# Hey, free ebooks! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 21, 2000, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-free-ebooks/33967 "2000-09-21T05:54:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-free-ebooks/33967/1 "2000-09-21T05:54:19Z")
I don’t normally applaud a large corporation for anything (let alone two large corporations working together), but I really gotta hand it to Barnes & Noble and Microsoft. Barnes and Noble’s site is offering 100 free ebooks as a promotion for MS Reader. Great stuff, too. All classics. Right now, I’m reading _Journey to the Center of the Earth_ by Jules Verne in the precious tiny bit of spare time I have and I’m loving it. These are the books I’ve always wanted to read, but never had the money to buy. Melville, London, Dickens, Machiavelli, even _Origin of the Species_ by Charles Darwin. I’m in literary heaven! I know how the SDMB admininstration feels about commercial links, but this is simply too cool not to share! Plus, I really can’t think of a better way to fight ignorance than massive amounts of great literature. Get your ebook fix[here](http://ebooks.barnesandnoble.com/ms_reader/special_features/free_ebooks.asp?userid=3WNRXBD88W&srefer=) and get 'em while they last. It’s a limited-time offer. Okay I’m starting to sound like a commercial here. I’ll shut up now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-free-ebooks/33967/2 "2000-09-21T07:11:45Z")
Shit! Shit shit shit! Now I have to spend tonight downloading frigging BOOKS! I want **THEM ALL!!!** You’ve screwed up my evening, neutron star, _I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY!!!_😉 Right now I’m going through European Lit. The thing that is so nifty is that these books are small in size. The average eBook download (so far) has been about 500 K. So you could fit several “books” onto a floppy! Fabulous! I think this URL might work: [Online Bookstore: Books, NOOK ebooks, Music, Movies & Toys | Barnes & Noble®](http://ebooks.barnesandnoble.com/ms_reader/special_features/free_eurolit_ebooks.asp)? This will take you to the European Lit page. Links on the left side to eBooks home, and other categories of books. I’m downloading the books first, will download the reader later - since I assume they’ll have that as a free download indefinitely… ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-free-ebooks/33967/3 "2000-09-21T07:14:54Z")
That’s cool. Too bad I have a hard time reading massive amounts of text on the computer, it’s too hard on my eyes. Does anyone have one of those pocket books, or whatever they are called made for reading e-books? Do they help? ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-free-ebooks/33967/4 "2000-09-21T13:06:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tatertot \* > \*\*That’s cool. Too bad I have a hard time reading massive amounts of text on the computer, it’s too hard on my eyes. \*\* With over a 1000 posts on the SDMB, you must be nearly blind by now! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-free-ebooks/33967/5 "2000-09-21T17:27:52Z")
Try [these guys](http://www.promo.net/pg/). I just bought their entire library on CD-ROM and will be reading for the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Peta\_Tzunami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b487fb/32.png) [@Peta\_Tzunami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peta_Tzunami)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-free-ebooks/33967/6 "2000-09-21T20:38:22Z")
You can find lots of classical literature at [Berkeley University Digital Library](http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Catalogs/) and [Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts](http://www.infomotions.com/alex/). Aren’t most of the works of “classic literature” now in the public domain (free of copyright as their copyrights expired due to _old age_)? If so, there’s not much profit to be made or lost in putting them out as eBooks of the net–just customer good will. ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-free-ebooks/33967/7 "2000-09-21T20:44:43Z")
> [@](#): > > With over a 1000 posts on the SDMB, you must be nearly blind by now! But it took me a year to get that! Reading short snippets, like on a message board is no problem, but reading great big hunks of text wears my eyes out. In fact, I usually can’t finish unusually long posts, because it’s too hard to read. Unless those new portable e-book readers are really easier on the eyes, I don’t guess I’ll be downloading books. It’s a shame, too, because I love reading. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-free-ebooks/33967/8 "2000-09-22T04:10:17Z")
This is indeed cool, Neutron Star. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-free-ebooks/33967/9 "2000-09-22T05:13:27Z")
Well, I downloaded about 25 books (and will probably get a few more tonight 😉 ) and I downloaded and install MS Reader. It’s pretty nifty! Thanks neutron star!