So last year I bought an Iliad ebook. I figured that I would use it pretty often: reading books and newspapers, taking notes, doing sudoku. But I never realized I would use it quite as often as I have.
Seriously, I believe that in the 5 months since I bought it I have read maybe 3 “real” books. Which isn’t to say that I haven’t read any good books lately (quite the contrary), but only that right now I’m experiencing Iliad withdrawal.
You see, my charger hub connector is on the fritz, so I have no way to recharge my precious ebook. Which means that until my new connector arrives (next week!), I am once again back in the land of paper books.
Fortunately, I have a ton of books, as anyone who has ever helped me move can attest. Plus, I recently picked up one at half-price books that I’ve been trying to find for years: The Schrodinger’s Cat trilogy by RA Wilson. Yes, I know that I could have just ordered it online, but I don’t really do that. I prefer to hold the book in my hands if I’m going to spend money on it. I had seen it once at the old Dreamhaven Two in Dinkytown, but I didn’t have the money at the time and figured I’d get it later (You can guess how long ago that was, considering how long ago they closed that store). And I hadn’t seen the book again since. Until this weekend. So I have plenty to read, but I’m going to miss having a few dozen books handy at all times. Oh well…
So anyway, I figured this would be a good occasion to make a list of ebooks I’ve enjoyed over the past 5 months. Not all of the books I’ve read have been good, but many have. And so far, everything but my Concise OED (a gift from my loving wife) and a few comics have been free. Most are available in multiple formats, usually PDF, so chances are you can download and enjoy them even if you don’t have and/or don’t plan to get an ebook.
Make sure you’re sitting down, this may take a while.
- Chumble Spuzz, 1 through 3. What could be better than a comic about a possessed pig, from the publishers of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac? That’s right, Slave Labor Graphics has an e-comic store. They sell their comics really cheap, usually $0.69 to $0.89 each.
- A Life Transparent, Todd Keisling. This is a writer whose work I’ve admired on 365 Tomorrows (a really fun site that features a new, short-short piece of speculative fiction every day. I’ve had their RSS feed on my aggregator for ages). He self-published this book, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth reading. I just finished this one yesterday. It kept me glued to my Iliad to the point where I almost forgot to come back from my lunch break.
- Rex Libris, 1 through 8. More comics from Eyemelt (Slave Labor Graphics’ online store). Action comic featuring a near-immortal librarian. Need I say more?
- Open Letters. This is an online magazine I adored in 2000. I would download and print their issues every week. Then they stopped publishing. I figured that the site was probably long gone. But the site is still there, and all of the issues are still available. I can’t speak highly enough of this mag. It has some really great writing, all in the form of letters, which gives you an almost voyeuristic thrill reading them. Some greats wrote letters for them way-back-when, like Sarah Vowell and John Hodgman.
- The Queen’s Own FBI trilogy. A very silly but imminently readable series of pulp novels from the 60s. Yes, they’re pure fluff, but really fun fluff.
- Geek Mafia (and to a lesser extent, its sequel, Geek Mafia – Mile Zero). Geek con artist action novel.
- Postsingular, by Rudy Rucker. Also available on Feedbooks.com (which I personally prefer because it formats nicer for the Iliad). I don’t have a clue what this genre is called anymore (cyberpunk? biopunk?), but it’s really good sci-fi in the nanotechnology, body-modifications, VR, kind-of vein. Also, it’s a bit apocalyptic (thus the title, of course), which is always a plus in my book.
- Scratch Monkey, by Charlie Stross. Another creative commons novel. Sci-fi (aren’t most of them?). But also a bit scary, in a good way. Reminded me a bit of Event Horizon (but not as much as Blindsight did, see below).
- Idea in Stone, Hamish MacDonald. This novel is good but very hard to describe. So I’ll just say that it’s a little supernatural, a little funny, and a little gay.
- Everyone in Silico, Jim Munroe. More Creative Commons. More good sci-fi from the author that also brought us…
- Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gasmask. It’s all about the Flyboy (whose costume includes a gas mask, get it?). Silly, but well-written and tough to put down.
- Blindsight, by Peter Watts. Vampires in space. And yeah, that sounds silly. But these are scientifically explained vampires, and this is really good, scary sci-fi. This is the one that reminds me of Event Horizon. Haunted me for a few days after I finished reading it. That good. He’s also written a trilogy (Starfish, Maelstrom, and Behemoth) that I’ve been meaning to read, but they take place under water. Those of you who know me know that I really don’t like being underwater, plus I have an irrational fear of whales. So I don’t know when I’ll get around to reading these possibly scary novels about things that already scare me. He’s a good writer, though, so I figured other people might be interested.
- Accelerando, by Charlie Stross. Brilliant. Just brilliant. Sci-fi. This was one of the longer ones I’ve read on my Iliad (almost 500 pages), but I would have read it if it was twice as long. Or thrice. He’s an amazing storyteller (and sometimes collaborator of Cory Doctorow).
- Pagan Passions. Teehee. Pure pulp from the 60s. Very fluffy, but also naughty (thus the title). Imagine if the Greek gods came back and took over the world. By the authors of the Queen’s Own FBI trilogy.
- Second Body, by Milorad Pavic. Pavic is one of my favorite authors.His Kazar Dictionary is sublime. Landscapes Painted with Tea is gorgeous. Plus, the man has written a tarot novel. This is a short novel/novella he has available on his website. A very good introduction to his writing. If you like it, let me know and you may be able to borrow one of his other novels.
- Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, by Cory Doctorow. Considering how many of the novels above are creative commons, it’s amazing I don’t have more Doctorow on this list. But truth be told, I read most of Doctorow’s work well before I got my Iliad (I used to print them out four pages to a sheet, which is just tiny printing, and read them while smoking on my old patio/porch). But this one I read on my Iliad, and it’s currently my favorite. Highly recommended.
This is hardly an exhaustive list. I’ve got a lot of other books on my Iliad that I want to read, plus some reference books, and some classics that I’ve always meant to read (which usually means that I want to read them, and sometimes only means that I feel like I ought to read them). Plus I use it for newspapers, RSS feeds (a handy feature of Feedbooks.com), magazines, and some graphic novels.
And soon, my Iliad will be working again. Maybe I’ll do a post like this periodically. Not only can I share good books, but I can also use it to remember what I liked.
Ta.