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Okay, so, for xmas I'm going the illegally downloaded route, because I have no money at all.

13 year old boy has a Kindle. I'm wanting to fill it with books he'll like. I'm starting with:

The Hobbit

and

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo (this is the 10 year old's suggestion, based on past preferences)

But I would like a lot more on there, so here is what you can do: RECOMMEND SOME BOOKS. From past experience, I know you are GREAT at this. Also, if you have advice on illegal downloading of books, give it here. I've not done it before. Movies and music, yes, but what if books are different? They're supposed to be MOBI files, right?

Ugh, and now I am thinking of asking Jerry what he's getting the 10 year old for xmas so I can buy complementary gifts. *shivers uncomfortably*

Did I mention the 10 year old wants a ghillie suit for his birthday/xmas? Mom and I are going halfsies on it so it's not too expensive.

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I have a LOT of ebooks I could share if you'd like, but I'm not sure how many are what's needed. I have all the Terry Pratchett books, also Harry Potter but once you've got recommendations if you want to give me a shout I can look at what I have that I can send you if you'd like.

Ooh, if I could get the boy into Pratchett the world might right itself. :D

Do you think I should start with the Tiffany Aching books? Hmmmmmm. Possibilities!

Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.

Generally speaking, the best way to get someone addicted to Discworld in one book is to make them read Hogfather. The Christmas themes are pretty accessible, anyway. And appropriate for your occasion! ;)

Perhaps the fact that I haven't read Hogfather is the reason why I'm not totally addicted? I love what I've read so far but I think I've read less than 8 Discworld books. *adds to long long to-read list*

Have you read any of the other ones about Death or Susan? They're my FAVOURITES. Well, them and the Moist von Lipwig ones. I love a good con-artist.

Right now I'm not remembering which ones I read. It's been two years since I got them and my memory SUCKS. I remember Death and Susan, but not Moist von Lipwig, which means I haven't read them or I'm forgetting.

The Moist books--Going Postal and Making Money--are two of the most recently published ones. Going Postal was actually my introduction to Discworld. The friend who made me read it knows what I like; she just held it out and said, 'it's about a con artist', and I just quietly took it from her and scuttled off.

I don't know about illegal downloading, but have you heard of Project Gutenberg? Free downloads of books in the public domain, and mobi is one of the available formats. They have a bunch of classic children's books.

Thanks, bb! I knew about it but then it flew out of my head.

You're welcome!

True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex <-- so funny
Airborn trilogy by Kenneth Oppel (anything by him)
House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer <-- fairly intense
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Maybe some of these are too young or too old for him, though, idk?

I will investigate! Thanks, bb. *smooch*

I think I have a few MOBIs/ebooks on my computer; I could check and send them to you.

If you think you have books that are appropriate for a 13 year old, sling them over! Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.

Kindle does need mobi files but if you're finding only epub instead in the books you want (epub is the standard open format for most ereaders not made by Amazon; good torrents will have both formats but they don't all), I recommend Calibre for converting the format to mobi for your Kindle. Calibre is free to use and a good computer-based organizer for ebooks; I actually use it exclusively to load up my Kindle, too, not only because it converts formats for me but because it's an easy way to get fanfic onto mine. ;)

I'm not sure I have any book recommendations! A lot of kids liked those Lemony Snicket books back in the day, though, how about those? And the Eragon ones were popular, too. Disclaimer: I personally haven't read either series, I just know they sold like crazy.

This is important information, thank you!

I'm not sure what sort of books a 13 year old boy would like sadly (my 9 year old daughter only reads graphic novels) but there are a couple of book sharing comms on LJ if you are still over there at all and can get in them... bekeen and v50 They've slowed down a lot since demonoid went down though.

Also yes you need mobi files but you can convert other formats to mobi if you have calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com/) (which is free and easy to use) It's also good for organizing one's digital books.

good luck. The holidays are so stressful when there is no money :(

Thank you! This is the second rec for Calibre I've gotten, so I'll definitely be getting it.

And thank you for the well-wishes. :)

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