If you want to be a great writer, be a great reader. There are lots of ways to improve your writing but mindfully reading other people’s work is one of the most pleasurable and effective.
This is why I love my new Kindle. It lets me keep a portable library of great writing with me wherever I go. I also have the (free) Kindle app on my iPhone. The two devices stay synchronised so that if I stop reading on my Kindle, I can start again from the same page on my iPhone. Right now on my Kindle, I have:
- On Sparta, Plutarch
- The Storm of War, Andrew Roberts (excellent)
- Finest Years, Max Hastings
- Virtual Light, William Gibson
- The Last Days of Socrates, Plato
- The Gateless Gate, Mumon
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
- The Conversations of Socrates, Xenophon
- The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thycydides
I’m going through a bit of a Greek phase. All sweetness and light etc. But I love the way that I can switch between books depending on my mood. (Yes I know I can do this with real books too but I would need a big bag to carry around my current reading!)
My only frustration is that some of the books I want to buy aren’t available for Kindle. C’mon Amazon! C’mon publishers! Play nice!
I also have the Stanza app on my iPhone Kindle and that lets me download free out-of-copyright books as well as commercial books and cool Creative Commons releases. It’s a bit of a chore getting these books onto the Kindle without paying something for them so Stanza is a great companion to the Kindle app.
Ebook readers make reading easier, more flexible and more portable. This makes them ideal for writers.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I have always liked reading anyways and the Kindle is definitely on my wish list. I was also looking at the Nook from Barnes and Noble, know anything about that?
No, only what I’ve read online but it isn’t available in the UK (and not much in the US, from what I hear). Matthew
Matthew,
In your artilce you state:
“I also have the Stanza app on my Kindle and that lets me download free out-of-copyright books as well as commercial books and cool Creative Commons releases.”
I’m a new kindle owner and love reading the classics, however I searched and searched through the lexcycle site and couldn’t find out anything about using it to get content onto the kindle. Did you mean the Stanza on your iphone? Or am I just missing something?
D’oh I meant Stanza for my iPhone. Sorry. M
That’s what I figured, but I was hoping you had discovered a better way then trolling through the Amazon store for the classics.
Thanks though,
-Brad
I have had some success downloading PDF documents to the Kindle via my PC. For example, I have a free book about the X-15 from NASA which I got via their website and not via the Kindle store. You can also download Kindle-format free ebooks from Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/. You’ll need to do a bit of format-fiddling but they have lots of free classic books.