Free E-Books

Do you like the word “Free”? Well if you do, here is a little gift for you. Thanks to the newsletter I receive from Bob Rankin, I found this source for aggregating free “Kindle” books on Amazon.com. 

You can browse through all of the free books on one site, download them, and read to your heart's delight.

What? You don’t have a Kindle? Me neither, but I do have a Samsung Tab, which has a Kindle application integrated. 

But don’t let the lack of a tablet stop you. From another newsletter I receive called Make Tech Easier, there was an article called Alternative Ways to Read Ebooks Other Than the Kindle. If you click on Make Tech Easier, it will bring you to the article.

Related articles

• Top Free Kindle eBooks on Amazon
• A Book Store...
• From Blog to Kindle eBook - Free Gift

Pin It Now!

Paper or Plastic?

For years before I left the US, when you go into any grocery store, they ask you "Paper or plastic?" This refers to the bag for your groceries. Do you want an old fashion paper bag or a petroleum based plastic bag.

This question has come up yet again in a deconstructed context. Do you want your books in paper, either softcover or hardcover or would you rather have your books sitting in a plastic box such as a Kindle, Nook, or other e-reading device?

I have made my point of view very clear. I will not use an e-reader to read anything longer than a magazine. Been there, done that, didn't like it.

So this person Allison Morrison writes to me personally. Her note started with
  "I’m reaching out to connect with you about a graphic I helped create which examines the state of print books in the digital era, and why (contrary to popular belief) recent trends show that print books can in fact coexist with e-books."

I was curious and wrote her back asking for more information. She supplied it.
This is the site where is comes from, if you click here.

In addition to the graphics below, what I really love about the site itself is the sidebar. They have included "How to become a teacher" in each of the US states and teacher certification requirements as well. What a great service for potential teachers and those of us who want to make a career change. I love it!

Thank you Allison for writing.

Please Include Attribution to TeachingDegree.org With This Graphic
 

Related articles

• Paper or Plastic
• Urge Grocery Stores to Eliminate All Plastic Bags
• Plastic Bags - How Is the Production Process?
• Council to vote on plastic bag ban expansion
• Urban green myths

Pin It Now!

Eek E-books

For as long as e-books have been around, one friend or another has tried making me a convert to this medium of reading. I have refused to indulge in the e-book craze for a number of reasons. Not in any particular order, but they include:

1. I love holding a book in my hands and flipping the pages. This doesn't matter whether it is a slim volume like the book I am reading now The Murder at the Collective or a tome like Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth at a gargantuan 1008 pages. 
2. When I love the story, I keep checking the number of pages that are left creating an early mourning as I approach the end cover. When I don't care for the story, but am too stubborn to put it down, I check the pages to see how much longer this suffering is going to continue.
3. American Express uses the slogan "Never leave home without it." I apply that to a book. There is a book in my bag 98% of the time.
4. Perhaps it is because I do so many things on computers, including reading thousands of pages of students' work during a semester, I don't want to stare at a screen for reading pleasure. I can barely get through a news articles from the NY Times without feeling overwhelmed. Give me a real paper and I can be content for hours. That said, I do have a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and a Samsung smartphone, which I do use to read US Today and CNN News when I know I will not have time to pull out my book.
5. There is something emotionally stimulating about browsing the books in a bookstore that will never be replaced by browsing online. Although some browse bookstores and order online, I try not to do this as brick and mortar bookstores need all the support they can get, especially independents.
6. Yes, you can get instant access to e-books on a variety of devices, but for me it is more satisfying to either discover a book I have never known I wanted while in a bookstore or to order one online and having the anticipation build until it arrives.
7. One of the first things that catches my eye when visiting others are the books they have around. There is much to be learned about a person from the books or lack of books. I doubt I could learn as much by asking if I could browse someone's Kindle for example.
8. A book can be lent or borrowed by anyone when there is mutual agreement. You can give the book away, sell it, or heaven forbid and damn you if you do, toss it away. For most e-book devices, this is either not possible or your share buddy has to have the same device as you, limiting opportunities.
9. Last of all, the cost of e-books is increasing as popularity grows. There is a computer newsletter that I read with a religious fervor and have for years, though the branding has changed over time. This is a quote from the latest newsletter.

http://winnews.com/

 
"So I went from e-book skeptic to e-book believer. And I still love them, but lately I've been buying fewer and fewer. And that's because of the increasingly (in my opinion) outrageous prices. I grumbled when the typical price of a new release novel in electronic format was $9.99. I was highly annoyed when that climbed to $12.99. Then I started seeing bestsellers by big name authors such as James Patterson and Tom Clancy priced at $14.99. When I paid $16.00 for Stephen King's latest, I decided maybe it was time to go back to paper - at least for the "big ones." Amazon was selling the hardcover version at the same time for $17.48.

I'm sorry, but that just doesn't compute. Regardless of what they say, I believe it costs publishers far less to produce and deliver an e-book, without the cost of paper, printing, storage, transportation, etc. I believe they're taking advantage of customers, assuming if we have the money to spend on high-tech devices, we'll pay close to the same prices for intangible electronic files as we pay for physical books that work with no electricity, don't require proprietary technology to be read and can be loaned or sold to whomever we want.

Now it appears I'm not the only one who thinks publishers are gouging the customer. The U.S. Department of Justice is accusing Apple, along with five major publishers, of colluding to keep the price of electronic books up. And this isn't just an "American thing" either. The EU is conducting its own investigation into the matter."

Yes, you are reading this blog online, but it is free, available on many devices, and shareable without restrictions.

Related articles

• Is It Time To Say Goodbye To Bricks & Mortar Bookstores? [Opinion]
• Speed and Retention - Are e-Readers Slower and More Forgetful?
• Books Vs Ebooks
• The importance of paper books
• E-Readers Versus Books
• How Higher Education Is Going Digital [INFOGRAPHIC]

Pin It Now!

KooBits For E-Books

As many of you know, I haven't been around for a few days because my father passed away a week ago yesterday. However, I am trying to get back in the saddle emotionally now. 


On a different topic, I am not a fan of e-books per se. I love holding a book in my hand, flipping the pages, seeing them collect dust on the shelves, arranging rearranging them according to different categories, and pulling them down again to refresh the memories of the pleasure it brought when I read it the first time. 


However, over time, somehow I have managed to collect some e-books that people have shared or I have downloaded from various sites. They all sit in a computer folder that is cumbersome to search through, although I do have them categorized into genres.


Today, I discovered a free program called KooBits. This nifty little program takes most formats of e-books on your hard drive and gives them covers like a real book and places them on library shelves. You can create categories, genres, and rearrange the books to your heart's content. The only thing missing is virtual dust, which is a great savings on having to pay a virtual housekeeper to keep the shelves clean.


As an added bonus, there are hundreds of free e-book downloads in numerous categories. Many are classics like Mark Twain's titles, Bulfinch's Mythology, and plenty more. Once you open your book, you can bookmark pages, highlight text in different colors and even put in "rubber" stamp markings to highlight different sections. 


If you like e-books at all, give this a try. You will need to register, but it is free thereafter.

Related articles

• KooBits - A Simple But Cool Digital Shelf For Your Collection Of eBooks (makeuseof.com)

Pin It Now!