| TOR is one of the largest science fiction and fantasy publishers in the world and there is another compelling reason to do business with them. If you have purchased in the past or buy a new print edition you can now get the e-book for $2.99. Tor Books has just announced that they have forged a new partnership with Vancouver, BC based BitLit, a free app that lets you download digital copies of your paper library. By partnering with BitLit, they have made it possible for you to be able to download an e-book for any Tor/Forge book you own in print! Peter Hudson the CEO of BITLIT told Good e-Reader exclusivly “I’m incredibly excited to be adding Tor/Forge titles to the BitLit program. I’m a big Sci-fi fantasy fan, so adding Tor made a huge swath of my shelf eligible for digital upgrades. I’m also really excited that we’re able to provide Tor e-books DRM-free.” In order to redeem your TOR/Forge books you need to download the BITLIT app for iOS or Android. Take a picture of your bookshelf (a.k.a. a "shelfie"). The app will identify all of your books and tell you which books are eligible to bundle. Take a picture of your name on the copyright page to claim your bundled e-book. TOR Books Now Eligible for an e-Book Upgrade for $2.99 is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Monday, May 4, 2015
TOR Books Now Eligible for an e-Book Upgrade for $2.99
2015 Locus Award Finalists
| If you are a fan of Science Fiction and looking for a great read, you might be interested in the 2015 Locus Award Finalists. All of these titles sold very well in the e-book format, but also in traditional bookstores. SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
FANTASY NOVEL
YOUNG ADULT BOOK
FIRST NOVEL
NOVELLA
NOVELETTE
SHORT STORY
ANTHOLOGY
COLLECTION
MAGAZINE
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
ARTIST
NON-FICTION
ART BOOK
2015 Locus Award Finalists is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Devs Working on CM11 ROM (Android 4.4) for Nook Touch
| It’s always good to see the Nook Touch still getting some attention from developers, even after four years since its initial release. A couple months ago I posted an article about the Nook Touch running Windows 95 and other emulators, along with the Impossible Game. Now developers are working on getting the Nook Touch (and […] |
Kindle Unlimited is the Most Popular e-book Subscription Service
| Kindle Unlimited is the latest entrant into Netflix for e-books subscription style of service. In a short period of time Amazon has managed to attain more paid members using its platform than the competition. The Codex Group has reported in their April 2015 consumer survey, 12.4% of digital book consumers have a Kindle Unlimited subscription. In comparison, only 1.4% of respondents reported that they had a Scribd membership, and eve fewer were paying for Oyster. Good e-Reader Research also has Kindle Unlimited as the most dominant player in the field. In a recent study 117 people voted on the subscription site that was most appealing to them. Amazon has 52% of the vote, while Scribd had 28.21%, Oyster 6.84%, Entittle 0.85% and Other 12%. I think its very telling about our own recent report that so few people actually took part in the poll. Normally we have 600 people or more that participate and its very telling on the health of the overall industry that hardly anyone is captivated by thousands of books available for a low monthly fee. One of the largest barriers for customers to buy into this subscription style of service is international availability. Kindle Unlimited is only in a handful of countries, such as the US and select markets in Europe. Entittle and Oyster are exclusively targeted customers in the United States. This leaves Scribd as the only other player that actually has a far wider reach. Kindle Unlimited is the Most Popular e-book Subscription Service is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Mother’s Day Deals – Kindle, Kobo and Nook
| Amazon has several Kindle devices on sale from now until Mother’s Day, which is May 10th, this coming Sunday. The Kindle Paperwhite is marked down to $99 again, so is the Fire HD 7, the entry-level Kindle is $59, and the Fire HD Kids Edition tablets are $25-$40 off. The sales for Kindle ebook readers […] |
Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend Second Season Green-lit
| Fans of Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, can be happy to know that that the anime adaption of the light novel series has been green lit for a second season. The good news was announced at an event on Sunday that production will begin for the romantic comedy and the official website now confirms the sequel series. Sadly, there are no further details to that have been released such as release date or format of the sequel series, but we will just have to be patient for more news on the popular show! The original light novels, with illustrations by Kurehito Misaki, revolve around Tomoya Aki, an Otaku who is working part time to earn money to buy anime on Blu-Ray. On his way home from Spring vacation, Tomoya meets a beautiful young girl ad eventually models the heroine of his own game after. A month later, he learns this mysterious girl is actually a classmate of his named Megumi. Having no artistic ability or writing skills, Tomoya asks ace art club member Eiri Spencer Sawamura to provide the art as well as honour student Utaha Kasumigaoka to write the scenario. With they be able to produce a decent game for Comic Market? The first season began airing in January in Japan on Fuji TV’s Noitamina programming block. Aniplex of America liscenced the series and streamed it on the popular Aniplex Channel, Crunchyroll and Hulu! A PS Vita game based off of the anime shipped last week in Japan! Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend Second Season Green-lit is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Astro Pi: Mission Update 2
| Time for an Astro Pi update! The ‘big idea’ phase of the competition, where students were only required to submit an idea, closed at the beginning of April. The fully anonymised judging process took place over two long days at York’s National STEM Centre on the 17th of April.
Nearly 200 teams from primary schools and code clubs all over the UK submitted ideas for experiments and games to be run on Tim Peake’s Astro Pi on board the International Space Station (ISS) later this year. He will set the winning experiments running, collect the data generated and then download it to Earth where it will be distributed to the winning teams. Tim Peake has announced the primary school winners in a video message from Star City, where he is currently training. The secondary school competition is still open until the end of June. Hannah Belshaw from Cumnor House Girl's School in Croydon won top place with her idea to represent data from the Astro Pi in the world of Minecraft. The Cranmere Code Club team from Esher were also winners with their idea to investigate whether the Astro Pi can detect the presence of astronauts on the ISS using the temperature and humidity sensors.
Both schools will now receive a class set of Astro Pi kits which they’ll start coding on. They’ll also use them to get involved in the data logging activities once Tim starts his mission. Major Tim Peake – photo provided by UK Space Agency under CC BY-ND Hannah Belshaw's Minecraft idea was the top entry overall in the primary school category. The code will be written by us at Raspberry Pi under her guidance and, in addition to getting it flown and run on the ISS, a British satellite will be realigned to take a picture of her school from space! They can all go outside into the playground and make a huge space invader perhaps? We all recognised that Hannah's idea is an ingenious way to represent abstract sensor data captured by the Astro Pi in a way that would allow children to gain an intuitive understanding. The terrain in Minecraft will be used to visualise magnetometer and gyroscope measurements downloaded from the ISS and can then be replicated by anyone who owns a Raspberry Pi. Jonathan Bell, one of our software ninjas, said:
Cranmere Code Club's concept of investigating whether or not multiple sensors from the Astro Pi could be used to detect the nearby presence of an astronaut appealed to everyone because it exploits so much of the Astro Pi hardware. Cranmere Code Club will use the visible camera to take a photograph when an increase in temperature and humidity is detected, and will review the images to see if they caught anyone! Pat Norris from CGI said:
The standard of entries was so high that we also created a ‘highly commended’ category to reward outstanding effort. These entrants will individually receive an Astro Pi kit too.
Doug Liddle from SSTL said “The standard of entries was tremendously high. Ultimately, the winning teams had to propose ideas that were creative, practical and useful to stand a chance of winning. I hope that most of these talented primary school teams also decide to get involved in the next stage of the competition and give the secondary schools a run for their money.”
In the secondary school age group, the competition is running across three age categories, one for each of Key Stages 3, 4 and 5. Competitors have already submitted their ideas for experiments and applications with the best submissions in each age category winning an Astro Pi kit on which to code their idea and the two most promising ideas in each category winning a class set of kits. The teams who have earned a class set of kits are: Key Stage 3 and equivalent:
Key Stage 4 and equivalent:
Key Stage 5 and equivalent:
Phase two of the Astro Pi competition is all about secondary schools realising their ideas from phase one in code, testing it, refining it and eventually submitting it via the competition website by the 29th of June. Primary schools are not required to do this, but those that want to code will be put into the lowest age category for the secondary school competition. If you missed phase one, you can still enter! In fact, if you really wanted, you could turn up on the 28th of June with your code ready to go, enter, and submit the code on the same day! (That would be cutting it a bit fine though…) Go here to enter! After the end of June the entries will be judged for the last time. The best two from each key stage will then have their code flown on Tim Peake’s Astro Pi when he launches in November. The existing primary school entries will also be judged alongside these to be in with a chance to win the UK Space thematic prizes. We are also providing support through the Astro Pi forum and you can still apply for a free Astro Pi HAT (on its own) if you didn’t win a kit. Oh oh! Yes… free stuff is up for grabs. If you want to get one you need to send an email application to… …describing what you intend to do with the hardware. Hint: those who intend to enter the Astro Pi secondary school competition will be looked upon favourably. You should provide a good description of what your entry will do for Tim Peake on the ISS. This will not entitle you to a board though! There are only a limited number of them so we will be selecting based on what you write in your application. So choose your words carefully. In the future we hope that the European Space Agency will want to repeat the Astro Pi competition on a larger scale and so, currently, the UK competition is like a pilot. ESA are watching this with interest and they will be looking for the number of entries received and the number of students reached. Please do your bit by getting your school involved. |
10 perfect quotes about life from our favorite children’s books
| Children's books have a way of shaping who we become, not just as readers, but as people. They are our first introduction to literature, often times on the laps of our parents, and they teach us valuable lessons that never truly leave us. It's no wonder that many of the most inspiring quotes you'll find come from these classic titles. Below you'll find ten of Team OverDrive's favorite children’s book quotes and what they’ve taught us.
 It's important to remember that we are not alone in this big world. If you're willing to look you can always find a kindred spirit.
 Anytime you need to escape from the stress and troubles of your life you need only open a book. The stories and worlds you can experience by reading are endless.
 No matter how much you think you know about someone you can still be surprised by what they have inside them. Sometimes you might think you fully understand a person and then they can change your mind with a single word.
 Libraries are not just places for silent reading (although they're great for that as well). They are buildings of self discovery, adventure, learning and excitement!
 It may seem silly but it's ok to believe in fairy tales; that there is magic in this world that can shape what we don't understand. Oh, and that big things can come in small packages! Right, Tink?
 It can be frustrating growing up with parents who feel like they're smothering us. Cherish those moments because when you're all grown up and are having a rough day you'll sometimes wish you could crawl into your parents arms and know they're there to protect you. Oh, and If you can't get a hug from mom, maybe have something sweet…like some honey!
 Knowledge is power! There's nothing stopping you from learning and being successful. Sometimes, in order to get where you want to go, all you have to do is pick up the right book!
 Saying goodbye can be soul crushingly difficult but it's also a part of life. When you give your whole heart to something and it returns the favor it can seem impossible to survive when that relationship endss but it will get better. We also learned that the best friends in the world might just come with four legs and floppy ears.
 Selfless acts can be difficult but necessary even if they aren't appreciated in the moment. When you truly love someone you'll find you're capable of sacrificing everything to help them succeed.
 It's important to believe in others even when those around you might not. The simple action of believing in something can be enough to make it real… even if that thing happens to be a unicorn.
What are some of your favorite children's book quotes?
Adam Sockel is a Social Media Specialist at OverDrive. He believes that a love of literature can be taught and thanks his mom for teaching it to him.
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Rakuten has Completed the Acquisition of Overdrive
| Rakuten has been trying to dominate the e-book landscape in North America for a number of years. The Japanese eCommerce giant purchased Kobo in 2011 and are the proud new owners of Overdrive. Rakuten announced they intended to purchase Overdrive last month and the acquisition has finally been completed. The deal is worth $410 million dollars in cash and OverDrive CEO and founder Steve Potash will continue to direct the company. One has to wonder if his days are numbered. Currently, OverDrive works with more 5,000 publishers and more than 30,000 libraries around the world. They are considered the largest company of its kind that sells digital content to libraries, such as audiobooks, e-books, magazines, newspapers and streaming video. Rakuten has Completed the Acquisition of Overdrive is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Sunday, May 3, 2015
The Rise of Post-Apocalyptic Literature
| The world has been ending for quite a long time. Ever since the breakout success of Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel The Road, the US has been degraded, devastated, and decimated time and time again. It seems the world of post-apocalyptic fiction is having a non-dystopian future. In the last year or so, an avalanche of books have been released that paint a very bleak future of the world we live in. This includes California by Edan Lepucki, Chang-Rae Lee’s On Such a Full Sea, Monica Byrne’s The Girl in the Road, Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, Sandra Newman’s The Country of Ice Cream Star, Kenneth Calhoun’s Black Moon, Laura van den Berg’s Find Me, Benjamin Percy’s The Dead Lands, and Adam Sternbergh’s Shovel Ready. I remember having many talks with friends in the last year, about what we would do if there was a zombie apocalypse or devastating outbreak of some new super bug. We made plans on where we would meet and what type of weapons we could defend ourselves with. Investing in a bug out bag was the first thing we all did, supplies that would last us seven days, solar powered radios and binoculars. I also know enough that if something big was on the precipice of occurring to fill the bathtub with water in order to have a drinking supply once the valves were shut off. I don’t know if any of this would actually help and the best laid plans often crumble when something real happens, but its strangely cathartic. Why do people love dystopian fiction and are enamored with authors such as Hugh Howey? The world feels more precariously perched on the lip of the abyss than ever, and facing those fears through fiction helps us deal with it. They reaffirm why we struggle to keep our world together in the first place. By imagining what it’s like to lose everything, we can value what we have. The Rise of Post-Apocalyptic Literature is a post from: Good e-Reader |
How Would You Change the B&N Nook?
| The Barnes and Noble Nook Glowlight first became commercially available October 2013. This was the companies second generation e-reader that featured a front-lit display, allowing people to read e-books in the dark. By today’s standards this device is hopelessly out of date and most of Nooks competitors have all released a slew of new e-readers. How would you change the Nook? The Barnes and Noble Nook Glowlight features a six inch IR touchscreen display with a resolution of 1024 X 758-pixel and 212 PPI. This is a huge upgrade from the previous generation Nook that only had 800×600 for the resolution. Underneath the hood is a 800 MHZ processor and 256 MB of RAM. There are 4 GB of internal memory that you can use to store purchases made from the bookstore. When you take it out of the box for the first time and power it on, there is only 2.1 GB available. If you like to load in your own PDF Files or eBooks there is only 500 MB reserved for user files. Unlike prior models of the Nook line of e-Readers, there is no expandable memory via SD in the Nook Glowlight. The e-reader landscape has dramatically changed since Barnes and Noble last made an e-reader. The Amazon Kindle Voyage and Kobo Glo HD lead the pack in terms of overall screen resolution and clarity. They both employ very modern e-paper called Carta. Indie companies such as Onyx, Icarus, Boyue, and Energy Sistem all have Android driven devices, allowing customers to install their own apps. Not to mention there is plenty of advances in E-paper, such as Fina and Mobius. What would you like to see out of a new Nook e-Reader? Would you like them to stick with the standard six inch device, or try something a bit bigger? Would you like to see a super high resolution display or use ultra modern e-paper? Would you like to see gimmicks like a waterproof e-reader, open Android or an e-ink camera? In essence, what would make you buy a Nook for the first time or switch to the brand? Its your call. How Would You Change the B&N Nook? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Saturday, May 2, 2015
How to Send Email on the Kindle Voyage
| e-Readers tend to have a singular purpose, reading digital books. The Amazon Kindle Voyage has an experimental internet browser that allows you to do things online, such as checking your email. Today, we show you the browser, where its located and demonstrate how to send an email. Amazon has had their web-browser in experimental status ever since it launched six years ago. It is optimized to read websites that are primarily text-based. It supports JavaScript, SSL and cookies but does not support media such as Adobe Flash Launching the internet browser is really easy, just hit the settings menu on the top right hand corner and click on Experimental Browser. 
How to Send Email on the Kindle Voyage is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Top 10 Digital Manga for April 2015
| April has just drawn to a close and in North America there has been a number of titles that have made the New York Times Bestseller list. Most of the digital manga on this list have had wildly successful anime that have done very well on Crunchyroll and Funimation. If you are looking for the manga adaption for your favorite anime, look no further than our definitive list for April 2015. All of the titles are available in English from companies like Viz Media or your local bookstore.
Top 10 Digital Manga for April 2015 is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Friday, May 1, 2015
Disney Infinity: Toy Box 2.0 Brings Toys to Life on Android
| Digital toys are everywhere now, not the least of which belong to Disney Infinity and their collection of RFID-enabled figurines from many of their famed franchises (including the Avengers, Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Brave, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Monsters Inc). Nearly every gaming platform is supported by Disney Infinity, with Android finally present and accounted for on that list! The more statues you collect (which unfortunately have to be added to your account using your PC or gaming console), the more you can do within the app –but even if you haven’t picked up any of the toys, you can still have some fun with the mobile app (Disney starts you off with three in-app characters for free, which rotate often as you play). Want to get started creating your own customized Disney experience (based on your own imagination –some describe it as a commercialized version of Minecraft)? If you have a hefty 3.4GB of space free on your Android device, you should download Disney Infinity: Toy Box 2.0 now –the game itself is free, but be warned there are plenty of ways to spend money in-app. Watch the official Disney Infinity Android game trailer below:
Disney Infinity: Toy Box 2.0 Brings Toys to Life on Android is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Apple Gives Developers Early Access to App Analytics Service
| It’s nearing conference season for the biggest players in the mobile game, not the least of which is Apple and the WWDC coming up in June. Ahead of that event, Apple has sent a notice to developers that invites them to join a beta program for their new App Analytics service. This news is not entirely surprising: free analytics for developers were hinted at during the last WWDC in 2014. That said, it may be somewhat of a concern for leading competitors in this field (think Flurry and App Annie), but it seems likely there will still be a place for non-bias, third-party options –though Apple will be able to factor mobile download and engagement data into their statistics, the details of which are not currently available to others outside the fold. The invitation included all of the details currently known about the new service:
If you qualify and happened to miss out on the notice, you can still sign up through the iTunes Connect developer portal using the direct link: analytics.itunes.apple.com.
Apple Gives Developers Early Access to App Analytics Service is a post from: Good e-Reader |
US Government Plan to Give Away Free e-Books to Low Income Kids is Flawed
| The US government is planning on implementing a program that will see $250 million to give kids access to over 10,000 e-book titles. The New York Public library is creating a dedicated app that will allow disadvantaged children to have unfettered access. The program sounds good on paper, but is deeply flawed. There is currently some large riots happening in Baltimore and President Obama spoke at a library in a poor neighborhood. He said “If we think that we’re just going to send the police to do the dirty work of containing the problems that arise there without, as a nation and as a society, saying, ‘What can we do to change those communities, to help lift up those communities and give those kids opportunity,’ then we’re not going to solve this problem.” On paper, giving poor kids access to e-books from major publishers and technical documents sounds great. The truth of the matter is that census data indicates that many lower-income households don’t have mobile devices or access to broadband internet. This will result in the vast majority of kids not even getting access or even knowing the program exists. The winners of the $250 million dollars will be the New York Public Library, which is receiving a large chunk of cash to make the low-income reading app. Publishers who commit to having their titles in the system will likely get large payouts too. Ditto with Firstbook who will do the distribution. I think this program could have more success if they invested in a hundred thousand older e-readers and loaded fiction, non-fiction and technical documents to help foster a viable career. There is a stark contrast in making content available and actually putting hardware in peoples hands. US Government Plan to Give Away Free e-Books to Low Income Kids is Flawed is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Get Ready to Celebrate Bookstores this Weekend
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These bookshops, mostly independently owned as a labor of love and not a retirement investment, are often single-handedly fighting the war against lack of book access, barriers to publication, and the breakdown of communities. Whether it’s through local author events, story hours for children, summer reading incentives, publishing how-to classes, or even just being that source of regional history and community awareness, bookstores are vital to the overall health of our communities. And May 2nd is the day to show your appreciation! Ideally, you’re shopping in indie bookstores throughout the year, not just one commemorative day, but it’s fun to think of May 2nd–Independent Bookstore Day–as the Black Friday of books and booksellers, the day when the traffic to their stores can let them rest a little easier financially, at least for the rest of the month. And never fear if you’ve become a die-hard digital fan since the day your first Kindle arrived…many indie bookstores have affiliate agreements to sell ebooks and e-readers, as well as ways you can take advantage of other in-store offers. This event was actually begun last year in California, and focused on the shops in that state. The rousing success, though, has led to a nationwide movement to celebrate all the good that indie bookstores do. Booksellers have been able to order specially priced editions to sell in their shops tomorrow, and publishers were invited to put together unique items from their stables of authors to show customers how important they are to the process. For a look at some specific stores and the events and offers they’ll host, click HERE.
Get Ready to Celebrate Bookstores this Weekend is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Kindle Voyage Finally Arrives in Australia
| You wouldn’t know it by visiting Amazon’s Australian Kindle Store, but the Kindle Voyage is now available in Australia. Amazon’s authorized Kindle retailer in Australia, Dick Smith, is now selling the Kindle Voyage for $299. They also have Amazon’s official Origami cover/stand for $74.95. Currently only the Wi-Fi model is being offered; the model with […] |
MagPi issue 33 – out now!
| I can’t believe we’re on our third issue of the new MagPi already. Your free Raspberry Pi magazine is ready to download here. This month’s magazine is a doozy, with 70 pages of tutorials, some incredible projects to build, reviews, and much, much more. One feature in this month’s magazine has me jumping up and down like a schoolgirl (bear with me here; we did trampolining at school). Mike Cook is an electronics wizard extraordinaire and an absolute childhood hero of mine thanks to his regular Body Building column in Micro User Magazine. Mike has joined the MagPi team to start a new column called Mike’s Pi Bakery, where, just like in the good old days, he’ll be creating little electronic projects which will be well within the grasp of beginners. This month he’ll show you how to make an interactive PiGlow reaction game, for which you’ll be building your own controller. I had the good fortune to get to hog a lot of Mike’s time at our 3rd birthday party in February, where he taught me a great deal about why specific blues are less easy to recall than specific reds; about different generations of LEGO motors; and that I have a pathetically limp wrist when it comes to dealing with ketchup bottles with attached accelerometers. There are more amazing Minecraft tips and tricks from Martin O’Hanlon; an interview with one of my favourite people in UK computing (who? You’ll have to download the magazine to find out); a super-test of four popular Raspberry Pi desktops; a competition to win £200 of PiBorg goodies; and much, much more – like this magic retro gaming glove. As always, the magazine is completely free to download. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we’ve enjoyed making it! |
6th Season of Hetalia Available this July
| The sixth season of Hetalia is coming this July, after not having a new episode since February of 2014. Fans of the anime will be delighted to hear the same voice cast returning, along with the same gorgeous new art style used by the fifth season, The Beautiful World. Following along the style of naming, the sixth season is titled The World Twinkle. Along with a teaser, Hetalia has also teased us with the new theme song, Hetalia Jet. Although we won't know what all the episodes will be about just yet, the anime will be adapting from volumes 5 and 6 of the manga. Some of the comics involved include the Micronations, the Nordics, and Nekotalia – the gender-inverted alternate universe not unlike Adventure Time's 'Fionna & Cake.' Hetalia began as a webmanga by Hidekaz Himaruya, and has grown into something of a phenomenon. There's not much of a story to it – the countries of the world are anthropomorphized hot guys (and occasionally hot girls) who interact with each other in little snippets throughout the course of history. Although serious every once in a while, the series is a comedy and chooses to portray subject matter in the most light-hearted manner possible. The human countries are made to possess as many stereotypes as they can, from the cowardly Italy to 'heroic' America, to the lecherous wine-drinking France. All previous seasons of Hetalia have been available on Funimation, so it only goes to assume that The World Twinkle will be as well. If you've not yet seen what all the fuss is about, check it out here! And take some advice: Funimation's English dub of Hetalia is spot on. The accents, the dark humour, the great slogans like 'Make Pasta, Not War' makes it all worth a watch. Have a look at the teaser below!
6th Season of Hetalia Available this July is a post from: Good e-Reader |
