Literature

altz3r0 , in What are some good, 'easy reads'?
@altz3r0@beehaw.org avatar

Kurt Vonnegut was one of the easiest writers to read for me. I’d recommend starting with Slaughterhouse-5.

My actual comfort reading, though, is William Gibson, but he is not easy to read.

Lakes , in Ancient historical fiction?

The Source by James Michener!! It is the journey of religion throughout the middle east up until modern day.

Thalestr , in Looking for a Kindle Store (not the physical ereaders) Alternative
@Thalestr@beehaw.org avatar

I love my Kobo ereader and have been using their store for years. It’s totally a viable alternative. I also use Overdrive so I can borrow and read library ebooks on my ereader as well. I can also read things (even the borrowed books) through any browser or the Kobo app if I want.

I’m not sure about crackability of Kobo’s books but I’d imagine it’s much easier than Amazon. As you already discovered, Amazon updated their encryption recently so any new books can’t be cracked.

CrypticFawn OP ,
@CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I’ll def add Kobo as a top contender then. Do I have to use their app on my phone? If so, I don’t mind using Calibre to solve that issue.

cjf ,

Kobo books are pretty trivial to crack. There’s a calibre plugin for it.

Overdrive is also pretty straightforward, but it doesn’t feel right borrowing ebooks from your library to rip the drm off of them.

Andjhostet ,

Does Kobo do DRM too or can you get epubs?

Thalestr ,
@Thalestr@beehaw.org avatar

Books from Kobo’s store are epubs with DRM. You can crack the DRM with Calibre if you wish. I never do as I just read them on my Kobo ereader.

CrypticFawn OP ,
@CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

That’s really good to know, ty ty!

Bldck , in Looking for a Kindle Store (not the physical ereaders) Alternative

Check out libro.fm. For audiobooks at least, you can download the raw files and use them as you please. I’d expect the same for ebooks

CrypticFawn OP ,
@CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Thank you!

quasar , in Ancient historical fiction?
@quasar@aussie.zone avatar

The Metamorphoses (aka The Golden Ass) by Apuleius.

ag_roberston_author , in Looking for a Kindle Store (not the physical ereaders) Alternative
@ag_roberston_author@beehaw.org avatar

Kobo store is probably the best competitor.

CrypticFawn OP ,
@CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Yea been looking through it and I’m impressed with the selection.

bonzo22 , in Looking for a Kindle Store (not the physical ereaders) Alternative

Ebooks.com sells books without drm for publishers that don’t require it! I read a lot of sci-fi and Tor doesn’t publish with drm so I always buy their books there. I think Kobo is owned by Walmart so I try to stick to ebooks.com whenever I can.

sin_free_for_00_days ,

Walmart partnered with Kobo for something in their stores, but Kobo is a Canadian company.

bonzo22 ,

Oh good to know, thanks!

worfamerryman ,

This is really amazing. I have been looking for something like this for some time. Not super hard, but I am not buying an ebook with drm. I am surprised how many books on on there.

bonzo22 ,

It is really great! Also just to be clear some books do come with drm, but it’s explicitly listed for every book. But you can also use a no drm filter in the search to see all the ones without it. A great way to find publishers to support!

CrypticFawn OP ,
@CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Ty ty!

Either6393 , in Looking for a Kindle Store (not the physical ereaders) Alternative

If you’re up for reading some classics, check out Project Gutenberg: www.gutenberg.org

ayla ,
@ayla@beehaw.org avatar

Standard Ebooks offers somewhat nicer formatted versions of some of the Project Gutenberg books: standardebooks.org

Either6393 ,

This is fantastic! Thank you for sharing!

CrypticFawn OP ,
@CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Of course! I love Project Gutenberg.

ClassyHatter , in Looking for a Kindle Store (not the physical ereaders) Alternative
@ClassyHatter@sopuli.xyz avatar

There’s a new fork of DeDRM tools that should be able crack the new Amazon DRM. noDRM’s fork probably will be updated some time later to include the patches from the other fork.

github.com/Satsuoni/DeDRM_tools

CrypticFawn OP ,
@CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Tried that one a few days ago; no go.

ayla , in Looking for a Kindle Store (not the physical ereaders) Alternative
@ayla@beehaw.org avatar

Humble Bundle sells limited-time bundles of DRM-free ebooks and comics pretty cheaply: www.humblebundle.com/books

CrypticFawn OP ,
@CrypticFawn@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Aw sick, didn’t realize they did book bundles too, ty!

sin_free_for_00_days , in Here are 19 books our critics are excited for this summer (NPR)

I think I’ll add The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon to my stack of to-be-read books. I think it was Michael Silverblatt (Host of Bookworm on NPR until 2022) who said,“There are so many great books. What is more rare is great readers.” I used to consider myself a great reader. Or at least good. I received a BA in English Lit from a top tier University and loved reading and analyzing heavy, dense, beautiful prose and stories. It seems the past half decade or so, I only want to read lighter stuff for pure entertainment and escape. Not Marvel movie levels of vapidness, but still. I’m not sure how I feel about this state of being.

TimTheEnchanter OP ,
@TimTheEnchanter@beehaw.org avatar

I can relate to that. I’m pretty firmly in the “read what you want” camp, and I mostly try to adhere to that for myself. I try to strike a balance between escapist, light books, and books that are more challenging (and I enjoy both!). But it’s hard to shake that feeling of “I ought to be reading XYZ book instead of this,” no matter what I’m reading.

gina , in Here are 19 books our critics are excited for this summer (NPR)
@gina@lemm.ee avatar

I am very, very excited for Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake. I don’t even know how to explain it but her novels are like some sort of mix of hypnosis and dopamine to my brain.

TimTheEnchanter OP ,
@TimTheEnchanter@beehaw.org avatar

I read Bel Canto earlier this year and it was fantastic. I was hooked immediately and engrossed the whole way through! I’ll definitely have to pick up her new one!

gina ,
@gina@lemm.ee avatar

That was a very good one. I also loved her last novel Dutch House. I read it when it came out and then listened to the audio read by Tom Hanks a couple times during the early days of the pandemic when all I could really do was go for long walks. It’s not exactly a cheerful book, but I found it very comforting.

jamie ,
@jamie@lemmy.gtfo.social avatar

I loved the audiobook.

gina ,
@gina@lemm.ee avatar

Me, too. I have always been pretty neutral about Tom Hanks, but now I am wishing he read more audiobooks.

TimTheEnchanter , in Chuck Tingle Goes Mainstream...ish
@TimTheEnchanter@beehaw.org avatar

Sounds interesting, adding it to the list!

Chemslayer , in Chuck Tingle Goes Mainstream...ish

I’ve loved tingle, I’ve read most of his Asexual stories (which do a great job of both portraying ace and satirizing/joking around with it) and also Straight. I gotta say though, while Straight was an enjoyable read, it wasn’t really good as far as being a horror novel went. But that’s fair for the guys first try, and I’m interested to see what his next “serious” offering reads like

Thrashy , in Chuck Tingle Goes Mainstream...ish
@Thrashy@beehaw.org avatar

Man, the Puppies’ anti-representation Hugo campaign backfiring into Internet fame for Chuck Tingle was one of the few highlights of 2016. I was at WorldCon that year and the number of people sporting " I Am Chuck Tingle" ribbons on their badges was amazing.

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