From My Armchair: 4 August 2012


I am into my last days of annual leave, so it is doubtful I’ll be able to read anywhere near as much as I have this last week. I’ll probably have the Kindle out at lunch for a bit, so I’ll still be getting some reading in even while I’m at work. The Kindle has certainly made it a lot easier to have good reading material available no matter where I am. Loving the Kindle.

 

Social Networks, Web Applications & Other Tools

Not a lot has happened with the social networks in the book/reading niche over this last week, except that I have been updating Goodreads on a regular basis as to what I am reading, progress and cataloguing the books as I go.

I did do a quick addition to Quotista, which has a lot of potential but doesn’t appear to be being developed any further, which is quite disappointing. It could really be something good if it was improved from time to time. It looks so good. So, I have also been using a personal WordPress.com blog for filing quotes. This will be able to be searched and catalogued as I go and will make a very good tool down the track, curating my reading over the years, while still being able to use my books as valuable tools for further research and study. I think it works OK.

 

Currently Reading:

Currently, I am reading two books – well one actually, but about to start another. These are listed below:

Killing Calvinism– Killing Calvinism: How to Destroy a Perfectly Good Theology from the Inside, by Greg Dutcher

I have started reading this twice – it is an excellent read and I wanted to absorb what I had read, so I thought why not start again. Highly recommend this one.

See also:
https://atthebookshelf.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/book-review-killing-calvinism-how-to-destroy-a-perfectly-good-theology-from-the-inside-by-greg-dutcher/

 

– Phantoms on the Bookshelves, by Jacques Bonnet

I haven’t really started this book as I finish this post, but it will be one I’ll be starting some time today.

 

Finished Reading:

Treasure IslandI have managed to get a couple of books read this week (and even reviewed).

– One of these book was ‘Treasure Island,’ by Robert Louis Stevenson. I read this on the Kindle and it was a very quick read, finishing it in two days. My book review is linked to below.

For more visit:
https://atthebookshelf.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/book-review-treasure-island-by-robert-louis-stevenson/

 

The Bourne Identity– I also managed to complete ‘The Bourne Identity,’ by Robert Ludlum. This is the first of 10 books in the Jason Bourne series.

I haven’t yet completed a book review on this one, it will be coming soon.

 

The Hunger Games– I both purchased and read the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy, ‘The Hunger Games,’ by Suzzane Collins this week.

I haven’t yet completed a book review on this one either, but it will come this week sometime hopefully.

 

Purchased & Added to Library:

I again grabbed a heap of free ebooks from Amazon. These are all of the books I’ve posted on my Blog ‘The Book Stand,’ so all posted there I also downloaded for myself. I’ll certainly have more books than I can ever read that’s for sure, but certainly never wanting for choice. No harm in grabbing them while there free and in digital format – if I don’t read them all, what does it matter? At least I’ll have them if I want to read them.

Among the books I actually purchased this week:

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Phantoms on the Bookshelves, by Jacques Bonnet

 

Free Books: Finding Free Books for the Kindle


The link below is to an article that looks into ways to find free Kindle Books.

For more visit:
http://www.labnol.org/software/download-free-books-for-kindle/10990/

Article: Interview with Amazon and Kindle Founder Jeff Bezos


The link below is to an article that contains an interview with Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Kindle. This article makes for an interesting read and is well worth a look.

For more visit:
Jeff Bezos Interview

The Book Stand


The Book Stand is my Tumblr Blog, which is all about free Kindle and PDF format ebooks. The Blog is regularly updated and now has something like 50 ebooks listed. These ebooks are not always free for long, so please check that they still are if you wish to get the ebook for free only. There are some great books available for free.

Visit The Book Stand at:
The Book Stand.

The Book Stand content is now available in the right hand column of this Blog also via a RSS feed and widget.

Remember, you can always download the free Kindle app for your computer, Mac or other device from Amazon, so you don’t need to actually own a Kindle ebook reader.

Visit Amazon for these options:
Amazon Kindle Apps

Article: Saving Web Articles to read on a Kindle Reader


The link below is to a brilliant article on how to save web articles to read later on your Kindle ebook reader. It’s a tutorial on how it’s done. The article includes Instapaper as an option, which is the application that I use. There are other possibilities included. A great little tutorial.

For more visit:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-web-articles-read-nontablet-kindle/

Article: Kindle Cloud Reader


The link below is to a brilliant new application that allows you to read your Kindle content on any device anywhere in the world, providing you have an Internet connection.

For more visit:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/read-ebooks-anywhere-kindle-cloud-reader/

Article: Borrow Harry Potter Ebooks for Free


The link below is to an article reporting on how to borrow the Harry Potter ebooks for free – but you do need to be an Amazon Prime member to do so. They are available from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

For more visit:
http://www.mediabistro.com/appnewser/harry-potter-ebooks-now-available-to-borrow-from-kindle_b23908

It would appear that you also need to be in the USA. The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library site provides more information on how to access ebooks.

Article: Updates to Kindle Apps To Better Support Books With Pictures


The link below is to an article that provides more information on the latest updates to the various Kindle Apps.

For more visit:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/amazon-updates-its-kindle-apps-to-better-support-books-with-pictures-updates/

Article: Latest Kindle App Updates


The link below is to an article reporting on the latest updates to the Kindle Reading Apps. If you use Kindle, this is an article you may be interested in.

For more visit:
http://www.mediabistro.com/appnewser/kindle-app-adds-childrens-books-comics-graphic-novels_b23792

Free Book: Free Kindle Best Sellers


The link below is to a Pinterest style website that shows a listing of best sellers that can be currently downloaded to a Kindle for free. There is also a link to an article about the site.

For more visit:
http://www.labnol.org/internet/kindle-bestsellers-free/21270/

Website:
http://ctrlq.org/amazon/ebooks/