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E-Books, best places to get them? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by Tattorack@lemmy.world to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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I want to get back into reading, so I'm thinking of getting a Paperwhite. But I have no idea if it's possible to transfer files to it from a computer, and I have no experience with pirating books.

Do I go to the same places I torrent movies and games or are there special places dedicated to E-Books?

EDIT: So many awesome answers on here! You guys have been very helpful. Thanks a lot!

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[-] t0fr@lemmy.ca 77 points 7 months ago

https://annas-archive.org/

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[-] lckdscl@whiskers.bim.boats 75 points 7 months ago

Anna's Archive, Libgen, Mobilism, IRC (I use a self-hosted service called OpenBooks for this). I use Calibre for metadata sorting, plug Kindle in and move books that way and keep it on airplane mode.

Also, new Kindle jailbreak for <= 5.16.2.1.1 if anyone's interested. Managed to get KoReader on my 10th Gen Basic.

[-] skankhunt42@lemmy.ca 17 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Neat, my kindle is in airplane mode 100% of the time too... I never knew you could jailbreak, reading about it now.

Edit: and I'm on 5.14.2 guess I'm going to jailbreak. Amazing, thank you!

[-] ex_06@slrpnk.net 10 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

is there any advantage to jailbreak when i already got no ads and i'm 100% of the time on airplane mode? genuine question, not judging :o

[-] lckdscl@whiskers.bim.boats 19 points 7 months ago

I didn't have ads either but being able to use KoReader is a good enough motivation for me.

You can customize it a lot to your own liking and they do something clever with page changing that it seems a lot more responsive.
Another thing is I used to have to convert epubs to KFX to get nice hyphenation and good typography but on KoReader you seem to be able to customize all those typography things with whatever epub you throw at it.
Also, I have a local Calibre OPDS endpoint, you can add that in KoReader and download books over wirelessly. WiFi needs to be on when doing that but with a few tweaks you have read only root partiton so Kindle shouldn't update.

Overall there are a lot of steps to it, if you're comfortable with your current setup it's not worth the hassle/time.

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[-] skankhunt42@lemmy.ca 10 points 7 months ago

This is the bit I read that sold me on it.

But if you do jailbreak a Kindle, you’ll be able to install third-party apps like KOReader, which bring support for eBooks in formats that aren’t natively supported by the stock Kindle software, such as EPUB and CBZ files

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[-] Tattorack@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Ah, so a kindle needs to be jailbroken/rooted for sideloading books.

Also, this is the third mention of turning on airplane mode. Is this to stop Amazon from doing something to the Kindle?

[-] 520@kbin.social 9 points 7 months ago

Kindle jailbreaking isn't strictly required, especially if all you want to do is sideload books. It's more about if you want homebrew, other customisation options or you just wanna get rid of ads without paying.

The airplane mode is because Amazon has a habit of updating the kindle without your permission.

[-] lckdscl@whiskers.bim.boats 5 points 7 months ago

I got ads removed on mine by asking chat support. The only caveat is it needs to be registered to an account. If you get a patient employee and ask kindly that the ads are not appropriate for children, it usually works.

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[-] SomeoneElse@lemmy.ca 6 points 7 months ago

I don’t turn airplane mode on and I haven’t jailbroken it. I download all my books from Anna’s archive on my phone and then send them to my kindle email address. The books appear on my kindle in seconds. No DRM issues. I have the oasis because I’m a big reader and I highly recommend it.

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[-] jozza@lemmy.world 52 points 7 months ago

Myanonamouse is a place of friendliness, warmth, and sharing.

[-] Zella111@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

This, this, this!!! I love MAM for ebooks and audiobooks.

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[-] praise_idleness@sh.itjust.works 42 points 7 months ago

Anna's Archive. As a fellow Kindle PW user, don't buy(that is if you can call paying for DRMed ebooks buying) anything on Amazon. Use airplane mode and never turn it off.

[-] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Newish Kindle (basic) user here. Any issue aside from battery life to justify airplane mode always on?

Being able to translate or look stuff up on Wikipedia is amazing for me.

[-] praise_idleness@sh.itjust.works 6 points 7 months ago

Because fuck Amazon. /s

I'm joking but additional battery life and shutting off telemetry outweighs Wikipedia lookup, that is of course to me. I also bought with-ads version of it so permanent airplane mode keeps it away. (I know I can kinda get them removed by asking Amazon)

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[-] BeefPiano@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

I download books from my library with Libby and they don’t expire while airplane mode is on.

Since a lot of books have a wait and Libby lets you delay delivery, I queue up a bunch of books while I’m reading. When I’m done with my current batch, I turn off airplane mode, check out a bunch of books, and then turn on airplane mode just before it’s time to return the first one.

I do this like every 6 months.

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[-] Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world 38 points 7 months ago

Just because no-one has mentioned it yet.

Your local library. You probably don't even have to go in, once you're account is set up you can check out books online.

[-] TheaoneAndOnly27@kbin.social 7 points 7 months ago

My biggest issue with ebooks in the library, and what led me into more ebook Piracy. Having to wait to check out a digital book. I know the library has to pay like yearly licensing subscriptions to a lot of these books, and it's just so annoying to me that it doesn't cover everybody having access to it. I sit on the library board and one thing we're talking about doing is a graphic novel service for a lot of the youth. And low key, I'm stoked for the graphic novel service too. But that one's unlimited access.

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[-] Turbofish@lemmy.world 29 points 7 months ago

IRC is where it's at. In the many years I've been using it to download books there's only been a handful of books I've been unable to find.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/2oftbu/guide_the_idiot_proof_guide_to_downloading_ebooks/

[-] blackbirdbiryani@lemmy.world 26 points 7 months ago

Just want to add that if you find a rare ebook not on libgen, do you civic duty and take the time to upload it, it only takes a few minutes and it's rewarding being able to save some time for others.

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[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 23 points 7 months ago

Shoutout to project Gutenberg as well. It's a massive free archive of books that are in the public domain.

[-] BackpackCat@lemmy.world 21 points 7 months ago

The best way to get back into reading is to go to your local libray, get a card, set up an the library app for ebooks, have the librarian recommend you something based on what you like, and start reading it. I got back into reading a year ago, have read about a dozen books, and haven't spent any money so far just by heading to the library. I personally like to have a book with me but if you keep your e-reader around and just read it during the times you'd usually check social media or your phone you'll get back into it in no time. I wish you luck!

[-] Tattorack@lemmy.world 11 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I'm not sure if Danish libraries do E-Books. I could check after work, though. But the fun part is I already have a library card; the health insurance card all Danish citizens get counts kinda like an everything card, including lending books. ^^

Anyway, I got some authors on my radar already. Like for instance I have only read a fraction of what Terry Prachet wrote, and I never finished the Hitchhiker's trilogy.

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[-] RepulsiveDog4415@feddit.de 20 points 7 months ago

Do I go to the same places I torrent movies and games or are there special places dedicated to E-Books?

I use library genisis. Great for scientific papers and adequate for fiction.

[-] nudnyekscentryk@szmer.info 26 points 7 months ago

Anna's archive is a catalogue which goes through multiple databases including libgen, therefore it's preferable

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[-] ImTryingLemmy@lemmy.world 20 points 7 months ago

myanonamouse rocks. I think it's just an interview to get in still. Trivial to build ratio.

I use Calibre for management. It's a little clunky but it manages thousands of titles easily, probably tens of thousands.

[-] athos77@kbin.social 7 points 7 months ago

The nice thing with MAM is that you can grab a torrent of groups of books, instead of downloading them individually.

[-] Cowbee@lemm.ee 19 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Not exactly piracy, but if the book in question is public domain, my favorite site is Standard eBooks! Very high quality books, with proper formatting and translations.

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[-] Kylamon1@lemmy.world 15 points 7 months ago

I still use z-library. https://singlelogin.re/ has nearly all books.

[-] ssboomman@lemm.ee 15 points 7 months ago

Lib gen https://libgen.li/

[-] Imhotep@lemmy.world 15 points 7 months ago

I use zlibrary's tor mirror, i know it's never down

[-] the16bitgamer@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago

Hey, just wanna shout out to your local library. Overdrive (Libby app) is amazing, but only works on kindles in the USA. Double check if kindle supports overdrive in your country and if it doesn't you may want to get a Kobo or a third party e-reader instead.

Either that or you can use DeDRM to strip the adobe digital editions drms to keep the library books after they expire.

[-] seaweedsheep@midwest.social 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Overdrive will work on any device that can install the app. No one in my family has a Kindle, but we all use Overdrive.

Edit: I misunderstood, didn't I?

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[-] Beaupedia@lemm.ee 12 points 7 months ago

Give Kobo a look, Amazon isn't the only name in the game. Kobo lets you connect directly to your library and check out books on the device, I absolutely love mine after having a couple Kindles.

[-] AnyProgressIsGood@lemmy.world 11 points 7 months ago

Libby? Library but digital

[-] netchami@sh.itjust.works 7 points 7 months ago

You know that this is a piracy community, right?

[-] Patches@sh.itjust.works 20 points 7 months ago

I'm just here for the free stuff.

Libby, Hoopla, Overdrive are all free and helps support the authors to make more books. Win win.

If you don't like the borrowing format then just clone the epub after borrowing it. It isn't difficult to do, and author still makes money.

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[-] LongRedCoat@kbin.social 11 points 7 months ago

Maybe look into an Onyx Boox instead of a Kindle. It will let you download books straight from the web (like standardebooks.org and Project Gutenberg) without having to side load. Also, you can add the Libby and Overdrive apps to it since it accesses the Google Play store. Also, it accepts all files formats so you don't have to convert anything.

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[-] wildcardology@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago

My go-to ebook source is mobilism, if they don't have them on hand you can request them in exchange for points? Can't remember exactly.

[-] lemming741@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago

Shout-out to https://www.audiobookshelf.org/ Once you've sourced from MAM

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[-] capital@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

To manage your library and transfer to the reader: https://calibre-ebook.com/

There’s also a plugin to de-DRM books if you want.

[-] Certainly_No_Brit@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 7 months ago

You can find many e-books on general trackers like 1337x. You should check out anna's archive. It's a website which provides access to books from several sources like z-lib and libgen (download, not torrents).