MetaChat - Bought a Kindle!

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27 January 2011

Bought a Kindle! Now I'm looking for stuff to put on it. Free (or at least cheap) and old is what I'm after. What classics should I look for? You guys have some of the most eclectic and interesting tastes - what does it for you?→[More:]
I know my English classics like Austen, Bronte, Dickens and so forth but what minor or little-known gems are out there that I might like? Is there something you've come across - fiction or other - that really blew your socks off?

For example, I have the tree-carcass version of The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon and I love it. Such a forthright woman, writing from the Imperial Court of 900CE Heian Japan!! What else can I get my mitts on??

post by: ninazer0 at: 22:17 | 11 comments

I've enjoyed the new bestseller published on Kindle by Amazon. It's called The Hangman's Daughter. I'm not finished with it but so far it's good.

There is an email list with announcements of free Kindle offerings. Some books may only be free for a day or two so you want to be able to jump on them quickly. I can't remember the name off-hand but I can look it up for you. I'm on my mobile so I'll have to get back to you.

posted by toastedbeagle 27 January | 22:34

I'm tempted to get an ebook reader of some sort, but ebooks are so expensive! I was looking a couple days ago and they're still about 75% the price of a paperback. Does anyone know why they are so spendy?

posted by deborah 27 January | 22:39

If you haven't read Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray", you could be in for a real treat. It is not at all what you may expect.

Also, if you like a bit of fantasy, L. Frank Baum's Oz books are light reads perfect for waiting rooms.

posted by Ardiril 27 January | 23:48

PG Wodehouse! Free or at least very cheap! Pip pip old chap.

posted by BitterOldPunk 28 January | 01:17

Good call, Ardiril - it's been years since I read that. Also, BitterOldPunk - your suggestion is so obvious I'm embarrassed that I didn't think of it earlier

posted by ninazer0 28 January | 02:01

All of The Hunger Games trilogy. I could not stop reading those on my Sony Ereader.

posted by bearwife 28 January | 13:47

Also, you could whip right through The Crying of Lot 49 (and the Hungerford lecture that accompanies it) and join our book club discussion that goes up on Monday here.

posted by bearwife 28 January | 13:48

I just read Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis and I was totally blown away.

posted by martinxs bellbottoms 28 January | 20:42

Joshua Slocum, Sailing Alone Around The World

Ernest Bramah, Kai Lung's Golden Hours

posted by Joe Beese 29 January | 13:00

Also: Tolstoy's Hadji Murad

posted by Joe Beese 29 January | 13:01

Does anyone know why they are so spendy?

The technical term is "agency pricing" or "the agency model".

The colloquial term is "fearful greedy motherfuckers".

posted by Joe Beese 29 January | 13:08

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