Sophia, if you're looking for another Victorian novelist after Alcott, may I suggest Margaret Oliphant?

I found one of Mrs. Oliphant's (as she was also known) novels, Hester, at a book fair for $3. She's definitely in the realist category. Think Anthony Trollope, but from a woman's point of view. Not that Oliphant is Trollope's equal, but she's a perceptive author and an interesting read. And Emma Ashton may be one of the most underrated comic characters in Victorian literature.

Thank you Fred-- I will have to remember that!

I've been checking out ebooks from the library. Seattle has lots. They have three formats, a PDF one, another similar but fancier pdfesque thing and mobi.

I think the hope is that people will move towards ePub for library rentals, and that readers will move toward that as well. At the moment the Kindle doesn't support it, but I really hope that changes: a universal, open format is everybody's friend.

At the moment, the Kindle can read library mobipocket books, apparently, though it helps to run them through calibre. I haven't tested it, though I'm about to see if I can try it.

but I really hope that changes: a universal, open format is everybody's friend.

You're assuming that Amazon wants to be ANYONE'S friend.

Regardless of how they're trying to spin this, this has bubkes to do with concern for the consumer and everything to do with keeping control of the marketplace.

My Library lists Adobe ePub eBook, Adobe PDF eBook, and MobiPocket eBooks. It looks like a bit of a mess, the books appear to be at most supported by 1 or 2 of the formats but never all three.

Audiobooks are more consistent. Almost all are available in WMA with some also in MP3. If you jump through the proper hoops you can get them to work on iPods and Zunes. I have a Samsung Mp3 player so I can play everything the library has in that department.

My library finally has iPod compatible audiobooks. But they list that as a separate category from their main list, which is kind of annoying.

You're assuming that Amazon wants to be ANYONE'S friend.

Regardless of how they're trying to spin this, this has bubkes to do with concern for the consumer and everything to do with keeping control of the marketplace.

Not really, but I'm hoping.

Frankly, I think that if they could keep everything locked up tight and sealed, they would. But it's not going to happen; they didn't have enough time or power to keep control of the marketplace and now it's been cracked open.

Sorry, Amazon. You lost that fight.

However, the Kindle is still a really great device, with the (so far) best combination of easy book access and eReader features. They should be afraid, however, as the Nook and the iPad are both possible contenders in both the bookstore and device world (the Sony and CyBook, etc. readers never managed to create an on-device store experience that came close to matching, and so I'm afraid they're completely down for the count). It is NOW in their best interest to open the Kindle up, so that people won't be convinced to buy a Nook because it's "more open". An argument I myself would almost certainly go for, and would probably consider with great seriousness if I were buying, even though by all accounts the Kindle still offers a better experience.

That means they need to do two things:

1) Stop killing off Mobipocket, and let Kindle users easily get their Mobi PIDs so that they can purchase DRMed Mobi content from mobipocket.com, fictionwise, et al. More significantly, this would make it easier to download Mobi library books. I just downloaded one, and was able to get it working on my Kindle, but it required me to run two different Python scripts and who wants to do that? Not my parents, for sure. The point is, if I can do it in two small Python scripts, Amazon could make it a lot easier if they chose.

2) Support ePub, with and without DRM, on the Kindle.They don't have to make their own store ePub, if they don't want to, any more than Apple needed to make their store MP3. If they want to lock their content so that only Kindle branded devices can read it, more power to them. But there is no reason for them to lock their device. The Kindle is not the iPod. Apple got away with not supporting WMA by being Apple, and I STILL think that was a bad move on their part. Amazon won't get away with it.

If the Kindle isn't updated to be a little more open, I'm certain I'll have other choices for my next upgrade. Choices that use ideas THEY pioneered, like the always available, no-monthly-fee bookstore. I love that. I don't want to give it up. But they're not the only player in that field anymore and they'll have to accept that.

Chiming in on the ebooks format. I won't ever stop buying print books, but I loves me some ebooks, for the portability, the price (I got the new Stephen King for 9.99 on ebook, opposed to $35.) and the 3 a.m. factor.

However, it's very annoying to me, now that I have an iTouch, that all the ebooks I bought to read on me PC are not compatible with the itouch. I bought them; I should be able to read them! And they're still stored on the various websites list as downloadable -- but not in the format I need. It's very frustrating. Reading on the iTouch is not as satisfying as reading a print book, but so far I've read the latest King and the latest Gabaldon on it without my eyes falling out my head, and without any major "being taken out of the story"-ness due to the small screen either. I'd like to have access to the other books as well.

My sister got a reader -- I think a Sony eReader -- for Xmas. I'll have to check it out.

Erin: You can probably find a way to read most any book out there on an iPod touch. E-mail me with details about what formats you have (and from what stores) and I can probably help you convert them.

It may require some technically-illegal DRM stripping, but I feel no ethical dilemma removing DRM so that you can read it on your current device. I strip all my Kindle books for future devices, and I am completely willing to announce it.