The Kindle Books and Resources List

Post by **vison** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:51 pm

Impenitent wrote:Anthony Trollope!

All of his books (including his autobiography) are available here:

http://freekindlebooks.org/Trollope/trollope.html

ETA: Prim, if you download the "kindle for Mac" software, you can then download kindle books to your Mac while they are free, and subsequently transfer them to your kindle when you buy it. As long as the two (Mac and Kindle) are registered to the same Amazon account, you can swap files between them.

You're a Trollope fan? Why didn't I know that?

He's my main man, ol' Anthony.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:12 pm

It's hard not to fall in love with the guy after years of reading (and loving) Dickens but wishing his women weren't mostly mechanical dolls. Finding a Victorian writer who treats women's thoughts, needs, and ambitions as those of actual people is pretty startling. Or was to me.

Post by **vison** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:31 pm

Primula Baggins wrote:It's hard not to fall in love with the guy after years of reading (and loving) Dickens but wishing his women weren't mostly mechanical dolls. Finding a Victorian writer who treats women's thoughts, needs, and ambitions as those of actual people is pretty startling. Or was to me.

Yes. For every simpering Lucy there's a Lady Mason. Lizzie Eustace, Mrs. Carbuncle. Mrs. Bishop Proudie. Lily Dale. Miss Dunstable. Lady Glen. Marie Goesler Finn.

And even the simpering Lucys are better than other simpering girls.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful characters.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 6:24 pm

In Can You Forgive Her, when Glencora has to choose

spoiler

between honor and love? She's literally a silly young girl at that point, madly in love with the man she wanted before her forced marriage, impetuous, ungovernable. She finds her husband remote and unlovable. But she chooses what she realizes is the only real path open to her, even though it causes her great pain. And from that moment she's an adult—still liable to make mistakes, just as her husband is, but doing the best she can in a situation she did choose with her eyes open—because of that one night when he was waiting for her, and the way was open, and she didn't go. That was when she really married Plantagenet.

Dickens' women only get to choose once, right or wrong.

Post by **Frelga** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 6:27 pm

OK, so where does one start with this Trollope person?

Post by **vison** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:24 pm

Start with The Warden. Now, mind you, the NEXT book in the series is a much better book, but The Warden gives you the lead-in to Barsetshire, Trollope's world. It was Trollope's first big commercial success.

The main characters in The Barsetshire series are pretty well all clergymen and their wives, but, believe me, these are NOT religious books.

After The Warden comes Barchester Towers, then Dr. Thorne, then Framley Parsonage, then The Small House at Allington, and last, The Last Chronicles of Barset. The Small House at Allington will remain one of my most favoritest books forever.

The Last Chronicle of Barset leads into Can You Forgive Her, which is the first in the Palliser series, which books are regarded as Trollope's masterpiece (along with The Way We Live Now). Then follows: Phineas Finn, The Eustace Diamonds, Phineas Redux, The Prime Minister, and at last, The Duke's Children.

Aside from these two "series" he wrote dozens of other books. I don't adore them all, but several of them are absolutely wonderful: Orley Farm, The American Senator, The Vicar of Bullhampton, Ralph the Heir, and Rachel Ray. And, of course, The Way We Live Now and He Knew He was Right.

The style is, of course, rather dated. You must be willing to become a Victorian, and you will NEVER be sorry.

I am always pleased to recommend Trollope. I think of the fun you're going to have, when you meet Mrs. Proudie.

And Mr. Slope.

Post by **Frelga** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:31 pm

One Warden loaded. Thank you, vison!

I love the "Deliver to your Kindle" button.

And for physical reading experience, reading a Victorian-length novel is a lot easier on a slim plastic thing than in a two-brick-sized hardcover, or a fat paperback that keeps falling apart.

Post by **vison** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:42 pm

Frelga wrote:One Warden loaded. Thank you, vison!

I love the "Deliver to your Kindle" button.

And for physical reading experience, reading a Victorian-length novel is a lot easier on a slim plastic thing than in a two-brick-sized hardcover, or a fat paperback that keeps falling apart.

The Warden is a pretty small book, but the rest are 2 brick size, all right. Never long enough, though . . . .

Post by **Frelga** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:49 pm

Oh, I have no complaint about length. Just weight.

Post by **Inanna** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 12:22 am

"Dr. Thorne" is not free.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 1:11 am

Here's a free version I just "bought":

Link

Post by **Impenitent** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 1:57 am

Loving this!

Yes, Trollope is a favourite!

And his oleaginous Mr Slope *shudders* is nonetheless one of my favourite fictional characters to dislike.

I haven't yet downloaded all the Trollopes but I will.

I'm wondering now what to do with all my paperbacks. I mean. I LOVE them (their feel, their smell, their solidity) but there is simply no room. I've resorted to stacking them in corners in various rooms.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:21 am

I've now got all of Barchester and all the Palliser novels in my Kindle library.

Now I'm hopping from foot to foot because you can get an omnibus edition of all five Hitchhiker books for $11.99. We had them all, but various ones have walked out of the house over the years, probably with our kids. But I think I already blew out the budget enough today.

Once I figure out how to transfer Project Gutenberg files onto the Kindle, I will probably load up on free books again. At this point I think I've culled what was interesting to me from what's available. Regular commercial books are mostly very expensive for what you get, and a lot of books I love aren't on Kindle yet.

And some, like LotR, I want to read as books.

Post by **Inanna** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 1:39 pm

Prim, download this program called "calibre e-book management". Its your e-library; and you can convert books to a the mobi format which you can then download to your kindle.

Thanks for the Trollope link!

Wonder why I didn't get it in my search?

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 3:38 pm

Thanks, Inanna! I've heard that mentioned before (maybe by you!). It sounds like a good program.

Post by **Impenitent** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 12:50 am

Prim, the link for Calibre is in the first post of the other kindle thread - I think I've got it near the bottom of that post.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 1:08 am

Yes, it's in your incredibly informative first post in that thread (link to post). Thanks for the reminder.

I wonder if it would be OK with you and Inanna to merge these threads so all this great information is in one place? Your thread wouldn't interweave with Inanna's; it would come before it. I could append a post of mine as first post where I could explain that the thread was started by both you and Inanna, with links to both your opening posts. . . .

It's just an idea—feel free to say no.

Post by **Impenitent** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:52 am

No skin off my nose.

Post by **Impenitent** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 11:40 pm

Amazon is currently offering a list of 30 free Vooks (video ebooks - combination of audio-visual and text)

some of them sound interesting - The Beatles 50 fabulous years; The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde; A Brief History of Tokyo etc.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_2?rh= ... 6742&ajr=1

Post by **Inanna** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 4:30 pm

None off mine either.