book reclist?

[tielan]

The Sony Reader I'm getting is supposed to come with 700+ free books, including the seven Harry Potters, the Artemis Fowls, and the Percy Jacksons. I can't remember if The Hunger Games were in there, although I have vague recollections of seeing them as I scrolled through. I also spotted assorted classics (Austen, Bronte, Christie, Dickens...), as well as more modern adult books (Stieg Larsson's "X with the Y Z" series, a couple of Dean Koontz, way more Eric Lustbader and Tom Clancy than I'll ever need to read...). All fine for the general read, but sometimes you want something a little more specific to your tastes...

So here's my question for those of you with e-readers:

1. Fiction or non-fiction?
2. Your entire bookshelf, or just those things you want to carry with you?
3. How do you decide between e-book and/or physical book?
4. What are your recs for books (or fics off AO3) I should get me a hold of? Female and non-white authors and protags preferred.

Comments

AO3 fic rec

[ladyjax]

I don't know where you stand on RPF (I'm kind of on the fence) but I've read this one several times and love it.

Love's the Burning Girl by Elizabeth Perry (watersword) which is about Zoe Saldana and the paths she chooses post-Star Trek and Avatar

I tend to carry only light reading (like romance novels) or fic on my e-reader since a lot of what I read (sci-fi) isn't in e-book format plus I'm trying to limit how much time I spend reading on electronic devices wrt my eyesight.

[beatrice_otter]

Recs for fics to fill up that eReader:

I always start with Baen Books. DRM-free and inexpensive (and many of them available for free if you know where to look). If you have never read anything by Lois McMaster Bujold you should because she is awesome, and you can legally download her entire Vorkosigan series (except for one book) for free here. I think you would like her fantasy works better, particularly the Curse of Chalion series, but they are with a different publisher and thus not free.

The Honor Harrington series is also available for free, though I'm not sure you'll like it. It's basically the Napoleonic Wars in space with a female Admiral Nelson. (Yeah, she's half-Asian, but this is a "post-racial" society where it doesn't really matter and there is no Asian culture to speak of anywhere.) It's written by a white guy who loves his technobabble and huge body counts. On the other hand, the main character Honor Harrington is pretty awesome.

Also, if you have Calibre e-book management software (http://calibre-ebook.com/) and the fanfiction downloader program (http://www.fanfictiondownloader.net/index.php), you can download fics from ff.net. I know most fics there aren't worth wasting time on, but there are some good ones.
The Knife's Edge of Madness (Sam Carter AU for Desperate Measures) http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2233297/1/The_Knifes_Edge_of_Madness


AO3 fics

Stargate:
Points of Intersection (Vala, Anise) http://archiveofourown.org/works/61769

Sherlock Holmes:
Commonplaces by Astolat (features Irene Adler) http://archiveofourown.org/works/2498
the sun never sets by bossymarmalade http://archiveofourown.org/works/55957
Intemperance (Sherlock is FtM) http://archiveofourown.org/works/116157

Temeraire:
A Room With a View (Perscitia, after the invasion) http://archiveofourown.org/works/34576

Doctor Who:
Seems far from home, seems farther from you (Martha Jones) http://archiveofourown.org/works/135351
Torchwood, Season Four http://archiveofourown.org/series/4281
Tea and Sympathy (crossover with Star Trek, Guinan and the Doctor) http://archiveofourown.org/works/95576

DC Comics:
Aspire to Touch the Sky (Wonder Woman AU) http://archiveofourown.org/works/1544
Escape Artistry (Wonder Woman) http://archiveofourown.org/works/10717
Something I Don't Already Know (crossover with Smallville, Lois, Clark/Chloe) http://archiveofourown.org/works/18524

The Moon is a Harsh Mistriss:
Some Origins of the Fire (Wyoh's backstory) http://archiveofourown.org/works/148277

Star Trek:
Five Times Gaila and Sulu Saved Each Other http://archiveofourown.org/works/147508
1023 Days on Earth (Guinan) http://archiveofourown.org/works/147412
Weapon of Choice (Sulu) http://archiveofourown.org/works/93870
Sing Me the Ages (Uhura) http://archiveofourown.org/works/63194
Kaiidth http://archiveofourown.org/works/104636
Talking Stick/Circle (Voyager AU taking cultural differences seriously) http://archiveofourown.org/series/3319

Terminator:
Normal (minor character preparing for judgment day) http://archiveofourown.org/works/141611
Seven Sunday Mother-Daughter Mornings (Catherine and Savannah Weaver) http://archiveofourown.org/works/10760
Perfection is Possible http://archiveofourown.org/works/91902
Cinderella, Made of Steel (Cameron and Sarah) http://archiveofourown.org/works/10758

Chinese Mythology:
Climbing Mount Kunlun http://archiveofourown.org/works/140704
四十 http://archiveofourown.org/works/142598

West Side Story:
Independence Wars (Maria's backstory) http://archiveofourown.org/works/141835

Harry Potter:
In Loco Parentis (Hermione AU about politics, gender, and race relations) http://archiveofourown.org/works/109558
How Do They Rise Up (Hermione and Padma, post-series)
so many colors it nearly broke my heart (Parvati and Padma) http://archiveofourown.org/works/64996

Alien(s) series:
Killing Elvis http://archiveofourown.org/works/37677
Subtle Salvation http://archiveofourown.org/works/34841

Casablanca:
The Fundamental Things Apply (Yvonne's story) http://archiveofourown.org/works/34181

Love Actually:
Impropriety (Natalie, post-movie) http://archiveofourown.org/works/30601

Re: AO3 fic rec

[tielan]

Yeah, I'm thinking "cheap romance novels!" (compared to paying for the book, which would be, oh, $10-$20 depending on the genre. Don't even get me started on Amazon - they may sell for $6, but I pay at least three times that in shipping...)

I'm probably going to be doing mostly fanfic. Probably. :)

[tielan]

Oh, you are totally awesome! :)

I'm definitely going to be using Calibre, and, in marvellous coincidence, last night I had a craving for the proposal scene between Aral and Cordelia in 'Shards Of Honour' and dug out my copy of "Cordelia's Honour"...only to end up reading most of the book until way later than I should have!

I've heard about Honor Harrington, and I'd rather like to try her - some friends I went to D*C with a couple of years ago got dressed up as part of the Royal Manticoran Navy (I think that's them, yes?) and I've been meaning to read them for a while.

I love Mike Shepherd's Kris Longknife (although she really needs to get together with Jack Montoya stat) and so I figure I'll give Honor a go!

Also: I have a friend writing an NCIS/Angel crossover on ff.net, so the news about the ebook downloader from ff.net is welcome news! I have a couple of friends who used to pose SG1 fic there; don't know if they still do, but I could do with digging them out and re-reading them!

Once again, thanks for the recs!

[beatrice_otter]

If you're already a fan of the Vorkosiverse, there's a lot of great fanfic for it on AO3. I'd look specifically at fics by DSudis, Philomytha, Tel, and Sahiya. But there are a lot of other awesome fics there, too.

[tielan]

I've never read beyond Shards of Honour. Didn't know where to start, mostly. But if I can get them all free, then I can park myself and get some reading done...

[beatrice_otter]

Well, they're all there except for Memory, which is a pretty crucial turning point in the middle. (It's not there because the versions on the CD are the omnibus versions, with multiple books in the same volume. Memory has never been in an omnibus, so it's not there.) However, should you get to that point in the series and want to keep reading, you can buy it for $6 in ebook form direct from Baen, with no DRM and in any format you choose.

Also, how did I forget to include a link to the Baen Free Library before? It's a collection of Baen Books from a wide variety of authors, all free (and DRM-free) for download in whatever format you want. http://baen.com/library/