I want to get back into reading, so I’m thinking of getting a Paperwhite. But I have no idea if it’s possible to transfer files to it from a computer, and I have no experience with pirating books.
Do I go to the same places I torrent movies and games or are there special places dedicated to E-Books?
EDIT: So many awesome answers on here! You guys have been very helpful. Thanks a lot!
Yeah and they’re constantly adding phenomenal user requested features in their updates (even for the original kickstarter device that I have). A libgen app would be convenient!
My biggest issue with ebooks in the library, and what led me into more ebook Piracy. Having to wait to check out a digital book. I know the library has to pay like yearly licensing subscriptions to a lot of these books, and it's just so annoying to me that it doesn't cover everybody having access to it. I sit on the library board and one thing we're talking about doing is a graphic novel service for a lot of the youth. And low key, I'm stoked for the graphic novel service too. But that one's unlimited access.
Going into a library is like choosing a movie from Netflix. If you don’t know what you want it’s fine. But if you’re after a specific book, big chances it’s not there.
Example: I’ve read over 100 star Trek books, none of the libraries around me have any in the series, and I’m on a 3M people city.
That seems very odd to me. I’ve never been to a city library that can’t get something they don’t have. Obviously I’m biased by my own experiences.
I’m in Montréal (2-4M depending on how the library system is set up) and star wars has 1,099 hits. Video games, mangas, movies, tv shows, books illustrations, audiobooks, lego building guide ebooks, comics, etc. There might be some inflation in the figure for how some titles handle multi-lingual copies.
Karen Traviss is my favorite star wars author, followed by Timothy Zhan.
Hey, just wanna shout out to your local library. Overdrive (Libby app) is amazing, but only works on kindles in the USA. Double check if kindle supports overdrive in your country and if it doesn’t you may want to get a Kobo or a third party e-reader instead.
Either that or you can use DeDRM to strip the adobe digital editions drms to keep the library books after they expire.
Libby works on any Android and iOS device, so if you consider those E-Reader then no you didn’t miss understand.
However on proprietary E-Readers like Kobos and Kindles, Overdrive needs to be implemented by the manufacturer . It’s not an issue for Kobo, as Overdrive is baked in, but on Kindle it only works with the USA’s Library system if I understand it correctly (not from USA).
With that said since Overdrive relies on Adobe Digital editions it’s not the end of the world since you can remove the DRM and use calibre to cover the ePub to Mobi then move it onto a Kindle.
But getting the right device makes it less of a hassle.
Kindles allow loading epubs nowadays btw. You can even add epubs from one of their websites. I like to sideload mine to get features that kindle epubs have that sideloaded ones don’t, like scrolling the text instead of having to flip pages
Not exactly piracy, but if the book in question is public domain, my favorite site is Standard eBooks! Very high quality books, with proper formatting and translations.
Maybe look into an Onyx Boox instead of a Kindle. It will let you download books straight from the web (like standardebooks.org and Project Gutenberg) without having to side load. Also, you can add the Libby and Overdrive apps to it since it accesses the Google Play store. Also, it accepts all files formats so you don't have to convert anything.
As someone buying a color screen boox soon, I think it’s worth a mention that the battery is MUCH worse on boox because it has to run android. Like, the boox may last a day or two vs the Kindle Paperwhite lasting a couple weeks.
It’s not a huge issue if you are home a lot and can charge, but I love the Paperwhite because it feels like it ALWAYS is charged. It just doesn’t have the color screen so I guess I will have both now, one for comics and one for books.
I think I got lucky and got one of the models with improved battery (Onyx Boox Page). I've been reading the Trigun manga on it for over a week now and it's only just getting to the point where I need to charge it finally.
But good point. Some of the older models might have worse battery life to consider. I only have a black and white model too. Color might use more battery.
The best way to get back into reading is to go to your local libray, get a card, set up an the library app for ebooks, have the librarian recommend you something based on what you like, and start reading it. I got back into reading a year ago, have read about a dozen books, and haven’t spent any money so far just by heading to the library. I personally like to have a book with me but if you keep your e-reader around and just read it during the times you’d usually check social media or your phone you’ll get back into it in no time. I wish you luck!
I’m not sure if Danish libraries do E-Books. I could check after work, though. But the fun part is I already have a library card; the health insurance card all Danish citizens get counts kinda like an everything card, including lending books. ^^
Anyway, I got some authors on my radar already. Like for instance I have only read a fraction of what Terry Prachet wrote, and I never finished the Hitchhiker’s trilogy.
That’s awesome what a great idea! Nice Pratchet’s books and the Hitchhikers series are great! Hope you find some stuff you enjoy. Getting back into reading has been one of the best things I’ve done in years and has helped my life in a lot of ways. I found what helped me get back into the habit was just keeping something to read with me when I had time to kill like waiting for food or an appointment, reading on my work breaks to give my eyes a rest from screens, and reading around an hour before bed to help my sleep quality. You’ll be surprised how fast you’ll go through a book I usually would end up reading about 30 mins to 90 mins today. Also if you don’t like something by like 100 pages in just drop it. Trying to force myself to read things to the end I wasn’t enjoying killed my desire to read. By dropping books I actually ended up reading more than before. I hope you enjoy some wonderful stories! :)
Librarians are not always (but in fact, are very rarely) Lit enthusiasts who’ll know the best choices whenever you ask them. Most of them are just doing their jobs.
And probably the biggest, project Gutemberg. Searching Cervantes gives you only one book, Don Quijote, though in many editions, and both English and Spanish which is a bit limited.
Just want to add that if you find a rare ebook not on libgen, do you civic duty and take the time to upload it, it only takes a few minutes and it’s rewarding being able to save some time for others.
You would just find the directory location of the DRM locked ebook, put it in Calibre with the DeDRM addon installed and enabled, and hey presto, you have an unlocked clone. (This works on MacOS)
Give Kobo a look, Amazon isn’t the only name in the game. Kobo lets you connect directly to your library and check out books on the device, I absolutely love mine after having a couple Kindles.
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