I've been sniping free books for Kindle for a while now. In my opinion, the Kindle is worth its purchase price solely for the reason that there are so many books available for free on it. It's also very convenient.
Almost any book in the public domain (more than 100 years old I think) is likely available. Here are some of the books I've picked up, along with a short review if I've read the book:
1. The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights. Sir James Knowles
Somewhat more readable story than the original Malory. Only read about 15% but seems to diverge somewhat from Malory's tale, at least in the beginning.
2. Stories of King Arthur and His Knights Retold from Malory's Mort d'Arthur. U. Waldo Cutler
3. The Story of King Arthur and His Knights. Howard Pyle
4. The History of England, Volume I. David Hume
5. The History of England from the Norman Conquest to the Death of John (1066-1216). George Burton Adams
6. Les Miserables (English Language). Victor Hugo
7. Chancellorsville and Gettysburg Campaigns of the Civil War IV. Abner Doubleday.
This is pretty good. I don't know if the other volumes are available.
8. The Talisman. Sir Walter Scott.
A very, very good story up until the very end. The last chapter is almost as anti-climactic as Game of Thrones Book 5. Worth reading, but just understand that the end might leave you feeling unfulfilled.
9. The Betrothed. Sir Walter Scott.
Very good, but another lame ending.
10. Ivanhoe. Sir Walter Scott. A classic. Very good and the ending doesn't suck!
11. With Fire and Sword, An Historical Novel of Poland and Russia. Henryk Sienkiewicz.
All of Sienkiewicz's books are good. I highly recommend the first two books of the Fire and Sword Trilogy. Book 3...I couldn't finish it. But the first two are very good. Sienkiewicz has a very interesting writing style. Part of this could be due to the translation (by Curtin, there are other non-free translations). There are a lot of flaring nostrils and twitching mustaches! A hard read, but ultimately fulfilling. Highly recommended!
12. The Deluge, Vol. I, An Historical Novel of Poland and Russia. Henryk Sienkiewicz. Book 2 (part 1) of the F&S Trilogy. Another fine book, worth reading. If you play Mount and Blade: With Fire and Sword, you will recognize the characters from this book in the game. Highly recommended.
13. The Deluge, Vol. II, An Historical Novel of Poland and Russia. Henryk Sienkiewixz.
Part 2 of Book 2 of the F&S Trilogy. Highly recommended.
14. Barbarossa: An Historical Novel of the XII Century. Von Bolanden.
I read some of this book. I think I finished it and enjoyed it. Recommended.
15. Le Mort d'Arthur, Vol. 1. Thomas Malory.
The original tale, translated from Old English, but retaining the olde style. A tough read, but I enjoy the fact that it is the source material, relatively unaltered, from which other interpretations are drawn. Worth giving a try.
16. Le Mort d'Arthur, Vol. 2. Thomas Malory
17. The Knights of the Cross, or Kryzacy. Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Another great novel by H.S. What sucks about this one, though, is that it appears to be part 1 of a 2 part series. I've been unable to find part 2 for free. Further, the other part 2's I've seen for sale I can't tell if they are the full part 2 or just part. I recommend reading this book anyway, the story is good and you do get partial closure. But there are some loose ends that won't get tied up unfortunately.
18. On the Field of Glory, An Historical Novel of the Time of King John Sobieski. Henryk Sienkiewicz.
I haven't read this one. In fact, I forgot I had it until just now.
19. Witch Stories. E. Lynn Linton
20. The Three Musketeers. Alexandre Dumas.
A good, classic book! Haven't finished it, though.
21. The Odyssey of Homer. Homer
22. Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero. Henryk Sienkiewicz.
If you've liked H.S.'s books up till now, you'll like this one. I actually got to about 75% before I moved on, but I think that's because I burned out on these books a bit. They're tough to read. Still, and interesting story about a Roman's conversion to Christianity with some neat historical religious nuggets. Recommended.
23. Pan Michael: An Historical Novel of Poland, the Ukraine, and Russia. Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Book 3 of the F&S Trilogy, focusing on Pan Michael. I had a lot of trouble with this one. The story didn't grab me and I gave up about 35% in. I might revisit it someday just to get closure. At 1,000+ pages per book, it takes some commitment to stick through the whole trilogy.
24. Sir Nigel. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Doyle wrote Sherlock Holmes, so you know he can write. I enjoyed the portion of this book that I read. It is the predecessor to The White Company (below). Recommended.
25. The White Company. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
26. The Dragon and the Raven. George Alfred Henty
27. The Republic. Plato
28. Crime and Punishment. Fyodor Dostoyevsky
29. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri; The Inferno. Dante
30. The Iliad. Homer
31. The Odyssey. Homer
32. Frankenstein. Mary Shelley
33. Don Quixote. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
34. Walden. Henry David Thoreau
35. The Lion of the North: A Tale of the Times of Gustavus Adolphus. G. A. Henty
36. The Thirty Years War-Complete. Friedrich Schiller
37. The History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides
38. Heart of Darkness. Joseph Conrad.
I understand that this book inspired Apocalypse Now. I read about 50% several years ago and enjoyed it very much. Another book I must revisit and finish. Recommended.
39. How Jerusalem Was Won Being the Record of Allenby's Campaign in Palestine. William Thomas Massey.
I forgot I had this one. Sounds interesting!
40. The Great Boer War. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
41. The Franco-German War of 1870-1871. Von Moltke
42. God Wills It! A Tale of the First Crusade. William Stearns Davis.
I'm currently reading this one right now and really enjoying it. It has a very similar flavor to Sienkiewicz and Sir Walter Scott. Recommended.
43. Gettir the Strong, Icelandic Saga. Unknown Author
44. The Story of Burnt Njal from the Icelandic Njals Saga. Dasent
45. Laxdaela Saga Translated from the Icelandic. Press (unknown author)
This is just what I have on my Kindle...there are many many more if you are into classics, or if you follow the bouncing ball from one of these books.
About #39, I think the Palestine campaign was one of the most interesting campaigns of WWI. Lots of good literature about it if you look.
#10 - cannot recommend Ivanhoe enough. An excellent read and has absolutely stood the test of time.
I have had good luck with ibooks as well (as I have an ipad mini). I have scored most of the Sherlock Holmes books for free for instance. Lot's of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells out there, too.
I did figure out (duh) there is a Kindle app for my ipad so now I have THAT collection available, too. Great list, Toonces!
Baen Books has a free library if you like Science Fiction and Fantasy.
http://www.baenebooks.com/c-1-free-library.aspx
#6 Still not finished it.
#7 Just one of many ACW books on my Kindle
#30 and 31, although I have hard copies as well
#36 Not finished this one, either.
#41 An excellent read.
Totally agree with you, its well worth the cost of a Kindle. Apart from picking up free books, there are a whole lot more which you can buy for pennies.
Quote from: airboy on September 21, 2014, 01:12:24 PM
Baen Books has a free library if you like Science Fiction and Fantasy.
http://www.baenebooks.com/c-1-free-library.aspx
Yes they do! That free library is what got me into reading e-books on a portable device. I wanted to read in bed but there were no Kindles yet and laptops were too bulky so I bought some ancient Fujitsu touchscreen piece-o'-crap on eBay and loaded the Baen library on it. The thing was a real PITA to use but I could at least flip pages and read before sleep. Later, when the first Kindle came out I bought one right away, selling the Fujitsu and my laptop to pay for it. I've never regretted that purchase since. :)
Gust Front and 1632 are fun series.
another freebie
http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Kings-Stormlight-Archive/dp/0765365278/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413811039&sr=8-1&keywords=the+way+of+kings
Quote from: bayonetbrant on October 20, 2014, 08:17:57 AM
another freebie
http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Kings-Stormlight-Archive/dp/0765365278/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413811039&sr=8-1&keywords=the+way+of+kings
Looks like 10 bucks to me.
it was free for the Kindle when I posted it! :P
edit: I just hit the link and it's showing Kindle price of $0.00
Kev is probably getting redirected to Amazon.ca where it is indeed 10 dollahz.
Can you Canadians buy on the US site and get stuff shipped up or are you forced to back to Amazon.ca when you try to check out your cart?
see attached. The title bar is amazon.com
I see audiobook for free.
If I browse for the book on Amazon .com I get this:
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi747.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx120%2FStaggerwing%2FScreenshot2014-10-23200739_zps82348313.png&hash=f9bd37fa7b1db1c02dc0bae83c414a6f27efb081)
If I browse for it on Amazon.ca I get this:
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi747.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx120%2FStaggerwing%2FScreenshot2014-10-23200632_zps7a5761af.png&hash=a54c9aad5ec3cb1805e39c69b87d7a1eac3ef8d9)
Looks like it's a USA only freebie. :-\
see attached
I never doubted you, I was surprised the .com from my location acts as .ca.
Maybe it's your ISP being 'helpful'- "Shop Canada, eh?"
Here's a great (and legitimate) source of free E-Books, particularly older ones:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page