Sunday, December 26, 2010

Reading Renaissance

(Cross-posted at FlagShip) This Christmas, there was an e-reader bonanza at the Ricks household. Out of the six families that gathered round the tree this year, four came away with Kindles. My Mom, both of my brothers, and a sister now have a handy dandy e-reader, which it became my job to fill with sweet, sweet content. Courtesy of Baen, and Flying Island Press, I think they've got plenty to read for a while.
If you've been listening to the Galley Table podcast for the last couple weeks, you've heard me talk about Baen a bit. Bottom line is, if you pick up certain hardcover editions, you get a CD that contains a LOT of Baen books. And because those files are all distributed with specific language that allows... um, encourages... uh, DEMANDS sharing, sharing is what you do with them. And while you don't necessarily have to buy the hardback (images of those CDs are available online at the Fifth Imperium), I'd encourage you to do so if for no reason other than to show some appreciation for a forward thinking publisher and some love for the authors that provided some really ripping yarns. And while you're out and about the internet, maybe you might consider swinging by webscription.net and picking up a Baen e-book that isn't available on their free CDs.
Full disclosure. Baen is not paying me for this.
While I enjoy the audio format, and am very happy to see that Nathan Lowell's Owner's Share has its first five chapters available at podiobooks.com, I'm also wildly enjoying all the reading I've been doing lately thanks to some free apps for my phone and the ready availability of content.
So, what's your take? Did you get a shiny new e-reader this holiday season? Have you had one? What do you think about it?

Monday, December 6, 2010

Ping!

This is a test. Only a test. No reason to read anything into this. Nothing to see here...

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