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Google Books app
I installed the Google Books app on my phone today. Now that I've upgraded the Android OS from 1.5 to 2.1, it's working a lot better, and I can use a lot of apps that I couldn't before.
It's a cool app; it makes reading on that tiny screen pretty easy. Lots of flexibility. I just wish that it had an auto-page feature, to scroll at a steady pace from page to page. If it could be controlled by tilt, that would be really neat.
There are two reading options for most books: the original text format, and "flowing text". The original text is basically a scan of the original work, sized to fit the screen. Since the books are old, the text often has that old-fashioned, worn look. The flowing-text editions are in modern, resizeable and customizable fonts, sharper and easier to read - but so far, I've found quite a few transcription errors. In one case, a book that had a large initial letter to start off each story (i.e. "Charon leaned forward and rowed.") was totally screwed up, with the initial letter appearing somewhere in the middle of the story.
Another feature that would be useful would be recommendations: if it let you rate your books, and then recommended new ones for you based on your preferences. Basically what Netflix does with movies.
There are some wonderful free books available. I'm tempted to try to recommend a new one each day, but I don't know if that's possible. The problem is that a lot of books old enough to be copyright-free are also difficult for most modern readers to read comfortably. I'm used to older books, but even I find some older books tedious. That said, there are still some great ones that are very readable.
Here's one, Fifty-One Tales by Baron Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett Dunsany - he who had so much influence on H.P. Lovecraft and many later authors. The first story, "The Assignation", is only 202 words long - but it's a gem. I hope you'll try it.
(Let's see if LJ can embed a Books listing.)
Edit: No, it can't. I'm getting increasingly annoyed with LJ.
It's a cool app; it makes reading on that tiny screen pretty easy. Lots of flexibility. I just wish that it had an auto-page feature, to scroll at a steady pace from page to page. If it could be controlled by tilt, that would be really neat.
There are two reading options for most books: the original text format, and "flowing text". The original text is basically a scan of the original work, sized to fit the screen. Since the books are old, the text often has that old-fashioned, worn look. The flowing-text editions are in modern, resizeable and customizable fonts, sharper and easier to read - but so far, I've found quite a few transcription errors. In one case, a book that had a large initial letter to start off each story (i.e. "Charon leaned forward and rowed.") was totally screwed up, with the initial letter appearing somewhere in the middle of the story.
Another feature that would be useful would be recommendations: if it let you rate your books, and then recommended new ones for you based on your preferences. Basically what Netflix does with movies.
There are some wonderful free books available. I'm tempted to try to recommend a new one each day, but I don't know if that's possible. The problem is that a lot of books old enough to be copyright-free are also difficult for most modern readers to read comfortably. I'm used to older books, but even I find some older books tedious. That said, there are still some great ones that are very readable.
Here's one, Fifty-One Tales by Baron Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett Dunsany - he who had so much influence on H.P. Lovecraft and many later authors. The first story, "The Assignation", is only 202 words long - but it's a gem. I hope you'll try it.
(Let's see if LJ can embed a Books listing.)
Edit: No, it can't. I'm getting increasingly annoyed with LJ.