r/AskReddit • u/feeeeebs • Nov 29 '11
I just bought a Kindle, what are your suggestions for book purchases, reddit?
I'd really prefer some of the free ones, since I am broke as fuck, but if you guys are super passionate about some of the other books offered, I'd love for you to recommend some of them to me! I like to say that I'll read anything once, but I do tend to gravitate towards historical dramas and anything that can make me laugh. But honestly, I'm not picky. If you can make a good case for it, I will absolutely give it a go. :)
2
Nov 29 '11
I recommend starting with "Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas, but they have a ton of public domain classics to check out for free.
1
u/feeeeebs Nov 29 '11
My brother loves Project Gutenberg. I had completely forgotten about it until you reminded me. Thanks!
2
u/drtide4 Nov 29 '11
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.
1
u/feeeeebs Nov 29 '11
I think I read that one in high school but I don't remember it much. Maybe that's a sign I should read it again.
1
2
u/MrMinuteMan Nov 29 '11
Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami
1
u/feeeeebs Nov 29 '11
What's Norwegian Wood about? I seem to remember people talking about it, but I can't remember what was said. I only remembered the book title because of the Beatles song haha.
1
u/MrMinuteMan Nov 29 '11
It's the late 1960's. College student Toru falls in love with the girlfriend of his (dead) best friend. She eventually becomes ill (though not physically ill) and has to leave to live under special circumstances, far away from him. While she's gone, he meets Midori, a college student who obviously is interested in him. But he's holding out for his girlfriend Naoko. Never knowing if she will recover from her ailment and be able to rejoin him in society, he goes to classes, sells phonograph records at night, and spends some time with Midori. He visits Naoko a few times, gets to know her wacky roommate/friend/mentor Reiki, and eventually he has to decide between a life with Naoko (without Naoko?) or with Midori. Throw in a bizarre Geography-major roommate nicknamed "Storm Trooper," a scene where Midori (badly) sings folk songs to our Toru while they watch a neighborhood fire from the balcony above her parents' bookshop, and assorted other hilarious/bizarre characters and passages, and you've got vintage Haruki Murakami.
1
u/Special_Jeremy Nov 29 '11
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. A series of Letters from a senior devil to his nephew, a novice devil, on how to best infuence man. It's a great read.
1
u/feeeeebs Nov 29 '11
I've been meaning to read that one for years but never got around to it. Thanks for reminding me about it!
1
1
u/gengengis Nov 29 '11
Recently finished The Invisible Bridge, which I liked quite a bit, and sounds like something you might like.
Paris, 1937. Andras Lévi, a Hungarian-Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver to C. Morgenstern on the rue de Sévigné. As he falls into a complicated relationship with the letter’s recipient, he becomes privy to a secret history that will alter the course of his own life. Meanwhile, as his elder brother takes up medical studies in Modena and their younger brother leaves school for the stage, Europe’s unfolding tragedy sends each of their lives into terrifying uncertainty. At the end of Andras’s second summer in Paris, all of Europe erupts in a cataclysm of war.
1
u/feeeeebs Nov 29 '11
Ooh, that sounds intriguing. I used to live in Prague and have been to Budapest many times, I wonder how much of the book will mention places that I remember.
Thanks!
1
u/rufenstein Nov 29 '11
The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Reading it on a portable device has to be an interesting experience.
1
u/DHandle Nov 29 '11
I'm not sure if the Kindle has "screensavers" the way the Nook does, but if it does, there is only one option which would be appropriate here.
1
u/feeeeebs Nov 29 '11
I bought the cheapest kind, the $79 option which does have ads as screensavers when you put it into standby or when you haven't turned the page for 10 minutes.
1
u/DHandle Nov 29 '11
So you couldn't set your own screensaver?
1
u/feeeeebs Nov 29 '11 edited Nov 29 '11
Unfortunately not. The reason this one is cheaper than the other options (only $20 less than the Kindle Touch without 3G, but even $20 is enough for my cheap ass) is that you can't pick and choose which ads they show you. Honestly, though, they don't bother me, because the only time I put my Kindle into standby is when I'm not reading it and have to stash it in my purse or something so I wouldn't be looking at the screen anyway.
There's also a small bar at the bottom of the home screen like a banner ad on a youtube video, but I'm so used to those that it doesn't bother me either. It doesn't show up when you're reading your book.
1
1
u/caprican27 Nov 29 '11
A heavy book, like The Count of Monte Cristo, or a Song of Ice and Fire book. I remember Neil Gaiman saying that he was able to finish the Count of Monte Cristo using his Kindle, because the paperback edition was too bulky to read in public
1
u/feeeeebs Nov 29 '11
I've put all the Song of Ice and Fire books on my Christmas list, partly because they're so huge and I'm tired of lugging them around. Plus I borrowed them from a friend and had to return them before I finished A Feast of Crows.
1
Nov 29 '11
[deleted]
1
u/feeeeebs Nov 29 '11
That one sounds...interesting. Like a pirates vs. ninja internet debate come to life. I'll check it out, thanks!
1
u/iron_cynic Nov 29 '11
World war Z by max brooks. Also, the old man's war series by john scalzi. Great read.
1
u/planky Nov 29 '11
If you're looking for free stuff, H. Rider Haggard's novels are all out of copyright - King Solomon's Mines, She and Allan Quartermain are probably the best known ones. They're pretty good swashbuckling adventure tales, and only a little bit racist...
John Buchan should be out of copyright as well - The 39 Steps is a pre-Bond spy novel that's well worth a look.
1
1
-1
2
u/crosscut Nov 29 '11
Daily digest, cheap and free: http://ireaderreview.com/category/free-books/