All right, well, I did something I said I would never do: I bought a Kindle. The new 2015 Paperwhite to be exact. Five years ago I would have died had I known that I would one day make such a purchase; I've always been one of those annoying snobs that turned their noses up at digital media. But times, they are a changin', and when I had to sell the vast majority of my books for a cross-country move, I decided I would give an ereader a shot.
So now I have this tiny little device with room for thousands of new books. Have any of you read anything good lately?
Edit: I didn't include any books I'm into because I'm pretty open to anything -- I like everything from Harry Potter to classics to westerns to YA. :)
If you've never read anything by Barbara Kingsolver, now is a great time to start! Amazing stories with very real, well thought out characters. All of her work is incredibly well researched and written! 'The Lacuna', 'The Poisonwood Bible', and 'Flight Behaviour' are brilliant.
There was a recent discussion on what people had recently read. What kind of stuff have you enjoyed in the past? That would help in terms of making recommendations. One of the best things I've found about the Kindle was the large number of free public domain books that are available on the platform. Some really good classics of literature are on there at no cost whatsoever. Defoe, Dickens, Austen, Woolf, Mansfield, Lawrence, Huxley (I'm reading Eyeless in Gaza at the moment, Joyce, and so many others are all available. Certainly worth taking a look at some of the classics, I would say.
One of the first things I did when I got a Kindle was check out Project Gutenberg and binged on a number of out-of-copyright classics. They have a list of their most downloaded books which might be a good place to start. I'd always recommend The Count of Monte Cristo if you're in need of a classic to read and not scared off by long books.
I got my first Kindle a few years ago and still love it. One of my favorite things about having a Kindle is that tons of classic books are free to read on your Kindle. That has gotten me into reading old stuff and classics that I've never read. More specifically, I've gotten really into H.G. Wells lately. I really liked The Time Machine. Invisible Man wasn't my favorite. He also wrote a short story that I thought was fantastic called the Red Room.
Hi Draco,
Don't play around Muggles on the Internet. PS: Sometimes, mudblood's book are somewhat good even according to us. You can find a collection of Reddit's favorite books here : https://mega.co.nz/#!wMR1XIKB!j5QQ8M7aeaW41329PRygR_aJ9I7POg0v1yROvqT5qcM ; including The Great Gatsby, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Lolita, The Old Man and the Sea... Narcissa Malfoy
Do you like series or stand alone books? I like series and here are some of my favorites. Dune by Frank Herbert and later his son Brian Herbert with Kevin J. Anderson A Princess of Mars/ Barsoom Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Movie was called John Carter) The Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan The Shattered Sea by Joe Abercrombie The Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence Myron Bolitar by Harlan Coben The Dark Tower by Stephen King The Origin Mystery by AG Riddle A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin (aka Game of Thrones) Avery Cates by Jeff Sommers These are all series and they range in series size, some are not complete yet. They range from YA to fantasy to murder mystery to thrillers. I'm a series reader because if there isn't a series I tend to read the first book and then quit reading for a while and that means my Kindle is going to waste.
I don't have any books to recommend, but just some advice: Be careful about hording. If you think you had a problem keeping your TBR pile under control with paper books, then it just gets so much more worse (and easier to fall into) on the kindle. I'm a poor example of this, but just be aware of it. As far as books go: Get those big heavy hardcover books that you always wanted to read, on there first. There are way too many books to recommend otherwise, you'll have to be a bit more specific.
Two recommendations for science fiction then. Hyperion, because it's far-future over the top science fiction, with a metal-made teleporting time traveling monster and a poet that likes to swear a lot. And the Vorkosigan Saga (start with the Warrior's Apprentice) because Miles its one of the wittiest heroes ever written. But yeah, use samples! -- What do you like to read? That's pretty important for making recommendations! In any case, one of the very best things about a kindle is that you can get a sample before buying the book. I would say they usually include about three chapters, plenty enough to figure out if you want to keep reading. Unless you're reading an author you are very familiar with, it makes sense to read the sample first. The system is great because when you get to the end of the sample, a dialog shows up where you can buy the book and just keep reading from where you left off.
In the last year I discovered just how great Ray Bradbury's work is. And no, not just Fahrenheit 451 like everyone read in high school. Dandelion Wine is a wonderful read, really sentimental and just thoroughly enjoyable, as well as its much later sequel Farewell Summer. Something Wicked This Way Comes has a similar kind of charm to it in a fantasy/horror story.
Do you like China, or cultural transitions, or cognitive dissonance? The best book I have read this year is River Town by Peter Hessler of the New Yorker, WSJ, etc.