i laughed my way through leif enger’s latest offering. the language is old-fashioned and beautiful. the way he strings together words is clever. completely & unexpectedly enjoyable. witty.
i bought the used hardback $1 version on amazon because i am sick to death of paying the ridiculously high kindle prices. which is why i decided for once and for all to figure out how to borrow books for my kindle. i marched straight to my public library (virtually, you understand) and searched for my next book. then i clicked on ebook as my choice of format whereupon i was sent to amazon to complete my library lending experience. all i had to do at amazon was direct the download to my ipad.
the only part of borrowing ebooks that i don’t understand is why there is a due date. in 3 weeks time nightwoods is set to disappear from my ipad. of course i can always check it out again so no big deal.
some libraries don’t offer ebooks for kindles, but many do so it’s worth checking.
i also checked out a non-fiction ebook:
francis took refuge in the woods where our rented umbrian farmhouse is located so i’m interested in reading about his travels, especially in umbria. i thought the premise of the book looked interesting:
On the Road with Francis of Assisi offers a unique and lively travelogue of parallel journeys: that of Francis of Assisi on his way to sainthood in the thirteenth century, and that of author Linda Bird Francke, who followed his path through the beauty of central and coastal Italy
I have a Kobo and love borrowing ebooks from the library. However, I’m in Toronto and sometimes there is still a 6 month waiting list!
You know what I found annoying though? I was on a shortish flight from Toronto to Nova Scotia and the flight attendant made me turn off my kobo during takeoff and landing. Seriously — i got to read it for 15 minutes and was squirrely bored the rest of the time! Next time there will be a print magazine involved!
My husband and I are avid readers plus we are also addicted buyers of used books. That is the main objection I have to a purchased e-book. You pay for it and then…poof. Most of the books I read go from friend to friend and then eventually to a school book fair. Neither of us have found the free books to have much of anything we want and we have vastly different tastes.
However, we both can occasionally luck out with ebooks via the library which we read on our iPads. One thing we both have done is get a ‘card’ from an adjacent county library system also. We use the same card from our own county but the other library has been added electronically to our cards. We did this because someone who worked for the other county library system told us they have one of the best e-book collections in the state. You might try that in CA.
Mary Ann, if you haven’t already, introduce yourself to Craig Johnson’s main character, Sheriff Walt Longmire . He is a contemporary
Gentle man from Absaroka County, Wyoming. Craig has written at least 7 novels about this man and one of his friend’s, Henry
Standing Bear. You must treat yourself to the audiobook because the narration by George Grindall is part of the incredible charm
Of a place and masterfully drawn inhabitants.
You will, no doubt, fall in love with the lot of them. Each character is fully fleshed-out. It is humorous, sensitive, profound and just
Damned good. Very much like old-time radio but we are spared the maudlin organ music in the background. Just author, narrator
And you, alone together. Listen while you get ready to go off on one of your wonderful adventures. Go with God and the lovely
Ms. Carol, XXOO
I like Gutenberg too. I am reading The Moonstone, and I swear this author must have influenced Agatha Christie. Loved your Yosemite sketches too, one of my favorite places in this universe.
As long as the library book is open on your kindle it won’t disappear unless you exit out of it (after the due date).
Just got a Kindle for my birthday so this is all very interesting. Thanks everyone. I do know we can get get Kindle books from the SF Library. And I had wondered why there was a due date so that is explained here. Thanks guys. I prefer real books but I wanted a reader for TRAVEL. Last time I got on a plane with books and magazines it was hard!
if you don’t connect your wi-fi it won’t dissappear and you can keep it till you’re done reading it.
I’m sure you must know this already but it is worth repeating: Kindle has FREE books too. Just type in Kindle free books and whatever subject you like. Worth a try. I really enjoy your blog.
After reading MAM post I signed up at my local library, they charge $35 a year as we are in the county, so I went for a month and had to join Blio to get a download. The first book was not on the list, the second book they had but it was out for 3 weeks so I will never get to read that as even if you finish a book you cannot return an ebook early. Total rip off.
I appreciate your note about the virtual-ness of your library visit 🙂 . You’ve inspired me to do the same…I actually prefer ebooks now because it’s easier to read in bed (when my insomnia strikes) without waking my husband.
Don’t forget Kindle offers FREE 1 month sample of almost any magazine too! just don’t forget to unsubscribe afterwards. It’s only 1 each magazine, but if you have a color kindle it’s fabulous down-time play for FREE! I LOVE my nexus 7 tablet and use OverDrive from the library. LOVE all the choices. Reading The Round House by louise ederich currently. Good stuff.
St. Francis. Oh does that ever bring back memories. As a kid who grew up Catholic, went to Catholic grade school for 8 years and was thoroughly indoctrinated, the one saint that stole my heart was St. Francis of course because he is the patron saint of animals. In my teens I had the chance to stay at a Franciscan monastery for a weekend as we were attending an ordination ceremony for a priest friend of ours. That was quite an experience. To see that there is a much newer book than the old, unfriendly and hard to read relics I could only get my hands on back then; I will be sitting here waiting to see how you like the book as it would be one, I’d love to read. You are going to have an amazing time in Umbria, I can already feel it. I don’t know how you can handle the anticipation. I’d be over the moon crazy happy and probably doing back flips. That would be a site not to be missed. HA!
O.K. here is another book obsession to pursue – Samples! What a nice offering by Amazon. You can sample a book before deciding to pay the big Kindle bucks! Every week I look over the NYT book review list and send myself some samples. Sometimes a sample is all you need! Free from Amazon, try it I think you will like it!
Like someone else mentioned, I use Overdrive to read books on my iPad. With my library at least, it seems there are more choices than with Kindle. Also, it is a 1-stop app for ebooks and audio books.
I did Kindle books from my library for awhile, but there were rules instituted for use with kindle app vs. kindle devices and I was having trouble identifying them. I’ve been meaning to borrow some for my mom on her device, but I have gotten her so many freebies with pixel of ink that it hasn’t been an issue. Maybe I need to revisit?
mel & erin i appreciate those very good explanations about the borrowing rules for ebooks…
i get it now
I suggest Gutenberg.org also. Now that I am older I am going back and reading the books I was forced to read in high school and didnt appreciate.The Count of Monte Cristo, Les Miserables, Oliver Twist, etc. I loved Kate Chopin’s The Awakening; a short read and one that a young friend in college had to read. I like reading other people’s choices to stretch my mind and a free book is hard to resist.
The prices for Kindle books make me cringe. I just can’t force myself to pay those prices, shopping at Gutenberg for free makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. My husband likes to ride his Harley and I like to read so if you ever see a woman clutching an Ipad on the back of a Harley, its me!!
Libraries pay for the licenses for each eBook that we lend out. So if we buy 3 licenses that means we have three copies of that book to loan, 4 licenses – 4 copies, etc. If you kept the book indefinitely then no one else could check it out. The reasoning behind this is that eBooks aren’t free, any more than hard copy books are. If you kept a hard copy book out indefinitely then no one else could check it out and read it. We (the library system) pay for a license for the eBook just like we pay for a hard copy book. But with an eBook since it automatically returns it self, there’s no over dues to worry about and no hold fees up front if its a popular item.
Erin in Morro Bay
Maryann, you might want to check out the site http://www.pixelofink.com/ and sign up for their daily email. You can find lots of free and reduced books. You can also check out http://www.bookbub.com/home/ as well. They also send daily emails but have less books than pixelofink. I get most of my books this way and mostly only get the freebies. I have found some great reads and if I like a book in a series, I will sometimes purchase other books by the same author, but they are usually really reasonable (like $3.99 or less).
I have a Nook, and I am always surprised by how much digital books are. I still find myself getting library books more than anything else, and only get a digital occasionally for a trip, but that is even more and more rare. Looking forward to hearing about how you like On The Road With Francis!
I had no idea one could borrow books on a Kindle…but then, I don’t have a Kindle or anything like it, so I’m clueless about this. I have a few books waiting for me in my Amazon cloud player, but I don’t like reading online. In fact, don’t tell anyone but yours is one of the few blogs I actually READ word for word!
Re: St. Francis, have you been to Le Celle, outside Cortona? Francis had a cell there, you can go into it. Very cool.
I am currently a Library school student and doing a Librarian Internship. We offer ebooks and recently added emagazines and eaudiobooks.. The 3 week lending period has more to do with the publishers rules. They only allow certain titles to be ebooks for lending and a certain quantity for each library…thus some ebooks have a waiting list. I am happy to hear it is working well for you!
Love your blog!
For the longest time I refused to do the digital books, loving to hold and smell a real book. But, I finally broke down and put a couple on my ipad and it sure is nice to have them all in one spot.
I’ve not done too many kindle, but a few of us in my bookclub signed up under a bookclub account and we are sharing it – one user name can be used on up to 6 devices. One book every few months is cheaper than one a month. I also recommend downloading overdrive via the LA County Public Library. You can do it all from your ipad. There aren’t as many titles as there are online, but if you need something quick, it works.