Books and Reading

Page last updated 17 December 2023

I have been an avid reader since I was in elementary school.  Mostly, I read Science Fiction and Fantasy, with some mystery or thrillers, and occasional self-improvement or business book.  I have mostly been reading on my iPad since it came out in 2010.  I switch between iBook, Kindle and Nook readers, choosing which offers the best price for the book I want to read.  In addition to the respective online stores, I have also come across several Internet sites from which books can be obtained.

I generally read alternate history, science fiction or fantasy, but occasionally read a mystery, thriller or military novels (both fiction and non-fiction). I began writing Book Reviews early in 2014.

I have also written a few posts that are more about Reading in general that might be of interest.

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Some sources of eBooks

1. Baen Books – http://www.baen.com/ more than 70 books downloadable for free. Many others at low cost. The site also has many short stories.
2. Book Bale – $4.99/month for up to 10 ebooks
3. http://ebookbrowse.com
4. World eBook Fair – http://www.worldebookfair.com  variety of novels including scifi, eLibrary card required
5. Classic Reader – http://www.classicreader.com/
6. ePubBud – http://www.epubbud.com/ – lots of eBooks for download
7. Feedbooks – http://www.feedbooks.com/
8. Free Info Society – http://freeinfosociety.com/media_index.php
9. ManyBooks – http://www.manybooks.net/
10. Planet eBook – http://www.planetebook.com/
11. Project Gutenberg – http://www.gutenberg.org/
12. Public Book shelf – http://www.publicbookshelf.com/   mostly romance novels
13. Fictionwise – http://www.fictionwise.com/
14. http://www.smashwords.com/books – not major titles, most for sale, but some free.  Wide range of topics
15. http://www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks.asp  – Old out of copy right novels
16. http://www.openculture.com/ – mostly old and out of copyright, but not all
17. E-Books Directory – Novels and technical – http://www.e-booksdirectory.com/
18. Wattpad – work from mostly unknown authors
19. The Robot Trading Company – http://www.robottradingcompany.com  – most are scifi or fantasy books for sale
20. All You Can Books – gives you UNLIMITED access to over 40,000 Audiobooks, eBooks, and Foreign Language courses. Download as many audiobooks, ebooks, language audio courses, and language e-workbooks as you want during the 30-day FREE trial and it’s all yours to keep even if you cancel during the FREE trial.

Notification services with free/ low-cost book offers:

1. https://www.bookbub.com
2. http://readcheaply.com/
3. http://eBooksHabit.com
4. http://www.moreforlessonline.com
5. http://www.ebooksgrowontrees.com
6. http://booksends.com
7. http://daily.ereaderiq.com/
8. Book Funnel Story Origin
9. Book Review Buzz http://bookreviewbuzz.com – books available to  read reviews
10. DFS Weekly Digest – http://discoverscifi.activehosted.com Discover Science Fiction
11. My Next Read – Free daily email alerts with books in the genres you love. Most books are either FREE or very low cost.
12. Reader’s Alley https://readersalley.com
13. Rifle Books – http://www.rifflebooks.com/select/
14. Story Origin https://storyoriginapp.com
15. FireReads https://www.firereads.com

These offers are not exactly for best sellers, but the price is right and it does expose you to new authors.

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Sites for Sharing or all-you-can-read eBooks

1. http://www.allyoucanbooks.com – all-you-can-read free trial, $14.99 per month, 30,000 audiobooks and eBooks.
2. https://www.oysterbooks.com – all-you-can-read $9.95 per month, 100,000 eBooks, iOS 7 is required. will cease operations January 2016
3. http://www.scribd.com – all-you-can-read $8.99 per month, free trial, offers a large assortment of free content, including more than 40 million documents and books.
4. https://readmill.com – a social reading service that provides a reader for iOS and Android that lets you read and share books in it’s library.

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Recommendations:

Favorite authors Abercrombie, Joe Asimov, Asaac Benn, James R. Brown, Dan Burroughs, Edgar Rice Campbell, Jack Clancy, Tom Clarke, Arthur C. Collins, Suzanne Cook, Glen Crichton, Michael Drake, David Flint, Eric Flynn, Vince Harry, Eric L. Heinlein, Robert A. Jordan, Robert Koontz, Dean Ludlum, Robert Niven, Larry Pournelle, Jerry Ringo, John Sanderson, Brandon Smith, E.E. “Doc” Stirling, SM Suarez, Daniel Turtledove, Harry Verne, Jules Weber, David Wells, H.G.

Sci-Fi Series “Honor Harrington” by David Weber “The Lost Fleet” by Jack Campbell “The Polseen War” by John Ringo “Foundation” by Isaac Asimov “Riverworld” by Phillip Jose Farmer “Ender” by Orson Scott Card “Dragon Riders of Pern” by Anne McCaffrey “Lensmen” by E.E. “Doc” Smith

Alternative History “The Nantucket” & “Emberverse” by SM Sterling “1632” & “Belisarius” Eric Flint “The World War”, “Colonization” and “Days of Infamy” by Harry Turtledove Fantasy Series “Wheel of Time” by Robert Jordan “Harry Potter” by J. K. Rowling “Middle Earth” by J. R. R. Tolkien “Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin “Mistborn” by Brandon Sanderson “Black Company” by Glen Cook “The First Law” & “The Half King” by Joe Abercrombie Mystery / Thriller Series “Ghost” by John Ringo “Millenium Trilogy” by Stieg Larsson “Mitch Rapp” series by Vince Flynn “Billy Boyle” series by James R. Benn “Robert Langdon” series by Dan Brown “Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins

Miscellaneous of interest

• The Rule of 50 – when to put a book down
• How Long Will That Book Take? – estimating how long a book will take to read