New Kindle

So, my old Kindle screen started to have some issues. This is the first time I have had any issues with a Kindle Screen. This is my fifth kindle and I have owned every version. I use it heavily and I carry it everywhere in its nice case. I called Amazon and I am out of warranty. Amazon doing what they do best, customer service, sent me a new one in exchange! Before I send my old one back I need to put some things on the new one.

1. Install The Magic Catalog
2. Install The Harvard Classics
3. Download your samples
4. Download what you're currently reading
5. Start Reading

Each time I have upgraded I did pretty much this same procedure. The Magic Catalog is essential because many many books out of public domain are still not available in the Kindle Store. I always check the Kindle Store for a book but since I research a lot there are still many titles that I do not find on there. Calibre is also great for finding books. I have a previous post about the Harvard Classics and how to install them.

I have a collection titled “Samples”, that I keep the samples I download for later reading. This is a good way to remember a book you heard about and don't want to forget. The samples are free and if you like the book you can always buy it. I encourage everyone to download samples regularly. This is a great way to always have something to read and to find new material without having to buy anything. I send myself all the samples I have for later reading to the new kindle. This is the reason I haven't sent my old kindle back yet.

Since I do maintain a library of books outside of the Kindle Store, it is easy for me to transfer them to a new Kindle. I have done this several times. All my previous Kindles have gone to good homes.

Many of these tips I heard from the Kindle Chronicles podcast. Have you subscribed to the podcast yet? You should!

These are just some tips I have picked up along the way. Please share your tips and suggestions in the comments below.

This blog is now available in the kindle store, so please subscribe there or by RSS so you don’t miss any post! Happy Reading.

The Harvard Classics

The Harvard Classics have been around for over 100 years. The Harvard Classics is a 50 volume library of world literature compiled by the president of Harvard University, Dr. Charles William Eliot, in 1909. He would give speeches saying “that the elements of a liberal education could be obtained by spending 15 minutes a day reading from a collection of books that could fit on a five-foot shelf.” (Wikipedia) Now they can fit in your hand!

15 minutes a day reading great literature sounds like a great challenge to me! Dr. Eliot was challenged by those who heard his speech and he produced the 50 volume library.

Before the Kindle Store made all the classics available for free on their site, I used to have to search around the internet for literature eBooks. I found this collection a few years ago and have put it on every Kindle I own.

The best and easiest way to do this is with an eBook library manager like Calibre. I first heard of Calibre from Len Edgerly who runs a great podcast and blog at The Kindle Chronicles. He has an interview with the creator of Calibre, Kovid Goyal.

All the links on this post are meant for a computer and not your Kindle. The software and downloads need to be installed and unzipped on a computer. Then transferred to your Kindle using the USB cable provided with your kindle. The great thing about Calibre is that it is eReader agnostic. You can use the software to add eBooks to your Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony or any other eReader device out there.

The files are zipped and split into 3 files.

Harvard Classics 1-19

Harvard Classics 20-29

Harvard Classics 30-51 (There is no 50)

1.  Download all three files.
2. Unzip the files.
3. Add to your Calibre library.
4.  Connect your Kindle (or eReader).
5. Transfer to Kindle in appropriate format.Wait for it to finish.
6. Voila!

Here is a great how-to article on using Calibre. Also, there are many how-to videos for Calibre on YouTube.

I made a collection containing the files on my Kindle. This puts all 50 volumes in one place.

Happy Reading. Leave questions and comments below. 


Are you going to try the 15 minute challenge?

Of Human Bondage

Why we read is different for everyone. Whether it’s to educate or to entertain, we each have our reasons. I was fortunate enough to have a connection with a book when I was very young. 
( The Talisman by Peter Straub and Stephen King)

It sparked in me a life long love of reading. I related to the young protagonist in the novel because I was young. He was on a journey, learning and growing up much the same way I pictured myself.
I spent years reading everything I could get my hands on looking for that connection to a book that I had had when I was younger. I read many books that I could appreciate but it’s that real connection or understanding of a character or theme that I was looking for. I would ask people for book recommendations and I would spend hours looking through library catalogs. (This was 90’s when computers were not yet in every household.) All this searching finally led to the classics and literature in general. Those books you see with “Classic” written across the cover in tiny print.
A quick search brings up this definition of literature.

lit·er·a·ture /ˈlit(ə)rəCHər/ - Written works, esp. those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit.

There was something different about these books. Being young and in school I couldn't afford the fancy hardcover books. I would buy a paperback for $5-$7 bucks every week and it would keep me satisfied. I fell in love with the words on the page not the medium. I have a couple thousand books on bookshelves and in boxes. The text was the prize I was looking for. When the Kindle was first announced I was ecstatic. Finally, I would be able to have all the books at my finger tips. I read everything I can on the kindle and I recommend it to everyone. And the best part is ALL THE CLASSICS ARE FREE!

Stephen King is still an author I return to again and again for a good scare. When I need that connection with a character I return to the classics. I have read many great books that I love and recommend to people. But we all have that one book that started it all and the book we call our favorite. The one that started it all for me was The Talisman.


The book that I absolutely love above all others is Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. I don’t want to influence your opinion about this book by telling you what it's about. Read it and let me know if you loved it as much as I do.


Let me know what your favorite books are. What book do you recommend to people? What book is your favorite?

Literature Challenge

There is nothing like a challenge to get people motivated. I find myself always coming up with challenges. They can be simple stuff like read more, work out more often or be nicer to people! The first one is the one I want to focus on today. This is what they like to call “a win win.” If you accomplish your goal of reading more you win the challenge. If you do not finish the goal you still read more than you did before and can consider that a win. Maybe you finished a book or maybe you finished a series, either way you motivated yourself and did something great! Here is the challenge.

Read something new for 7 days. That’s it, just read something for a week!

Read a book you been meaning to start. Read the paper that’s been stacking up. You don’t have to read for hours a day or try to finish the book in a week, just read. Read whatever you can, whenever you can. Read a chapter a day, 10 pages a day or even a page a day. Read for an hour a day or 10 minutes a day. Keep it on your night stand or walk around with it to seem really literate! Download a free book to your kindle. Download a book you heard about today! Anything that you want to read at whatever pace you can. Tailor this challenge to fit your lifestyle and reading preference.

Try to fit it into your daily routine so that you don’t forget about it. Read first thing in the morning, read while you’re having your coffee, read during your lunch break. You can add it into your work out; by reading, or having your kindle read to you, during your cardio. You will be surprised how many books a year you can read during 30 minutes of cardio on a bike or treadmill! Read the old fashion way, at bedtime until you fall asleep.

I will start this challenge today. Don’t worry if you don’t finish or you forget. Start the challenge again if you have to and preferably start the challenge every week. Set a goal and challenge yourself to finish. Challenge your friend, your significant other or your parents. Read a book with someone or just make a recommendation to someone.

Leave comments below letting us know how you did. What book did you start? How far did you get? Did you challenge someone else?

Need a book to read? Here’s a great one that is free on Kindle!
The Man Who Was Thursday, a nightmare

Myth and Epic

Arguably the greatest book ever written, The Odyssey by Homer. There are various translations most free some not. The translation is everything. Here are a few translators that are known to be the best.

The Odyssey (Penguin Classics Deluxe Editio) trans. Robert Fagles. My favorite $12.99 Recommend this one. This new modern translation is very good. Fagles manages to keep the translation poetic and update it as well.

The Odyssey trans. Alexander Pope. A classic. Can’t beat free.

The prequel to the Odyssey, The Iliad by Homer. An epic battle that lasted 10 years. Spoiler alert! Trojan horse anyone?

The Iliad trans. Robert Fagles. $12.99

The Iliad trans. Alexander Pope. $3.99 Recommend this one.

The Iliad trans. Robert Fitzgerald. $9.99


The Iliad trans. Edward, Earl of Derby. Free! 


The Iliad and The Odyssey Trans. Samuel Butler $1.00


And for some Myth's! 


The Ted Hughes translation of Ovid is amazing. Tales from Ovid. Unfortunately it is not available in eBook yet. Link is for the paperback.


Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C.S. Lewis. $7.98
This is a modern retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth. Easy to read and very compelling. One of the best books I read this year.


The Aeneid by Virgil. Translation by Allen Mandelbaum. This translation won some awards and is very good. Unfortunately this is not the version available on Kindle. $5.95 paperback.


The Aeneid This is a prose translation but is pretty readable. Free!


These are some of the best works of literature ever written. These keep me reading for hours on end and I hope you enjoy them as well. Hope all the links work, took me ages.
Please leave comments or questions below. Happy reading.

Magic Catalog

Kindle Literature is a blog devoted to great works of literature available for Kindle and other eReader platforms.

Where to start? http://freekindlebooks.org/MagicCatalog/magiccatalog.html Download the ebook to your Kindle or other eReading device. 

This ebook links to the millions of free books available on Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/ and is searchable. Say you want to read a certain play by Shakespeare. Search your Kindle with this ebook on it and it will give you a location. Go to the location and you have a page with links to not only this play but many other books and plays. 

Click the one you want and the browser will open and prompt you to download the file. Click OK and wait a few seconds for the download to finish. The play/novel/book will appear on your home screen. Open it and start reading. These steps are for the e-ink versions of Kindle. The Kindle Fire will take some figuring out on my part. You can always search http://www.gutenberg.org/ and download directly from there.

You can also read thousands of free ebooks available on the Kindle store. The store is easier to access from a computer but is available from any Kindle device. Kindles with e-ink displays are not the best for browsing websites.

Please leave comments, questions or suggestions for post below.