Saturday, January 1, 2011

2011 Public Domain E-book Challenge

January 1, 2011-December 31, 2011


(This is the first challenge I've ever hosted so please bear with me if I make any errors-any help/suggestions appreciated)

I received a Nook about 6 months ago and I love it. My favorite thing is discovering new (to me) book offerings under the various sites that promote their organization's scanning and saving of these otherwise vanishing books once they hit the "public domain". All of these books are FREE-a bonus to a thrifty reader.

A few sites with public domain books (there is lots of overlap between the sites):

Google Books-

to find the public domain books, search for a book under any subject, after the items come up, click "full view" on the left hand side of the page (these are the free books).

The Internet Archive-
Search under "Texts" header.

Manybooks.net-
Very "newbie" ereader friendly.
Note: after so many downloads they do have a non offensive "if you'd like to help please donate" pop up-that is up to you. (I'm in no way affiliated with this site.)

Project Gutenberg-
the site that started it all.

Project Gutenberg Australia

www.classicreader.com-

this site has almost 4000  public domain books that you can read on site-no downloading or ereader required:) (thanks Mommy Wants to Read)


The one problem I saw was that many or even most of these books-there is little to no information of what they are about, or even reviews to let others know what they are about. But, that's part of the fun!

I feel it behooves us as the reading community to help these volunteers "save" these books-simply by giving them "press". Read them, review them, and by doing so, get the word out to other readers about these undiscovered gems.

The Rules:


1-Pick a level of participation for the year:


    "newbie"level-read and review 3 public domain books (non bloggers will just post reviews in the reviews comments page)


    "advanced" level-read and review 6 public domain books (non bloggers will just post reviews in the reviews comments page)


That's about it-easy peasey:) You pick the book, genre, length, etc. Readers who don't own a e-reader are welcome as well (e-reader apps on phones, etc or just read on your PC). You can cross this over with other challenges as well.


After you read the book, just come back and either post the actual review or the link to the review on the review post below:




2011 DOMAIN CHALLENGE REVIEWS HERE




Use Mr. Linky below to sign up below or sign up in the comments for non-bloggers.


Thanks and let's have fun with this!




SIGN UP BELOW:



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14 comments:

  1. Teddy RoseJanuary 1, 2011 at 8:15 PM

    I got it posted at A Novel Challenge for you and going to post your other 2 now. Another big public domain place is Project Gutenberg, it's probably the original.

    ReplyDelete
  2. retroreduxJanuary 1, 2011 at 8:24 PM

    Thank you so much! Cannot believe I forgot Project Gutenberg-I'll add that now:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. jlshallJanuary 2, 2011 at 11:10 AM

    This is an interesting idea for a challenge. I might join in - have to give it a little thought, since I'm already involved in so many challenges for 2011.

    A couple more places to look: bartleby.com, and Project Gutenberg Australia. Both of these echo the original Project G, but the Australia branch has a few more British works, and Bartleby is good for nonfiction and reference material.

    ReplyDelete
  4. tweezleJanuary 3, 2011 at 6:11 AM

    AWESOME challenge!! I'm signing up for the advanced level.

    Thanks so much for thinking of this :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. retroreduxJanuary 3, 2011 at 6:05 PM

    Welcome Theresa and Rebecca!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Phantom ParagrapherJanuary 4, 2011 at 1:07 AM

    Ive just signed up for this challenge.
    Other great sites to get ebooks free are
    Amazon , Barnes and Noble , Kobo Site, Smashwords and Netgalley.

    ReplyDelete
  7. retroreduxJanuary 4, 2011 at 7:24 AM

    Welcome Paula!

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJanuary 5, 2011 at 8:53 PM

    Signing up! How can I resist a challenge that's based on reading books that I can legally read for free without even leaving home? :P Hoping for "Advanced" level, but I know I can at least manage "Newbie" if I try. :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownJanuary 6, 2011 at 8:59 AM

    I'm in! How can a thrifty mom like me pass up a reading challenge where all of the books are for free? I'm going to go for the advanced level. Actually, I'll be pretty sad if I can't make it beyond the advanced level. Thanks for such a great reading challenge. Also for those that don't have a blog they can always sign up at goodreads and leave a review there. You didn't specify if there is a length requirement to the books we read.

    ReplyDelete
  10. retroreduxJanuary 6, 2011 at 9:27 AM

    Welcome Mommy Wants To Read-there is no length requirements on the books you read. Just have fun and let others know if these oldies are any good:)

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownJanuary 6, 2011 at 10:09 AM

    Thanks. I've already found my first book I want to read. Also found another good site this one is good for those that do not have an ereader and do not want to download to their computer. http://www.classicreader.com/

    ReplyDelete
  12. retroreduxJanuary 21, 2011 at 3:56 AM

    Welcome Michelle and Alley!

    ReplyDelete
  13. RaineyFebruary 5, 2011 at 6:51 PM

    I am going for the Advanced. My first public domain book is Wuthering Heights. Others on my list are Man and Wife, Uncle Silas, The Circular Staircase, After Dark, The House of the Whispering Pines, The Affair Next Door Whose Body, Lady Audley's Secret and The Woman in White.

    ReplyDelete
  14. retroreduxFebruary 6, 2011 at 1:54 AM

    Welcome Rainey!

    ReplyDelete

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