Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

As you may know, I am somewhat obsessed with finding legal free books, music, and other things to keep me entertained. Since I’ve gotten my Kindle, I think I’ve downloaded somewhere around 300 legally free books– mostly from Project Gutenberg, which shall forever hold the key to my spendthrift heart.

But there are other places to get free books besides Project Gutenberg, and that’s where this bi-weekly report will come in. I’ll be posting about freebie downloads I find throughout my internet travels that interest me the most; it’ll be somewhat skewed towards Kindle books, since that’s what I have, but I’ll also let y’all know if other formats are available as well.

I’ve also added a section for books under $3, because that’s the pricepoint that tempts me the most. They’re all at Amazon because that’s where I use my gift cards. Self-centered, I know, but I hope it’ll help out some of y’all who want cheap reads, too. Enjoy!

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As you may know, I am somewhat obsessed with finding legal free books, music, and other things to keep me entertained. Since I’ve gotten my Kindle, I think I’ve downloaded somewhere around 300 legally free books– mostly from Project Gutenberg, which shall forever hold the key to my spendthrift heart.

But there are other places to get free books besides Project Gutenberg, and that’s where this bi-weekly report will come in. I’ll be posting about freebie downloads I find throughout my internet travels that interest me the most; it’ll be somewhat skewed towards Kindle books, since that’s what I have, but I’ll also let y’all know if other formats are available as well. Enjoy!

Comics

• Underground by Jeff Parker and Steve Liever. The complete series, all five issues, for free PDF download. (You can also buy the paper copies for a very decent price, if you want.) Quick summary: “The story follows Park Ranger Wesley Fischer as she tries to save Stillwater Cave– and then has to save herself.”

Books

• Chinatown Beat by Henry Chang. Kindle (probably US-only), Topaz format if that means anything to you. (Shortened) summary: “Detective Jack Yu grew up in Chinatown. Some of his friends are criminals now; some are dead. Jack has just been transferred to his old neighborhood, where 99 percent of the cops are white. Unlike the others, confused by the residents who speak another language even when they’re speaking English, Jack knows what’s going on.”
• Baen just released another CD full of free books, this time by Lois McMaster Bujold. Includes the ENTIRE Vorkosigan Saga! Plus interviews, travel memoirs, speeches, photos, and more! Available in multiple formats worldwide. Yay! (Note: If you prefer to download the entire CD in one go, you can find it hosted here.)
• The Expeditioner’s Club by Kate Moira Ryan can be downloaded for free from Smashwords using the following coupon: YE53J. It’s been getting some good reviews and looks like a fun book! Summary: “Timothy Elliott, the young master of this middle grade novel, is an ordinary boy at the beginning of an extraordinary life. Living in Brooklyn with his mother, he is just a kid who takes for granted the fact that his doorbell is the actual roar of a lion and that the animals of the great plains come alive at night inside his home at the Expeditioner’s Club. To him, it is all so ordinary; and boring. He is terrified first and delighted later when he learns that as the child of two expeditioners, he has been born with the ability to time travel, and what the plan for his life really is. Through his thrilling adventures, Timothy will discover the world as only an expeditioner can.”
• In Praise of Copying by Marcus Boon was just published and is available as a free PDF. Quick summary: “This book is devoted to a deceptively simple but original argument: that copying is an essential part of being human, that the ability to copy is worthy of celebration, and that, without recognizing how integral copying is to being human, we cannot understand ourselves or the world we live in.” (via BoingBoing)
• This isn’t a really new book, but Cory Doctorow’s newest book, For the Win, is available as a free download in multiple formats, just like all his other books. Quick summary: “At any hour of the day or night, millions of people around the globe are engrossed in multiplayer online games, questing and battling to win virtual “gold,” jewels, and precious artifacts. Meanwhile, others seek to exploit this vast shadow economy, running electronic sweatshops in the world’s poorest countries, where countless “gold farmers,” bound to their work by abusive contracts and physical threats, harvest virtual treasure for their employers to sell to First World gamers who are willing to spend real money to skip straight to higher-level gameplay.” (Full summary at the website if you’re interested.)

(I know there are a few more free reads out there right now, especially on publisher websites. But those ones tend to be “read online only” instead of being available to download and read OFF of my computer, which is what I like best. Hm.)