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TUAW reader braintrust: Filling up your iBookShelf

by Erica Sadun Apr 22nd 2010 at 5:00PM

Let's face it. iBook offerings are, at least for the moment, pretty limited. They're also on the slightly pricey side for anyone who emptied their piggy bank on a new iPad. Even those public libraries that offer ePub lending aren't set up to make those titles available for iPad reading. You generally need special Mac or Windows software, and there's DRM aplenty.

That having been said, there are many great readable books out there for the asking. The problem is, as with nearly all free options, a very low signal-to-noise ratio. Sure, you can download one of the top Project Gutenberg titles, but those top twenty lists tend to be uninspiring. Getting a peer recommendation for a truly excellent read is often a lot better indication of whether you'll like a book or not than popularity charts.

That's why we thought we'd open up this post to your free ePub recommendations. Our TUAW reader pool is full of passionate book enthusiasts. We'll get the ball rolling with a few of our suggestions and then we invite you to chime in in the comments with yours. Don't forget to say why you're recommending the book and who it might be a good match for, taste-wise.

Let's help each other to find some quality iBooks. And don't forget: Just because a book isn't already in ePub format, there's no reason that it can't be converted using a tool like Stanza or Calibre!


Parnassus on Wheels is a warm, delightful novel about a woman who buys a traveling bookstore and the adventures she encounters. Its full of fun for anyone who loves books and practical homespun self-reliance.
Recommended for: Readers who like chick-lit		 The Egg and I tells the nearly-real story of Betty MacDonald's days as a child bride and chicken rancher. This hilarious comedy is the source of the "Ma and Pa Kettle" characters you may have heard of.
Recommended for: Readers, especially women, who like humorous first person memoirs.
Wizards Bane wonders what would happen if a computer geek got transported to a world of magic. Could you create a programming language for spell casting? It's a solid but silly fantasy that's fun to read.
Recommended for: Computer geeks.		 Sheepfarmer's Daughter demonstrates what happens when classic fantasy meets an author with a military background. There are elves and gnomes -- but also patrols, cold weather, wet socks and a heavy dose of realism.
Recommended for: Readers who like fantasy, military lit, or both
Five Children and It is one of E. Nesbit's many amazing fantasy books for children. It's full of that "sense of wonder" that so many children's books strive for and never achieve. If you like this one, you'll want to try some of her other titles as well!
Recommended for: Children and former children		 Magic Pudding offers a classic tale of silliness and mayhem among the Koalas. Make sure you download the illustrated version of this children's book!
Recommended for: Fans of Pooh who want to range beyond A. A. Milne. Good for story time with younger readers.
Marvelous Land of Oz proves that the Oz story doesn't end with the Wizard of Oz movie. I loved these books as a kid, both the Baum ones and the later ones by Ruth Plumly Thompson.
Recommended for: Fans of the original book Wizard of Oz even more than the movie		 Also of interest:


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Let's face it. iBook offerings are, at least for the moment, pretty limited. They're also on the slightly pricey side for anyone who...
 

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Anthony Usher

I'm yet to get my hands on the iPad but I was wondering if the iBook App has much Stephen King? The Dark Tower series in-particular?

May 13 2010 at 11:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jason Thibeault

Thanks to the iPad, I founded an entire publishing company devoted to bringing back the Dime Novel format for the ebook world. Dime Novel Publishing (www.dimenovelpublishing.com) produces serialized fiction (23-issues per volume; volumes are annual) targeted at young adult audiences (or anyone young at heart). We have three series right now and distribute primary through Smashwords.com which gets us right onto the iPad.

The first issue of each series is always free and subsequent issues cost $.99. We are talking with Apple about enabling volume subscriptions and well soon offer each issue as an audio book as well through iTunes.

These "serialized adventures" are a fun read for kids ages 8-80 and we hope to fill up the iBookstore with lots more titles over the next few months.

Hit up the website (www.dimenovelpublishing.com) to learn more and then visit the iBookstore and search for one of our titles.

May 09 2010 at 5:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

I'm very late to this post, but check out archive.org. They have over 1.8 million books in kindle, PDF, or epub format. Previously I pointed the stanza at the epub URL and it would download to my iPhone. I dragged it into my books folder in iTunes and it opened fine on my ipad.

May 06 2010 at 2:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dale

Getting my iPad coincided with me having a commute long enough to justify reading again. The last time I had a long commute, I tore through books at a rate of knots.

Erica's right, if you're inclined to read, you're inclined to read.

May 05 2010 at 2:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
asif

Strange post - so a computer geek would enjoy a book where a computer programmer goes to a magical world? what's wrong with A Confederacy of Dunces?

May 04 2010 at 1:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jakethepianist

Considering that I'm still an eighth grader, I'd say that 60+ for the school year is a decent total. At least it is for my school.

May 03 2010 at 8:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
a1ex

Does anyone know if you can import Kindle books to iBooks?

May 02 2010 at 1:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Noah Ramon

I'd missed that you'd recommended Wizard's Bane. The earlier .pdb files for it were garbled - which is a darn shame, because the series was SO good. (The last volume is a little muddled, but the first four are DARN fun.)

Highly recommended, and Cook's other works as well.

April 28 2010 at 1:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joey

If you like science fiction, the publisher Baen has a free library here: http://www.webscription.net/c-1-free-library.aspx , and they also frequently put cd's with a lot of their books, some not available on the free library with a free, non commercial, distribution license. Those cd's are hosted at: http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/ . Baen has actually been providing DRM-free eBooks for over a decade and it has actually inceased their sales, especially hardcovers. What an amazing concept. You treat your customers like honest people and they act like honest people.

April 27 2010 at 8:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Leo of BORG

Auntie TUAW, I have three words for you:

BAEN FREE LIBRARY.

All of their SF books in ePub import directly into iTunes and your slab with little or no modification.

http://www.webscription.net/c-1-free-library.aspx

I really recommend Keith Laumer's books, especially Retief! if you like intergalactic comedy.

April 27 2010 at 3:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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