I find reading from LCD too tiring.) Now if only they accepted non-US credit cards, I would be completely happy.

10-18-2006, 02:16 PM	#7
Leaping Gnome Evangelist Posts: 490 Karma: 1641 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Louisville Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	Laurens, do you have paypal? I'd be willing to try a giftcard swap for you if you'll cover the fees. We can try a small amount first like $5 just to make sure it works?

10-19-2006, 12:38 AM	#8
Kaitou Ace Zealot Posts: 126 Karma: 1352743 Join Date: Oct 2002	Speaking of good trek books, the New Frontier series by Peter David is a read I recommend (and it happens to be available at the reader store too)

10-19-2006, 01:08 PM	#13
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Oh, I like fantasy generally, though I do lean toward SciFi for the most part these days. But Hyperion was just way too strange for me.

10-19-2006, 02:13 PM	#14
bostonte Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Sony Reader	Excavation wasn't bad. Clearly not literary prize material, but it was ok enough to provide a decent distraction -- considering it was free. A bit sci-fi meets Da Vinci Code meets romance novel.

10-19-2006, 02:46 PM	#15
Leaping Gnome Evangelist Posts: 490 Karma: 1641 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Louisville Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	A couple of people have recommended the Hyperion books, but I did not see them on the Connect store, and the sequel to Ilium is falling into the "still hardcover price even though out in paperback" category on Connect.

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