eBooks for eReader
Occasionally I convert plain text books from Project Gutenberg to
Palm's .pdb format with eBook Studio for Mac; this often requires time
formatting, adding footnote links, images, and more. However, the
resulting ebooks can be read on almost any computer with the free
eReader software, which is now available for the iPhone, too. Below is a
growing list of ebooks I've converted along with brief reviews and
summaries. The most recent additions will appear at the bottom of the list.
• What Is Free Trade? by Frédéric Bastiat
Definitive work by a man often held in high esteem by classical liberals
and libertarians.
• Adventures in New Guinea by James Chalmers
Missionary's trip in Papua New Guinea when cannibalism and various
other aspects of pagan tribal life were rife.
• The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers
A collection of entertaining stories, some of which were apparently
influential on the supernatural tales of H.P. Lovecraft.
• Flowers from a Persian Garden and Other Papers by W. A. Clouston
Collection of various famous Persian poets' works as well as multiple tales
and fables of antiquity, foten drawing links to more modern stories.
• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
About a boy who enlists in the Civil War, flees battle once but ends up as
a hero.
• Father Damien by Robert Louis Stevenson
A letter written in defense of Father Damien who aided lepers on Molokai,
Hawaii, before succumbing to the disease himself.
• What Prohibition Has Done to America by Fabian Franklin
Documenting the idiocy that was Prohibition, brought on by progressives,
with points to apply to the current War on Drugs.
• With the Boer Forces by Howard C. Hillegas
Illustrated book about life with the Boers fighting the British.
• Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
Perhaps one of the first tales of a modern midlife crisis.
• With the British Army in The Holy Land by Henry Osmond Lock
As the title says, during World War I. Dry reading about a dry region.
• Travels in Africa by Mungo Park
A fascinating travel diary by the Scot explorer who single-handedly
roamed about West Africa with all manner of amazing tales and
encounters.
• Tales of Chinatown by Sax Rohmer
Crime fiction with a dated stereotyped Asian mega-villain.
• Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
A great tale of revenge during the French Revolution.
• Bolshevism, The Enemy of Political and Industrial Democracy by John
Spargo
A committed Socialist who nevertheless was aware of the evil that is
Communism.
• Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
A famous and fun work of fiction.
• Anson's Voyage Around the World by H.W. Household
An explanatory title.
• Psmith in the City by P.G. Wodehouse
Humorous writing about Psmith having at his manifold foes.
• The Book of Snobs by William Makepeace Thackeray
A dated classification of (British) snobs, many of whom one can
nevertheless recognize even today.
• The Burglar's Fate and the Detectives by Allan Pinkerton
A true crime story by the man who became synonymous with private
detectives.
• Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
Country girl moves to the city, shuns work, becomes a mistress, falls for
and marries an older guy who wrecks his life for her, and ends up a star
while the older guy kills himself in poverty.
• The Dash for Khartoum: A Tale of Nile Expedition by G.A. Henty
British boys' adventure book from the Victorian Era.
• The Great Hoggarty Diamond by William Makepeace Thackeray
An inherited diamond leads to both class success and downfall.
• The Gods of Pegana by Edward Dunsany
An original mythology written in often dull verse.
• Winston of the Prairie by Harold Bindloss
Farmer assumes another's identity that involves the farmer in a crime but
ultimately results in redemption and success. Notable quote: "...and the
Canadians don't fool time away as we do when it comes to hanging
anybody."
• My Antonia by Willa Cather
Read this tale of immigrant life in Nebraska in high school and hated it.
Read it again about 20 years later and found it a bit inspiring.
• Arabic Authors: A Manual of Arabian History and Literature by F. F.
Arbuthnot
Rather dry academic work, although there are a few good quotes and
brief stories near the end.
• The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories by Edward Dunsany
A collection of stories, fantasy or gothic, some with a Christian edge.
Some are quite good, especially "In The Twilight," where he recounts
fantastically a near drowning.
• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Siddhartha meets Gotama (Buddha) but chooses his own path to
Enlightenment. Picks up after part two.
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
A story about an independent-minded girl who becomes a woman.
• Ethics by Aristotle
Extensive discourse on human character, human nature, and such.
• The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat
Heroic aristocratic children survive the overthrow of Charles I to return to
nobility under Charles II. Dull.
• An Outback Marriage by Andrew Barton Paterson
An Australian literature classic that's a fun read.
• The Best Russian Short Stories
Some are good, like Gogol's "The Cloak," but there's a lot of Marxist-
influenced dross and many are glum.
• The Prince by Niccolò Macchiavelli
Advice to princes on gaining and maintaining rule. There is, however,
advice for all.
• Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Teodora Ozaki
Some are rather gruesome. Many differ from what my wife recalls of them.
• The Child of Pleasure by Gabriele D'Annunzio
Amatory tales of a late 19th century Roman aristocrat and his moral
decay.
• Across Mongolian Plains by Roy Chapman Andrews
Mongolia during WWI. Rather interesting, but the bulk is about hunting
animals for museums.
• The Satyricon by Petronius
A classic by a randy Roman. This version's English is old and chunks of
raw Latin remain.
• The Future of Islam by Wilfred Scawen Blunt
An 1882 work on the Islam's past (good) and future (not very accurate but
reasonable given the time).
• When Valmond Came to Pontiac by Gilbert Parker
Fictional tale of a Napoleonic pretender who starts in Quebec to return to
France.
• The Translation of a Savage by Gilbert Parker
A spite marriage with racist intent turns into a story of acceptance and
acculturation.
• Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M. R. James
Classic ghost stories, good fun.
• The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
The Socialist who says Socialism's greatest enemy is its army of
advocates.
• What to Do? by Leo Tolstoy
A failed attempt to aid the poor leads to essays on Christian Socialism,
zero-sum economics, and Luddite views. In turns interesting and idiotic.
eBooks for iSilo
Occasionally I convert books from Project Gutenberg with iSiloX to the
commercial iSilo format that can only be read on supported devices with
iSilo installed (iSilo's features list). iSiloX basically converts HTML
automatically, so it's very easy and fairly fast. I'm currently using iSilo
v5.0.3. Below is a growing list of ebooks I've converted along with brief
reviews and summaries. The most recent additions will appear at the
bottom of the list.
• The Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775 With Numerous
Illustrative Notes by Abraham Tomlinson
Two diary accounts by soldiers in the American Revolutionary War.
• Impressions of a War Correspondent by George Lynch
Victorian correspondent covers the Boer War, European atrocities during
the Boxer Rebellion, and finishes with much commentary on New York life
and telephone-lacking London ("the Dingy City").
• Modern Persia by Mooshie G. Daniels
A description of Persia from 1897 by a native Christian who comes to
America with missionaries. Various details of the ruling Muslims' treatment
of Christians and Jews in Persia.
• On the Irrawaddy: A Story of the First Burmese War by G. A. Henty
A boys' book about a young Englishman who gets involved in various
heroic escapades in Burma.
• A Woman's Journey through the Philippines: On a Cable Ship that
Linked Together the Strange Lands Seen En Route by Florence Kimball
Russell
Laying telegraph cable in 1900, described in very florid writing.
• The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan by James Morier
Humorous adventures of the son of a 19th century Persian barber. Written
by a former British diplomat who spent time in Persia, Hajji experiences the
ups and downs of life, his tales lightly poking fun at human and Muslim
foibles. If you like Edward Said, you'll hate this ebook. Amazon entry.
• Visit to Iceland by Ida Pfeiffer
An Austrian woman's journey from Vienna to Iceland and other parts of
Scandinavia in 1845, essentially a detailed diary with some curious asides
from a time long past.
• In Africa by John T. McCutcheon
A Chicago Tribune cartoonist and Purdue U. graduate (mainly) goes big
game hunting in Africa in 1910. Period writing and he even meets with
Teddy Roosevelt on safari! With graphics, the original iSilo file was 7.7MB,
so this version is text-only (but 1.5MB). The original HTML version, with
pictures and cartoons, is here.
• Travels in The Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846
by James Richardson
For the original HTML, this book has two volumes (one and two) with some
good original illustrations. A lone Christian abolitionist among Muslim slave
traders, he has some interesting encounters and experiences, not least
because he is sometimes the first European to reach the various towns
and oases. For text-only iSilo, volume one and two.
• Creatures That Once Were Men by Maxim Gorky
Lives of "creatures that once were men" who move in and out of a
flophouse, some moving out and up in the world, only to fall back down.
• Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
A masterpiece of social observation of the developments over time in the
lives of a small social group in 19th century Britain.
• Eugenics and Other Evils by G.K. Chesterton
The title says it all. Recall that many progressives backed eugenics.
• Grettir the Strong, Icelandic Saga by Uknown
Brawling, bloodletting, four-line verses, trolls, quirky Norse names like
Onand the Treefoot and Throld the Yeller, all apparently reasonably
factual. Grettir was quite a character!
• The Romance of Mathematics by P. Hampson
I expected this to be about math, but it's a weird misogynistic satire.
Annotation file.
• Glances at Europe by Horace Greeley
Starts with departure to the 1851 World's Fair in London then takes in
France, independent Italian states, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium,
Scotland, and Ireland. Annotation file.
• The New World of Islam by Lothrop Stoddard (1922)
Brief history of Islam followed by in-depth analysis of the development and
growth of the Pan-Islam movement in the Near East and India, including
its abetting by the Bolsheviks. Parts are relevant today. Annotation file.
• Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (1887 translation)
His masterpiece following characters through the French Revolution.
• Adventures in Africa by "An African Trader"
Old safari tales. Elephant foot is described favorably as being
"gelatinous." Mmm! Classic illustrations. Annotation file.
• A Discourse of a Method by René Descartes
A famous work translated in 1649 and thus full of odd spellings, grammar,
and capitalization. Annotation file.
• Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Richard I, Robin Hood, Saxons, Normans, antiquated vocabulary—good.
• The Innocents: A Story for Lovers by Sinclair Lewis
An elderly couple make a go at a business, fail, suffer, but eventually
succeed in a small town through staying diligent, pure, and simple.
• Soldier Stories (1896) by Rudyard Kipling
Tales from a band of three soldiers who've wound up in India. Be
prepared for difficult British accents.
• The Dark Star (1917) by Robert Chambers
A spy story involving the supernatural Dark Star, Lord Elrik, which brings
WWI to Europe with the aid of people born under its passing.
• Common Sense (1776) by Thomas Paine
A classic polemic for independence and against monarchy. Why wasn't
this required reading when I was in school? Annotation file.
• A Daughter of the Land by Gene Stratton-Porter
A farmer's daughter goes her own way and suffers ups and downs yet
perseveres to see all turn out right in the end. Annotation file.
• Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
A personal favorite, written with humour and a keen eye to Russia and
human character in all its forms.
• A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
Perhaps her most famous work about a driven farm girl, moths, and
independence.
• Masters of the Wheat-Lands by Harold Bindloss
Romance on the prairies in the 19th century with Old Country vs. New
Country (Canada) ways.
• Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania by Jewett Castello
Gilson
Geography, geology, history, and more with the viewpoint of a 1913
writer.
• Incidents of the War: Humorous, Pathetic, and Descriptive by Alf Burnett
Observant journalist and humorist travels with the Union forces through
the CSA.
• Her Father's Daughter by Gene Stratton-Porter
More ur-chick-lit with a naturalist's eye but unexpected nutcase period
racism, especially about the "yellow peril."
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
A wonderfully illustrated copy from around 1900. Amazing I'd never read it
before.
• Myths of the Norsemen: From Eddas to Sagas by H. A. Guerber
A thorough read of Norse mythology with comparisons at the end to
Greek. Annotation file.
• Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Rather a disturbing read but worthwhile.
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Dull for adults but its intended value for girls is clear. The historical context
is interesting.
• Thoughts on Art and Life by Leonardo Da Vinci
Brief work by an intelligent observant man who takes many swings at
poets, in particular.
• The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A classic epic poem, though it does not rhyme.
