‘Take a look it’s in a book’: FREE book downloads

Library at Thebes

“A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face.  It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy.”  ~Edward P. Morgan~

One of the things I love about the Internet is that the world and all it’s knowledge is at my fingertips. It’s like having your very own Library of Alexandria, or Thebes or Congress. But, instead of stone tablets, scrolls and parchment under glass you get instant “e-formation.”

If you surf around as much as I do during the course of a typical day, you are probably very familiar with free eBook offers from Google and from major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple. However, there are a number of sites where free eBooks are always the daily norm.

Some of these sites offer direct reading from your computer, or down-loadable  PDF format; others invite free legal downloads to smartphones, eReaders and tablets.

Everything imaginable, for every reading taste and age is available - from established classics to emerging writers, and even children’s books.

Almost all of these sites offer fiction and non-fiction, but for your convenience, I’ve called out specialized categories that might be of interest.

You may want to bookmark this page for future reference and perusing these links at your leisure. Free is always fun.

And, if you get a bit weary from searching for the perfect FREE eBook, sit back and take in a most unusual retelling of The Three Little Pigs, performed in 1993 by (normally menacing actor) Christopher Walken, for the British TV series "Saturday Zoo". Thanks to MrMojomc’s YouTube Channel for the following funny video, “Walken Piggy “

FREE eBooks

AskSam Ebooks (Everything from governmental texts and legal to Shakespeare).

Authorama

Baen Free Library (For Science Fiction fans).

Bartleby.com

Bibliotastic (Good reads from self-published authors).

BookYards (Includes audio books, educational materials, foreign language books and more).

eBookLobby (Cooking, food, travel, law, arts, photography and more).

Feedbooks.com

FreeBookSpot

FreeComputerBooks (Best for computer, programming, lecture notes, tutorials, and math).

4eBooks  (Specializes in books on computer programming).

Free-eBooks.net

FreeTechBooks (Just what the name implies – engineering, science, textbooks etc.)

Fictionwise.com

GetFreeEBooks

Globusz

KnowFree (A virtual educational think tank).

Literature.org

ManyBooks (Perfect for iPod, eBook readers and Personal Digital Assistants).

MemoWare (Maps, technical references, religion, philosophy, literature).

The Online Books Page (From the University of Pennsylvania includes prize-winning books, women writers and banned book collection).

OnlineComputerBooks (Not only computers books but math, physics, science, Internet,  business and marketing).

OnlineFreeEBooks ( A wide variety including health, hobbies, sports and martial arts).

Open Library

Project Gutenberg

Scribd.com

SnipFiles (Free software along with free eBooks).

Universal Digital Library at Carnegie Mellon University

zillr.org (Magazines, games, graphics, photography).

The iPad Challenge: Part Deux

On Friday, April 28, 2010, just four days after I posted The iPad Challenge:Cat, Dog or Man? Apple’s nifty little device made its way into the hands of its one-millionth customer, and as of yesterday, 3G and Wi-Fi pre-orders began for international markets with the first round of shipping to begin on May 28 to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom - with more international markets to follow in July.

In the Cat, Dog or Man challenge, you were asked to determine who would best benefit from using Apple’s iPad based on the viral videos that were being circulated around the Internet.

According to your comments, it appears the ‘Cat’ won paws down, with pianist Lang Lang coming in a close second.

However, since the last post, two more contenders have entered the competition and they might just alter your opinions.

Our first competitor is a toddler who is barely 2.5 years of age. According to her father and the Telstar Logistics’ YouTube account where the video appears, he shares the following information: “A fascinating UI experiment. My daughter likes playing with my iPhone, but this was her very first encounter with an iPad. As you'll see, she took right to it... although she too wonders why it doesn't have a camera!"

Our second contender, 99 year-old Virginia Campbell was filmed at the Mary Woods Retirement Community in Oregon. Virginia is the widow of former Lake Oswego Mayor C. Herald Cambell, and this was her very first encounter with the unit, plus she’s never owned a computer or even a Kindle, and to top it off Virginia suffers from glaucoma.

Time to cast your votes – this one’s a real tough choice.

TODDLER



VIRGINIA CAMPBELL