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!

  • lckdscl [they/them]@whiskers.bim.boats
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    11 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
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      11 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
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      11 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 [they/them]@whiskers.bim.boats
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        11 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.

      • skankhunt42@lemmy.ca
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        11 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

          • skankhunt42@lemmy.ca
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            11 months ago

            I wonder when they did that. I’ve never updated my kindle, it’s never even been on the internet so I’m stuck in 2021/2022.

            Either way I have KOreader now and it’s amazing. Just reading that I can connect it to the internet for more features and reading how to do that while blocking amazon. I still might not connect it or I’ll put it on my IOT wifi that doesn’t have internet access.

      • vaselined@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I have the same doubt. I had a old first gen pw jailbroken. Recently got 10th gen basic. Not jailbroken yet

    • Tattorack@lemmy.worldOP
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      11 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
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        11 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 [they/them]@whiskers.bim.boats
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          11 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.

        • Tattorack@lemmy.worldOP
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          11 months ago

          Right… Yeah, I would like to get rid of the ads. It sounds absurd that I pay for the device but then have to pay again to get rid of ads.

          • FutileRecipe@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Amazon’s logic is you paid a subsidized/cheaper price that is offset by included ads. You can buy it without ads (more expensive, obviously) from the start.

      • SomeoneElse@lemmy.ca
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        11 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.

      • janguv@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 months ago

        As others have said – nope. You can get a cheap enough Kindle without ads (and yes, it is absurd that there’s an ad-version in the first place), and sideloading is a piece of piss. Either use Calibre or set up a Kindle email address. I mostly do the latter these days. The only downside (and the main upside to using KoReader, I would think) is that you don’t get the full range of typography options sending over EPUBs this way – you would have to do a KFX conversation first (again possible with Calibre, but a bit of faff).

      • Syldon@feddit.uk
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        11 months ago

        They are making the OS more and more convoluted for loading your own books.

        • davepleasebehave@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Currently I torrent books (legally of course) and then send the e-pub book to my kindle through the Kindle app. works a treat.

          now I just have to find the attention span to read a book

  • jozza@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

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

    • Moneo@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      The worst part about mam is that I feel useless because I consume way more than I contribute.

      • AphoticDev@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 months ago

        As long as you keep seeding torrents indefinitely, you’re contributing by keeping those torrents alive. That’s a huge benefit to the community, and it’s why you can get upload credit even if you aren’t uploading.

        And the fact that ebooks take almost no space means you can indefinitely seed thousands of books even if it’s from a small hard drive.

        So don’t feel useless. In fact, I want to thank you for helping out.

        • Moneo@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Yeah I know, but I wanna see that uploaded counter go up and it never does. Also I mostly torrent audiobooks and I don’t have much hd space

    • Certainly_No_Brit@discuss.tchncs.de
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      11 months ago

      Edit: disregard this comment

      But getting in is not very easy and many torrents are behind a VIP-wall (you can buy VIP for seeding-bonus points). The tracker is focused on audiobooks, but there are also many e-books available.

      • athos77@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        getting in is not very easy

        Dafuq? They run interviews twice a week, and the questions are dead easy.

        many torrents are behind a VIP-wall

        Which you just have to wait a few weeks to get past the account age restriction and hand over a few bonus points, which are trivial to get. Just bookmark anything you can’t get and have a little patience.

        • theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          11 months ago

          Yeah I second this, it was so fucking easy to get in you just have to look up when the window is each week, jump on their irc, read a minimal amount of rules and then answer some questions on them to prove you read them. It took me about half an hour.

          The VIP paywall thing is bullshit too. They do have a points system which was a little confusing at first but if you take the time to read all the introductory posts explaining them then it is an easy system to follow and you can easily amass many freeleech wedges which completely negates the so called VIP wall.

          Can’t recommend them enough and so much fucking selection compared to free trackers.

        • Meuzzin@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I’ll Third this as well. You’re first week of seeding will net you 10s of thousands of “points” and “wedges” you can trade for VIP status, etc.

          Just download a ton of freeleech books, seed em for 72 Hours minimum, done. Longer you seed, the better for everyone.

          Also, you’ll find anything and everything you are looking for. In every format…

          • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
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            11 months ago

            Piling on to this, part of what makes MAM great is that you get bonus points for seeding even if no one is downloading. Just keep your torrents running indefinitely and it won’t be long before you have free VIP forever, a 10:1 ration and still end up with more points than you could possibly give away

            • Tsubodai@programming.dev
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              11 months ago

              Piling in to say been a member for 10+ years, it’s my go-to for any books (text and audio), and with the system they have, my ratio is somewhere in the 300+ range. All by keeping around 100 book torrents alive on an old raspberry pi and using the bonus points.

  • RepulsiveDog4415@feddit.de
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    11 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.

    • nudny ekscentryk@szmer.info
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      11 months ago

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

  • BackpackCat@lemmy.world
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    11 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.worldOP
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      11 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.

      • BackpackCat@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        That’s awesome what a great idea! Nice Pratchet’s books and the Hitchhikers series are great! Hope you find some stuff you enjoy. Getting back into reading has been one of the best things I’ve done in years and has helped my life in a lot of ways. I found what helped me get back into the habit was just keeping something to read with me when I had time to kill like waiting for food or an appointment, reading on my work breaks to give my eyes a rest from screens, and reading around an hour before bed to help my sleep quality. You’ll be surprised how fast you’ll go through a book I usually would end up reading about 30 mins to 90 mins today. Also if you don’t like something by like 100 pages in just drop it. Trying to force myself to read things to the end I wasn’t enjoying killed my desire to read. By dropping books I actually ended up reading more than before. I hope you enjoy some wonderful stories! :)

      • drkt@feddit.dk
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        11 months ago

        A lot of Danish libraries have ebooks, but its a proprietary system and requires a compatible ereader. That basically means it only works for kindles.

        I haven’t used it at all, I don’t bother

    • people_are_cute@lemmy.sdf.org
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      11 months ago

      Librarians are not always (but in fact, are very rarely) Lit enthusiasts who’ll know the best choices whenever you ask them. Most of them are just doing their jobs.

  • ImTryingLemmy@lemmy.world
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    11 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
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      11 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
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    11 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.

    • MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      Nice link. Would probably be one of my first places I look for any classic literature. Though it seems fairly limited from just the few searches I did

  • Beaupedia@lemm.ee
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    11 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.

  • LongRedCoat@kbin.social
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    11 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.

    • Kage520@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      As someone buying a color screen boox soon, I think it’s worth a mention that the battery is MUCH worse on boox because it has to run android. Like, the boox may last a day or two vs the Kindle Paperwhite lasting a couple weeks.

      It’s not a huge issue if you are home a lot and can charge, but I love the Paperwhite because it feels like it ALWAYS is charged. It just doesn’t have the color screen so I guess I will have both now, one for comics and one for books.

      • trolololol@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        That’s weird, I’d expect my battery life to be at least 30h for reading books.

        Though if I use an app like the guardian it goes down faster because of the scroll. So maybe change to another app for reading. I like moon reader.

      • dashydash@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I have the note air 2 plus, the battery is only bad if you have WiFi on, with WiFi off it can last weeks. It’s a really nice device otherwise.

      • LongRedCoat@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        I think I got lucky and got one of the models with improved battery (Onyx Boox Page). I’ve been reading the Trigun manga on it for over a week now and it’s only just getting to the point where I need to charge it finally.

        But good point. Some of the older models might have worse battery life to consider. I only have a black and white model too. Color might use more battery.

  • the16bitgamer@lemmy.world
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    11 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
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      11 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?

      • the16bitgamer@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Libby works on any Android and iOS device, so if you consider those E-Reader then no you didn’t miss understand.

        However on proprietary E-Readers like Kobos and Kindles, Overdrive needs to be implemented by the manufacturer . It’s not an issue for Kobo, as Overdrive is baked in, but on Kindle it only works with the USA’s Library system if I understand it correctly (not from USA).

        With that said since Overdrive relies on Adobe Digital editions it’s not the end of the world since you can remove the DRM and use calibre to cover the ePub to Mobi then move it onto a Kindle.

        But getting the right device makes it less of a hassle.

        • MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          Kindles allow loading epubs nowadays btw. You can even add epubs from one of their websites. I like to sideload mine to get features that kindle epubs have that sideloaded ones don’t, like scrolling the text instead of having to flip pages