reading
I read a lot. Mostly novels. I tend to get my non-fiction in article or essay form more than as a full length book. Though that is by no means a rule.
Public Domain
I am very against the idea of copyright and, especially, intellectual property. Particularly for digital files where there is no material loss when making a copy. I generally view all forms of copyright/intellectual-property as immoral. As such, I really love that we have finally started getting things put into the public domain again here in the US (it has been a rough road filled with ridiculous laws/lobbying that undercuts American's rights to the artifacts of their own culture). I highly recommend, especially if the word "piracy" leaves you uneasy, checking out sources of high quality ebooks that are in the public domain or are otherwise licensed in a way to make them free to use, copy, and rework. Here are a few favorites...
Colorfield Books
Colorfield Books is a collection of the books that I, myself, have produced. Most of them can also be found on Standard Ebooks, since I submit my productions there and love what they do (and I use their tools for my productions). But if you want to see what I have worked on this is the place to look.
Standard Ebooks
Standard Ebooks sets a high bar. Their editions are very high quality. They offer many common formats, as well as some cutting edge versions with great features. They use public domain art for their book covers. I highly recommend checking them out. There are some great works in their catalog.
Global Grey Ebooks
Global Grey's ebooks are not as high quality as Standard Ebooks, but they are still of good quality and very readable. They have a wide catalog and support for a few different common formats. If you are looking for something and Standard Ebooks doesn't have it, this is a good next stop.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is the source of material for the other two I listed above. Their books are not always well formatted and, in my opinion, contain more errors that, for example, Standard Ebooks. That said, you will not find a larger catalog anywhere. They do a lot to keep books, and the written word in general, alive. I have read a great number of books over the years from Project Gutenberg and I highly recommend supporting them. They do great work, it is just a different sort of work from, say, Standard or Global Grey. They focus on digitizing works and transcribing, rather than editing. They offer most books in HTML, Epub, Kindle, PDF, and Plain Text, among other formats.
Reading Lists
These lists are not necessarily complete, as I do not always remember to log here. They are mostly so that I can remember more easily the things I have read. That said, feel free to peruse and see if anything seems like something you'd like!
Currently Reading
- A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller Jr.
- The Quarry Farm by J. S. Fletcher
To Read?
A list of books that are on my radar. I may or may not get to any of them.
- Day by Michael Cunningham (not out until 2024)
- The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami (awaiting english translation)
- The Purple Land by W.H. Hudson
Read In 2023
Titles marked with an asterisk (*) at the end are links to legal free downloads in various formats. All other links are Wikipedia links. This list does not include the many many many children's books I read to my child each year.
- Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
- The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
- Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip K Dick
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick
- Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- The Employees by Olga Ravn
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
- Where Highways Cross by J. S. Fletcher
- Greene Ferne Farm* by Richard Jefferies
- The Dewy Morn* by Richard Jeffries
- The Lifted Veil* by George Eliot
- Amaryllis at the Fair* by Richard Jeffries
- After London* by Richard Jeffries
Read In 2022
Titles marked with an asterisk (*) at the end are links to legal free downloads in various formats. All other links are Wikipedia links. This list does not include the many many many children's books I read to my child each year.
- The Land of Little Rain* by Mary Austin
- The House on the Borderland* by William Hope Hodgson
- If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe by Jason Pargin (David Wong)
- Fairy Tale by Stephen King
- The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
- A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
- Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley
- Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
- To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
- Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
- Network Effect by Martha Wells
- Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
- Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
- Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
- All Systems Red by Martha Wells
- Stringers by Chris Panatier
- Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer
- The Moon Pool* by Abraham Merrit
Read In 2021
This year's list was written when I compiled the 2022 list. I didnt record dates of when I read everything, so this may not be 100% accurate and may include 2020 or 2019 books, and the order of reading is likely off. Future year's editions will be more accurate.
Titles marked with an asterisk (*) at the end are links to legal free downloads in various formats. All other links are Wikipedia links. This list does not include the many many many children's books I read to my child each year.
- Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
- The Waste Lands by Stephen King
- The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
- The Gunslinger by Stephen King
- Congo by Michael Chrichton
- The Institute by Stephen King
- Death's End by Cixin Liu
- The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
- The Three-body Problem by Cixin Liu
- Blood Music by Greg Bear
- The Strange Bird by Jeff VanderMeer
- Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
- Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey
- The Revenant by Michael Punke
- The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
- 2061: Odyssey Three by Arthur C. Clarke
- 2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke
- Wildlife by Richard Ford
- Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut