• There were many reasons for the change of the site software, the biggest was security. The age of the old software also meant no server updates for certain programs. There are many benefits to the new software, one of the biggest is the mobile functionality. Ill fix up some stuff in the coming days, we'll also try to get some of the old addons back or the data imported back into the site like the garage. To create a thread or to reply with a post is basically the same as it was in the prior software. The default style of the site is light colored, but i temporarily added a darker colored style, to change you can find a link at the bottom of the site.

Free Books from The Gutenburg Project

Gwolf

Well-known member
This is an Internet scource of completely free E-Books, which you can download in several different formats. There is no cost involved. There is no requirement to join anything. You do not need to supply an email address, name, or any other personal identifying information. I have been been using this service for many years. I do not have television, a personal choice, nothing to do with the cost. I do a lot of reading.

The free books are from the "Gutenburg Project" and you can just put those two words in any search engine to find the websites. One of the primary websites which has a good variety of choices is; https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=&submit_search=Go!

There is a variety of ways to search, by book name, author, popularity, and others. Books are in 60 or 70 different languages, and almost any type of book you can name. This is all perfectly legal and completely free. The way it works is there is a limit to the copyright on books. If the copyright is allowed to expire by the owner or it expires because the publications that own it go out of business, then the book goes into what is known as "Public Domain" , meaning anyone has the right to publish it and distribute it. All this information and legal rights are included at the end of every book you download from the Gutenburg Project. The only restriction on distribution is that you are not allowed to sell the books you download.

Naturally, almost all the books available are older books, including many classics and educational books. Storage is not a problem. They can be stored on your computer or on a thumb drive. Just because the books were published 100 years ago, does not mean they are outdated. Many of the most popular authors of history are listed for download. Edgar Rice Buroughs, of Tarzan and Science Fiction fame. Jack London, famous for high adventure stories, Robert E Howard, famous for Conan The Barbarian, and known as the father of sword and scorcery tales, as well as Jules Verne, Zane Grey, and many others too numerous to list.

The purpose of the Gutenburg Project is to promote reading and make a great variety of reading material available free to those who may not be able to afford the cost of other reading materials. Almost all the work of converting the books to digital format and proof reading is done by voluteers, which is the reason for the price break. You don't get much less expensive than free. Yes, I am involved in the Gutenburg Project. I have contributed to some of the proof-reading corrections as well as making the project more well known. It is available world-wide, anywhere there is Internet service, and in many different languages.

If you are interested in reading, you don't need to sign in, you don't need to give any personal information, you don't need to pay one cent. As un-believable as it sounds, you just find a book you would like to read on their website, click on it, and you will be given over half a dozen options for formats it can be downloaded in. Some are the EPub format and some can be downloaded as simple Doc or Text files that could be read using any office software. You can send donations to the Gutenburg Project which are used to defray Internet costs and other expenses, but it is not required.
 
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Although I haven't gone there for awhile I have used the Gutenburg Project in the past. As I remember the Burrough's John Carter on Mars books were there. I also found a lot of other books as well. It is a great service and easy to use. Thank you for reminding me about this free service.
 
Although I haven't gone there for awhile I have used the Gutenburg Project in the past. As I remember the Burrough's John Carter on Mars books were there. I also found a lot of other books as well. It is a great service and easy to use. Thank you for reminding me about this free service.

That's right, most of the John Carter books are there, as well as most of the Tarzan series books. If you haven't been on there in a while, you should check in. New books are being added almost every week. They have piles of Zane Gray westerns, also a lot of new Max Brand westerns. A whole list of the W C Tuttle humourous western short stories were added near the end of 2023.

Lot of new Andre Norton, and EE (Doc) Smith sci-fi was added last year. A whole series of the science fiction from the now defunct Sci-Fi Magazines of the 1920s through the 1950s has been coming out in the last few years. Many of the most popular Science Fiction writers of our time got their start in the old Sci-Fi magazines of the early 1900s. Half of the new Science Fiction movies of the computer generated graphics and special effects came from the early Sci-Fi magazine short stories.
 
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my Brother and I had a subscription to Analog magazine in the early 1960s before it went to full size for awhile. I was able to read the original Dune in month-to-month serialization.
 
my Brother and I had a subscription to Analog magazine in the early 1960s before it went to full size for awhile. I was able to read the original Dune in month-to-month serialization.

I was out of the country in isolated locations where there was no television and at times not even radio in late 60s and early 70s. About all we had was a few well worn newspapers that were usually months old, and some paperbacks that were passed around among the air crews. I read Dune and the Foundation Trilogy in paperback. Got them both in nice hardcover now. There is a few Asimov and a few Frank Herbert on the Gutenburg Project, but not those or any of the book length works.
 
Many newly edited into digital format books added since I posted this, and a lot of new people have also joined the forum since then.

Currently being offered free of all charge in several E-Book formats for immediate download is:


Tom Swift and his house on wheels : A trip to the mountain of mystery by Appleton​


tomswiftcover.jpg

Get it in EPub/MOBI/TEXT/or just read it on the web. No sign in/no cost/no need to supply a name or email address. Just download the book and it is yours to read and share. Rules for Public Domain Books are on the Gutenberg Project websites.
 
And if you are looking for more up to date books, a little more formal sign up with Libby and your local library will give you free access. Most library s now subscribe to it.
 
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