Just getting into reading, would like some advice

[s1mp13m4n]

Hello everyone. I am visually impaired (legally blind) and do not do much reading because of my eyes. Now I like audiobooks and listen more than I read. I just bought my first ebook reader and am waiting for it to come in the mail. I am in book 14 of 16 of the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series. I am not sure what to read after I am done with that series. I liked the Harry Potter books, and have read one of the Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. I just recently got in to audiobooks and reading because of my wife and her help in getting started. I like:

clean comedy
cars
humor
sci-fi like star wars and sci-fi comedy

not so much in to drama or romance. I know that is not much to go one, maybe some classics would be a good starting place? Thank you for the help and advice.

[SeaBookGuy]

Consider Anthony Trollope's Barchester series, which are both funny and classics! I found the first book, The Warden, rather dull, though it does give background to who is who. The second one, Barchester Towers, I think you should enjoy quite a lot!

Another suggestion would be a book that is a classic and a comedy: Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, followed by a sort of "sequel" involving time travel, To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis.

[MickeyC]

Hi s1mp13m4n and welcome to MobileRead. I recommend the Flashman series. Very amusing historical fiction

[queentess]

You might like Asimov's Foundation series (space opera, like Star Wars).

John Scalzi's Old Man's War series (military sci-fi with a sense of humor) or his book Android's Dream (which I hated because I thought the humor ruined it).

The Oracle series by Mike Resnick was a quick, fun space operaish read.


Other space operas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_opera_media

[Under the Covers]

I also bought my reader due to poor vision, and I've been busy reading ever since (only two months or so now, but lots and lots of reading).

You might enjoy the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold over at Baen (http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.asp?author=lmbujold). It's science fiction with lots of action but also well-drawn and very human characters. She often had me smiling, giggling, or outright howling in laughter with one character's antics, in particular. The author seems to have a rather dry sense of humor -- just using the phrasing of a character's dialog or the minimal but effective description of something.

I just wish more of her books were in ebook format.

[natasha_fawn]

If you enjoyed the Hitchhiker's Guide book, you might also enjoy Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, clean British fantasy humor. I think there's a thread in this forum about them, you'll see different reading orders suggested, but they're all good.

I second the recommendation of Three Men in a Boat and the sci-fi "sequel." If you're interested in classics, I've recently been reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series (A Princess of Mars is the first) and quite enjoying them. The first five can be found at Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.net) for free since they're out of copyright. Edit: They can also be found in the collections here at mobileread, https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54599 (this is the epub link). Don't know how I missed them the first time I looked.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by Under the Covers

I just wish more of her books were in ebook format.

Actually, all but one of Lois McMaster Bujold's books are in e-book format, though if your e-reader is a new one and you haven't gone looking for the more obscure sources, perhaps you may not have found them yet.

All the Vorkosigan books are available worldwide via Baen's Webscription, and if you get Cryoburn as either an e-book or the hardcover, you also get a CD containing all the rest plus the Vorkosigan Companion, except for Memory.

You can also get the books via the Fifth Imperium site which mirrors Baen's freely-redistributable promotional CD-ROMs, but considering that you get nearly all the books on them, might as well pay for at least one, considering it's only $6. Besides Memory, that is.

The Chalion and Sharing Knife books are available from publisher HarperCollins in all the major e-booksellers, in North America, at least.

The Spirit Ring is available worldwide via Fictionwise, which holds the occasional 40%+ coupon discount sale, which are the best times to buy from them now that they've gone so far downhill from what they once were.

I think only Dreamweaver's Dilemma is missing, and that one was a specialty NESFA publication.

As for the OP, good sources of entertaining science fiction are the Baen Free Library and Webscriptions store, Tor.com (short stories in downloadable reader formats), BookViewCafé (plenty of free short stories and novellas to sample, plus online serial reads; run by the authors themselves and you get MultiFormat DRM-free previously traditionally-published books by established midlist genre authors, for $4.99 or less).

Fictionwise still has a good number of reprinted backlist titles by midlist authors in their MultiFormat sections, although you'll have to look up the individual authors/publisher imprints for the best selection of stuff you're more likely to enjoy.

[Under the Covers]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

You can also get the books via the Fifth Imperium site which mirrors Baen's freely-redistributable promotional CD-ROMs, but considering that you get nearly all the books on them, might as well pay for at least one, considering it's only $6. Besides Memory, that is.

The Chalion and Sharing Knife books are available from publisher HarperCollins in all the major e-booksellers, in North America, at least.

The Spirit Ring is available worldwide via Fictionwise, which holds the occasional 40%+ coupon discount sale, which are the best times to buy from them now that they've gone so far downhill from what they once were.

I think only Dreamweaver's Dilemma is missing, and that one was a specialty NESFA publication.

Thanks for the info! She really does write well. I guess it's time to try out my azw conversion plug-ins, though I think I'll test using an cheap Amazon offering first.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by Under the Covers

I guess it's time to try out my azw conversion plug-ins, though I think I'll test using an cheap Amazon offering first.

Oh, no need to convert LMB's books. I notice you've got a Sony listed in your devices. Baen and Fictionwise both sell MultiFormat, which means you get a slew of included formats, including ePub, all DRM-free, with your single purchase.

And Sony and Kobo stores both sell the Chalion and Sharing Knife books in Adobe-DRM ePub, which your Sony should support out of the box (unless you got yours second-hand and have one of those really old models which only takes BBeB or LRF).

If you're wanting to test AZW conversion for other reasons, head over to the Deals forum here. Plenty of time-limited giveaway promo freebies from all the stores. Lots of cannon fodder without having having to spend so much as penny upon it.

[Under the Covers]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Oh, no need to convert LMB's books. I notice you've got a Sony listed in your devices. Baen and Fictionwise both sell MultiFormat, which means you get a slew of included formats, including ePub, all DRM-free, with your single purchase.

Ah ... I think perhaps I must have looked right after I got my Sony a couple of months back (brand new, by the way, a 650, which I love) ... and before I became more familiar with various sites, etc. Once I finish my current omnibus edition by another author, I guess it's time to do another search for more of her work, in hopes that her dry wit still flourishes.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by Under the Covers

I just wish more of her books were in ebook format.

Originally Posted by ATDrake

All the Vorkosigan books are available worldwide via Baen's Webscription, and if you get Cryoburn as either an e-book or the hardcover, you also get a CD containing all the rest plus the Vorkosigan Companion, except for Memory.

You can also get the books via the Fifth Imperium site which mirrors Baen's freely-redistributable promotional CD-ROMs, but considering that you get nearly all the books on them, might as well pay for at least one, considering it's only $6. Besides Memory, that is.

Here's the link to the LMB cd: http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/24-CryoburnCD/

Click View at the bottom to see the contents and download one-at-a-time OR click the One Big Zip link to download the entire cd.

[arcadata]

I definitely recommend Terry Pratchett's Discworld books - really funny stuff with great characters. I've been reading them since I was a kid.

Also, Terry Pratchett's collaboration with Neil Gaiman 'Good Omens' - it's one of the funniest books I've ever read about the end of the world.

[jehane]

I'll add:
Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series, SF comedy
Simon R. Green's Deathstalker series, SF perhaps not comedy but certainly lighter in tone and poking fun at more than a few of the tropes of the SF/F genre.

Second Terry Pratchett, and don't miss the YA books (Johnny books and Tiffany books) which are also very good. The early books tend to parody epic fantasy, but the later ones take on our world. My favourites are the Guards books which begins with Guards! Guards! but I think really starts to come into its strength in the second book, Men at Arms.

[Hatgirl]

I know everyone has already mention Lois McMaster Bujold, but as you mentioned audiobooks...

http://www.blackstoneaudio.com/searc...+lois+mcmaster

[s1mp13m4n]

Thanks for the great ideas. What else might you recommend that is not sci-fi? What about books in the open domain such as Mark Twain or Jules Vern? I ask because I see they are there but I do not know much about the offerings. I do like funny books, I am in book 14 of the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series. I am listening to the audiobooks. They are funny books to me.