Voder-Vocoder

The SF/Fantasy reading queue has grown absurdly large. I haven’t read any new books all summer. A trip to the bookstore yesterday reminded me of this fact. I went ahead and grabbed the ebook of The Magician King and will work my way down the list.

• The Magician King by Lev Grossman [R]
• Rule 34 By Charlie Stross [R]
• Ring of Fire III by Eric Flint
• Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson
• Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi [R]
• Destroyer— and Betrayer of Worlds by Niven and Lerner
• The Lost Fleet Beyond the Frontier 1 by Jack Campbell [R]
• The Hot Gate by John Ringo
• A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin [P]

To be published in the next few months:

• Reamde by Neal Stephenson [R]
• How Firm a Foundation by David Weber [H]
• The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge [H]

[R] = read
[P] = in progress
[H] = on hold at library

#!/usr/bin/python
#DTPD#
import subprocess
import os.path
import sys
import glob

def fixfile(in_file_name):
  ebookconvert = r'C:\PROGRA~2\Calibre2\ebook-convert.exe'
  #ebookconvert = '/usr/bin/ebook-convert'
  base = os.path.basename(in_file_name)
  dirn = os.path.dirname(in_file_name)
  newdir = 'myformat'
  try:
    os.mkdir(os.path.join(dirn, newdir))
  except OSError:
    pass
  out_file_name = os.path.join(dirn, newdir, base)

  cmd = [ebookconvert, in_file_name, out_file_name,
    '--preserve-cover-aspect-ratio',
    '--change-justification', 'left',
    '--margin-bottom', '4',
    '--margin-left', '4',
    '--margin-right', '4',
    '--margin-top', '4',
    '--remove-paragraph-spacing']
  print ' '.join(cmd), '\n'
  sproc = subprocess.Popen(cmd)
  sproc.wait()

if __name__ == '__main__':
  for arg in sys.argv[1:]:
    for filen in glob.glob(arg):
      fixfile(filen)
  exit(0)

I’m reading Permutation City. Why had nobody sat me down and made me read this before now?

I’ve decided that using it as an ebook reader is incredibly convenient, because of its small size (it fits nicely in my pocket!). The only advantage an e-ink screen still holds for me is super-long battery life.

Classics of American literature I may have missed: what should I read?

The City & The City by China Miéville (034549752X). At first I had trouble suspending disbelief on the premise, but the book was so well written that the suspension happened anyway. How? The author stuck to the premise perfectly, creating a perfectly self-consistant world. I was somewhat upset that even though most of the mysteries of the book were resolved in the final act, the wierd history was never really explained.

When I was looking for downloadable audiobooks from the public library, I checked out the audio version of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (0743273567), and read by Alexander Scourby (1602834725). I'm glad I finally got around to this one; I keep telling myself that I'll read all the classics of American literature, but I never did, until I got started on the idea of listening to audiobooks while bicycling.

This week, I finally broke down and bought an ebook reader — B&N’s $150 WiFi Nook (ISBN 9781400532629). It’s a beautiful little device.

I got the Jonathan Adler Punctuation Cover (978161560062) since it’s both very sturdy and cheaper than most.

I’ve already side-loaded 90 free books onto the device. These books have come from several places. In no particular order:

Places to buy eBooks:

“I personally don't buy ebooks with DRM on them, because I actually like to own the books I own.”John Scalzi