Fiberaddict's Fiber Fumblings

because I have laundry to do! Herself and I got soaked yesterday on our walk - but it was worth it. 10K steps by 3:30!!

Those of you who've been here a bit know how I feel about books. Love 'em - the smell, the feel, the sound of the pages.....e-readers just aren't the same. I'll read on the iPad, but grudgingly - it's just not....the tactile experience I want.

Anyway, Saturday we ended up at the Half Price Books flagship store (long story. Suffice to say that SG was a bonehead - again - and we had to run into Dallas.). Now, I've been on the lookout for Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin books for a bit ("Master and Commander" was adapted from the 10th book of the series). So, while there, I went hunting.

I found 19 of the 20 books...in the "full" price area (meaning half or less of the list price....but $5.99/$6.99 each for *20* books is more than my budget can bear, y'know?).....so, I sighed then moved to the Fiction Clearance area.

Where I found 4 of the books at either $1.00 (2) or $3.99 (2). Hmmmmm.....about that time an employee walked by, so I politely asked "Excuse me - can you tell me why these 4 books are in clearance while you have a TON of the same ones - as well as the rest of the series - in the regular fiction section?" She looked at the books and said "Hmmm...that's a good question. How many are in the series? What are they marked in the Fiction section? Are they the same edition/condition? Let me see......"

I told her there were 20 books, and I wanted all of them - I had them on the iPad, but hated reading ebooks if I had a choice - but at $6 +/each, I couldn't afford to buy them all. She looked at the books in my hand, had me take her to the Fiction section...then ran off a few minutes. She came back with a pricing gun (!!) and told me to grab a copy of each book. (!!!!!!) As she was putting new stickers on them, she told me that she wasn't sure why some were in Clearance as "Super Buys" - that was only for either entire serieses or multiple copies of a single book - neither of which applied to the books I found there.

30 minutes - and a nice conversation! - later, she handed me the 20 books and told me to enjoy my reading. That lovely, lovely woman had marked every one of them for $1. (And I had told her that I didn't mind paying $3.99 - or even the $6.99! - but that I couldn't get all 20 at once at those prices.)

I started the first book, "Master and Commander" in the car. Finished it last night. I'll start the 2nd, "Post Captain", today. The books are good - for those not familiar, they're about His Majesty's Navy during the Napoleonic era - and written at...I'd say 6th grade level, or so (IOW, easy to read.) O'Brian isn't overly detailed in the......interactions between the sexes, but he IS detailed on the Navy and all things related. It is filling my History-loving heart with glee; Lucky Jack is - so far! - a likable character. Not perfect, no - but human and "real". Dr. Maturin is also likable - he's a stand-in for the reader, asking the questions we'd ask if we were there.

I'm still humbled by this - and very, very grateful. God is indeed Good!

Gotta go knit the thumbs on the fingerless knits so I can put that project to bed, then gotta start school. And go buy feed. And *walk*! Laters!

So, tadpoleacorn asked about knitting socks. :heh: You just opened a Pandora's box - I love knitting, I love new knitters, and I LOVE enabling. :trifecta!:

First up: I own......a lot of books. A whole LOT. The folks at Half-Price books mostly recognize me on sight now....and Paypal loves me. I am going to recommend a lot of books - please try to find them used (unless you are independently wealthy, in which case - are we related? :lol:) or see if your library has them (if your library is decent, they'll have some. Ours isn't.) If you need to purchase, hpb.com is a good place to start, as is eBay. (I try to save money. With a book habit as bad as mine is...well, I have a few resources. :lol:) If you have a scribd membership, they have quite a few knitting books there.

OK, here we go. I'll put them in categories for you:

Basic Knitting:

Knitting Without Tears by E. Zimmerman - BUY it. BUY it now. It'll free you from being a blind follower, unable to knit without a pattern. In fact, buy all her books as you come across them

The Principles of Knitting by J. Hyatt - BIG book. Overwhelming. Treat it like an Encyclopedia, and look up stuff you want to learn. Very thorough. HP has it for $9.99. :wink:

Knitting in Plain English - M. Righetti - good book, not my favorite, but gives more detailed instructions than E. Zimmerman.

Knitting Rules! by S. McPhee (the YarnHarlot) - similar to E. Zimmerman, but written to a younger, more tech-savvy audience. (I recommend all her books, as well - most are essays about living as a Knitter, and are oh, so true!)

Kids Knit! by S. Bradberry - Good, basic beginner's book. Projects might be boring for an adult, but if the other books are too intimidating (so. many. words!) this one might click for you.

The Knitter's Book of Wool/Knitter's Book of Yarn by C. Parkes - good overview of the hows and whys of wool/yarn choices in your fiber projects. Some patterns, but they're really all about the fiber.

Socks:

Sensational Knitted Socks/More Sensational Knitted Socks by C. Schurch. Lots of patterns, good explanations

Socks a la Carte/et al by Raffino & Cade - Novel approach; they use flip-pages so you can mix-and-match different cuffs/legs/feet.

Sock Innovation by Cookie A. - Good, but not necessarily for beginners. Buy it, then read it after you've got a couple of pairs of socks under your belt. She's very....engineering-minded, and it shows.

Sock-Knitting Master Class by A. Budd - VERY good book, starts with "easy" socks and gently leads you to glorious color-knit ones. Comes with a DVD (that I've never looked at. :lol:).

The Knitter's Book of Socks by C. Parkes - this was an interesting read; she goes into what types of yarn are best - and why! - and then starts on the patterns. I just got this one, and actually learned something new! (I'm jaded - most sock books are just new patterns, not new info to me. This was a nice surprise!)

Other knitting subjects:

Fabulous Fairisle by J. Allen - good for learning how to do stranded knitting

A Gathering of Lace by M. Swanson - lovely, lovely, LOVELY lace patterns, from socks to shawls and everything in between. Nice eye-candy as well as a nice book!

Knitter's Stash by B. Albright - cool book that has patterns from yarn stores all over the US. You could use it for geography lessons AND knitting! :lol:

No Idle Hands by A. MacDonald - History of Knitting in America. FASCINATING for the history buff as well as the knitter. No patterns (that I recall), but very interesting reading!

Folk Shawls by C. Oberle - Shawl patterns representing the shawls from around the world. Lots of lovely stuff here!

ANYTHING put out by Interweave Press - they have lovely patterns; well-written and well-edited. "Interweave Knits" is a bimonthly magazine; "Piecework" is not just knitting but all fiber crafts (bi-monthly also); "Spin-Off" is aimed at Handspinners; "Handwoven" is aimed at weavers. I have a lot of their collections - each one was worth full-price, in my opinion.

For eye-candy and jaw-dropping designs (but for later, when you have more experience!) - anything by A. Starmore - she who shall not be named. She's re-issuing a lot of her books - finally! - but....well, she's got a reputation in the knitting community, and it's not good. Her works are AMAZING, though - worth picking up if you run across any of them.

Websites:

Knitting help - videos on just about every technique imaginable.

Knitting at About.com - lots of techniques and patterns, but all in written form.

Knitting Pattern Central - TONS of patterns, both free and paid

Ravelry - where a TON of knitters/crocheters/spinners/weavers hang out. The pattern collection is...well, it's mind-boggling (I currently have a queue that's almost to 600 :gulp: and I haven't even scratched the surface!) You could easily knit your entire family's wardrobe from the free patterns here! You need to be a member, but it's free, so.....make sure you have a huge block of free time before you dive in!

I don't have any favorite YouTube channels, but there's a LOT out there. And, there's always the opportunity to go to a Yarn Store if you get really stuck and no one around you can help (but generally speaking, it's nice to actually buy something there when you ask for help.) My problem is that the nearest Yarn Store is 1 hour away.....so I had to muddle thru and teach myself for the most part.

I haven't even scratched the surface, here - but these should get you started. I have.....well, I have 2 bookcases in the Studio. 1 for magazines (almost full) and 1 for books (OVERfull!), with most of the overflow in the bedroom/living room/homeschool room. I think that all knowledge is useful, and when I run across a book that a) I don't have and b) has at least 1 thing in it I might eventually want to knit (or has some info that I didn't know before!), I grab it and bring it home. Honestly, if the internet went down today, I'd still have plenty of stuff to knit without repeating the same things over and over again....and I'd have books with new techniques in them so I could do new things. My knitting shelves are sorted by what the books mostly are for (sweaters/socks/hats/gloves/etc) so it might take a while to settle on 1 pattern, but I'd get there eventually. :lol:

Hope this helps! I have a ton more books - if you run across one, chances are I've either got it or seen it (and didn't grab it because I have one very similar to it on my shelves). I'd be happy to discuss all things yarn!

Ours has been...weird. Not just weather-wise, although that's a biggie - but weird all the way around.

Wednesday, I got stung by a scorpion 2x. It was hiding on my bath towel.....:owowowowowowowowow: SG smashed it into oblivion - fortunately, it looks like I am not currently allergic. (We have small ones, not the big deadly ones. Still - :ow:) We've killed 7 in this week alone - NOT normal. "Experts" say it's because of all the rain we've had - they've coming up, looking for drier areas. Whatever....the pest guy sprayed for them last week (because we'd killed more then - it's already been a BAD year for them)..I guess that's why we're seeing so many? :shudder:

Monday, we had a.....let's just say Anna's arch-enemy. It was stuck in between the window screen/glass - after baby birds. SG killed it with the shovel, then pumped 5 .40 rounds into it, just to be sure. :bigger shudder: There is NO DOUBT that it is DEAD. Thankfully.

I asked the Lord what's up...haven't gotten an answer. I also told Him that if He wants us to move, He's got to a) give a definite sign and b) provide financing. (I said that No scorpions would be a nice sign that we should stay....so far today, *0* have been sighted. I'll take that!) (Seeing's how He provided this property, I don't want to move without a clear sign it's His will. So....)

I've blown thru 9 books this week alone. 5 of the Maisie Dobbs mystery series, 3 Jane Austen "sequels", and ...wait, 4 Nicholas Sparks/Cameron Wright/etc books. So - 12, I guess. And I'm halfway thru "My Life in Service" about Lady Astor's maid, and another Maisie Dobbs book. I can't weave - my wrist hurts too much for that - so there's really nothing else to do once school/chores are done. :sigh: At least my "to read" pile is getting smaller!

Shabbat Shalom! See ya on the flip side!

It's cold and miserable here, but that's OK - we need the rain, and the cold has killed off the grasshoppers. Win/Win!

I am very thankful that I live close enough to a Half-Price Books that I can visit it, but not so close that I'd be there every day. See......right now the entire store is 20% off. It's a dangerous place.....:lol: We went yesterday, and I.....um.....found some more useful books.

The main one? A book called "We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution" by the Center for Civic Education. I'm on Ch. 3, and it's FABULOUS. I wish it were required reading for all our politicians.....not that it would do any good. :sigh: Ah, well - at least my kids and I will be well informed!

I'm thankful for my husband, too - he didn't groan when he saw the stack (hey, it was a SMALL stack!) of books on the table. :lol:

We're taking it easy this week and next - only hitting Torah Class. Week after next, we start in again.....but right now, it's light. Makes for a nice change.

Shabbat Shalom!

First up, no contractors today. Seems that Skeeter's truck is dead. SUPPOSEDLY, they'll be back tomorrow. Any bets??? I've painted the french doors (barn red. Don't ask - they look nice, but they are RED. :lol:) and washed my new-to-me rugs. The lady on CL said they were "almost" new and didn't match her decor...I think the cat pee didn't match her scents. :ick: They're nice enough, though, and I scrubbed the dickens out of them, so they'll be fine. They're currently on what's left of the deck, drying.

Now. I finished Hunger Games 2 and 3 yesterday. They....I don't like them. After spending all of Book 1 getting you to actually LIKE Katniss, Ms. Collins spends the next 2 books tearing her down. I mean......:sigh:

(I have to spoil some, here. Sorry!) In Book 1, you're told that Katniss could cause the Districts to rebel, so she has to toe the line. Why then, does she get sent BACK to the Games????? I mean...if *I* were the ruler, and was afraid that rebellious folk were going to rally around *you*, you'd better believe I'd be out there, showering you with gifts, making you my right-hand person - ANYTHING to keep peace. NOT put you in a position to probably be martyred! (And the way it was done would have - in the real world! -caused the rebellions to pick up, not fizzle out. You simply DON'T try to sacrifice the current "hero" of the people!)

I also don't like how Katniss is made out to be self-centered, focused just on herself. In Book 1, it's apparent that she's NOT like that at all - her whole focus was on trying to save her male "partner"; it's said over and over again that she couldn't go home if she was the one to kill him (and before that, her family - it's why she signed up for tesserae, after all - NOT for her sake, but her sister's.). So...why pit them against each other again? Especially with the whole "Romeo and Juliet" thing going? It......makes no sense.

And the whole "love triangle" thing? Doesn't make sense either. Katniss made plain in Book 1 that she had NO interest in love/boys/doing the family thing. So....why throw it in the sequels?

Ah, well - not every book can be a winner. I need to go scout out my next read......something light, I think. :grin:

I'm trying to get past that, to look at the under-levels...but it's hard.

which means we have tests. Fun stuff.....we also have a literary analysis to do, on Twain's Joan of Arc. THAT'LL be fun, since Himself has farted around instead of reading it. :sigh:

I repainted the breakfast area yesterday. Same basic color; it was Saffron, now it's Butter Cookie. The big difference is that the Saffron had a green undertone; Butter Cookie has a lovely golden-brown glow to it. I like it much better! (I told SG that if he repainted the kitchen, we'd end up repainting most of the house. He denied it....and now? We're about to repaint the family room, he's decided the entry hall and kids' hall needs an update, and I want to repaint the dining room once we reclaim it. :lol: I'm still tending towards earth-tones, but the colors we're picking are softer and more....serene. Not a huge change, for the most part, but the house feels "happier", if that makes sense.)

We have 2 contractors coming out tomorrow, and 1 on Sunday. I want to get this party started.....

We had a nice walk in the park yesterday. The weather was GLORIOUS - 80*, but with a cold wind. Today? The high is 57*. :shakes head: Weird weather abounds.

Oh! I found a new-to-me series: Lady Julia Gray. Set in Victorian England; in book 1 her husband is murdered and she - yes, SHE - finds out who-done-it. There's a PI involved (not called that, but hey - it fits), and there's a lot of shenanigans. Book 2 is 18 months later; she's at the family seat (her Father is an Earl), and there's another murder and a confession. Again, SHE figures out the scheme.....I'm enjoying them! I have 1 more; I need to see how many books are in the series. She's a plucky sort - and the romantic interest (although there's been very little actual romance - a lot of sultry looks. :grin:) is very interesting, indeed.

Need to go milk - I'm drying up all but Zorra tonight. That'll ease my load.....until April. :lol: I need to trim feet - I've done Annie and Risky; 88 feet to go. :sigh:

We've gotten 2.5" since yesterday! We need it - badly! - but....I'm tired of the blah gray-ness. And the damp chill - I don't do well in the cold. :brrrr:

MRI went well this AM. I have the CD; we'll see what the doc says Thursday.

Kitchen: Still a shambles. SG is going to try to grout it tonight, so that I can maybe get the house back in order on Friday. I put 2 more coats on the countertop today (that makes 10, total.) No, it didn't really *need* them, but SG had dropped some tiles/tools on them while we were tiling, and...well, I just felt that they needed another coat. Or 2.

Finger: Hadn't updated in a while. It's....healing remarkably quickly! The ER said 4-6 months......most of the spot is already filled in with new skin. It's VERY tender, but that's OK - I'm running around in nothing more than a band-aid most days. (Thank you, Lord!)

Books: I LOVE having to go into "town"...especially when it's a town we don't normally go to (yesterday was Plano.) We get to hit new Half Price stores.....the one yesterday wasn't that great, but I got a book on Jewish crafts and games, a couple of Gaelic books for SG (he thinks he wants to learn to speak Gaelic. :snicker: He doesn't have time for Rosetta Stone (well...he does, but he'd rather watch Lost or Red Dwarf. :sigh:), so how he thinks he'll learn Gaelic.....ah, well. I still hunt for him, because that's just how I roll. I found a book on tatting, which I grabbed, and we scored a BEAUTIFUL photography book called "The Synagogue". Photos of Synagogues from around the world - for $12. It's a coffee-table book....and I'm itching to dig into it. (Been doing work-work today. :sigh:)

Art: I have scored a number of art workbooks on eBay. Numerous books by Cathy Johnson (watercolor and sketching) and a few Walter Foster drawing books. Can't wait to start using those!

Need to get back to work...:sigh:

Let's see...yesterday Himself and I walked 2 miles for PE. We hiked up to the local gas station for ice cream, then back again. Good walk - and I'm not all that sore this AM. We're gonna try to do a slightly shorter walk today...we'll see. Looks like rain.

Got the Jeep last night....$260 for a new battery and oil change. $113 was the battery....the majority of it was the diagnostic charge. :sigh: At least it's back, and it's running well.

Today we have the exterminator coming out, the new phone service installer coming out, and the dryer repair man coming out. BUSY.

Rosa actually ate her breakfast this AM and asked for more - so she's getting better. We got almost a full strip-cup of milk - also good.

We're doing a Unit on Literature Terms today, so Himself is prepared for book reports. That should be fun....

I read "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" this week. It's......wow. I do NOT agree with her philosophy AT ALL. Yes, Western parents do tend to coddle their kids (I don't); yes, a lot of Western parents pay their kids for good grades (Nope. Not here.) However......

I do NOT demand straight A's....or perfect scores every time. I do demand that they do their best- which, right now, IS straight A's. If they don't get A's, I do NOT drill them on the subject for hours on end. (She does. :boggle:)

And....I believe in music classes. I do. EVERYBODY should know the rudiments of music theory, and should be able to play an instrument. BUT. She started her girls at 3 on the piano (I think that's a little too young, but whatever)...only she insisted on at least an hour practice PER DAY. AT 3. :NO:

And she forced her youngest daughter to play violin.....and insisted on 6 hour practice sessions. She (who is NOT musical, by her own admission) would go to the lessons (minimum 2/week) and take notes...then leave her daughter NOTES - some TYPED - about what to practice. (She included some of the notes. Insane! - We're talking about technique, we're talking about intonation...from a person who really has little clue. You might be able to parrot what the teacher says, but if you don't have a clue you're not HELPING.)

OK. *I* play violin. I had natural talent for it.....but I wasn't pushed. I had fun - and THAT'S what it should be about. I got pissed at the author's repeatedly saying that her kids were "prodigies". Ummm....no. Not with that type of practice schedule. Practicing 6 hours per day, 7 days a week will give you technical brilliance...NOT prodigy. ANYONE would play fantastic with that kind of pressure.....(and she did the same with her oldest daughter and the piano. At one point, her daughter GNAWED on the piano from stress.)

She also describes a "violinist's hickey"...which I had NEVER heard of. Supposedly ALL violinists get it....I never did. And I was *GOOD*....my favorite tutor was a Julliard professor on sabbatical. She interviewed ME before agreeing to take our money for lessons......and she was brilliant. I learned SO much from her....yet, I never got calluses on my fingers, or a "hickey" on my neck....because I wasn't forced to practice for hours on end. :sigh: I practiced when I wanted...and yes, sometimes it was for 2 or 3 hours, but I was having FUN......:bangs head:

The book was interesting...but also sad. I feel for her kids.....they didn't have any sort of childhood. (I don't care about the "no sleep-overs" or "no playdates"....we do that, too. It was the forced practicing that I disagreed with the most - she even made them practice on VACATION, for pity's sake - even overseas.)

Gotta skitter...

piano is not for me. I can read treble clef with no problem; bass gives me fits - but that's not the issue. I sat down today to do Lesson 1...and my left wrist simply can't take it. :sigh:

Lesson 1 is basic - stupid, actually, if you've had ANY music training at all. "This is a piano. This is how you find the notes. This is "C"..." :arrrgh: He then starts you off with a basic chord progression (so that you feel like you're making music. Whatever...).....my right hand? No problem - I have an octave reach with it, easily. My left hand? I can't stretch from c to g. :sigh:

I will keep trying...but I have the feeling that I'm going to have to just *watch* the lessons, then try to do them on my harp - you know, that's not a bad idea, actually - doing the chords and stuff ON the harp, as he goes. :thinks: We'll have to rearrange the music area and shift the harp into there instead of the living room (it's in the living room next to the TV, so that the sound vibrations will keep the harp's soundboard "alive". Same theory as putting a new violin in a cabinet with the radio playing loud music - the soundboard will vibrate and the instrument will find it's voice easier and sooner than if you just play it a lot. :grin:)

Himself has no problems with it, so he'll be continuing with it. I don't care WHAT instrument the kids end up playing - they will learn at least 1, and they will get somewhat proficient on it. (I can play violin, clarinet, recorder, tin whistle, and can dink around on the harp and piano. Violin is my instrument of choice, even if my wrist has buggered it for me. I can still play it - just not as good as I once was. Ah, well - not gonna perform any time soon, so it's OK. I just like making music!) When I rule the world, everyone will have to learn how to read music. :nods:

Still plugging away at "The Land of Painted Caves" or whatever. I'm sorry....but I think I may not finish it. :sigh: I'm at Part 2....*4* years after Part 1 and Ayla is STILL in the same position she was in Part 1. No progress has been made in her "training", she's still got 1 kid, no changes on the relationship front, and the girl who hates her hasn't tried anything. Ummm......right. In 4 years. Not buying it....and the whole book feels like......like it was churned out just to get something in print. And - I don't CARE about the damn caves, I want to know *what happens*. Auel goes into detail on Every. Damn. Cave they visit - I Don't Care. If it doesn't move the story along, it's not needed.......and this? Doesn't move. I can't believe we waited how many years for this? NOT worth the wait. :grumble: I remember I felt the same way about Plains, and Shelters......this is very disappointing. I'm trying to figure out if I just want to skip to the end to see if it ENDS, or if it peters out again.......(And, they still haven't discovered the wheel? After 4 years of hauling the large priestess around on a travois? Ummm...that makes no sense!)

Got a loaf of bread in the machine - it'll be done in time for lunch. :mmmmmm: Fresh bread and peanut butter - can't wait!

Called McCoy's yesterday...and they couldn't find any record of my purchase. :bangs head: Called back today....."OOOPS.....um...it was a mis-communication. We're going to go...go get them today, and we'll deliver 'em free of charge to you tomorrow, if that's all right...." :sigh: Yes, it is, but I really wanted them TODAY so I could get the barn all spiffy-fied. :sigh:

Himself is already comfortable with basic Algebra. He's got a good handle on it...so we may not need to do the Intensive Practice pages. We'll see. Today we read about Moses and the Exodus (good timing, huh? Passover begins Monday evening....) and he started building the Wilderness Tabernacle.

I did 3 loads of laundry, got them hung on the line, and did some Work-work. Also spent some time downloading (legally, for free!) most of the 1632 sequels. (I think I now have all the 1634 ones, and the 1635 ones, plus the 3 Gazettes, the 2 Ring of Fires....I think's that it. Baen put out CDs...and they've been uploaded for people to download. Can't wait to start on them!

I have a problem with DRM.......I understand it, I really do, but.......why is it OK to borrow paper books from a library, or to buy paper books from a resale shop, but it's not OK to borrow e-copies? I mean......OK. I have a LOT of paper books. LOTS. Most of them I bought from Half Price - let's face it, I can't afford my reading habit if I have to pay full-price. I DO buy some books new - when I have the funds, or if I have a good coupon, or if there's a sale (like at Borders that time....:whew:) but I simply can NOT afford to buy all my "fun" books at full price. The local libraries SUCK, big time - honestly, *I* have more knitting/weaving/spinning book then both of them put together, and I probably have more SF books then them, too. (Which are my 2 favorite genres). So....the libraries are out for *me* for fun reading. (Don't even bring up ILL - I've been waiting a good 4 years now for a spinning book I requested - I ended up finding it on eBay. They STILL haven't gotten it in at the library!)

And....most (not all, granted) of the e-books I have, I ALSO have printed copies. Jean Auel? Got all but the newest one in print. Ditto Diana Galbadon, and Neil Gaimon, and Isaac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein, and and and....if it weren't for "lending" libraries of e-books, I'd be broker than I already am, having to buy digital copies of all of them. :sigh: (I will confess that I don't have any hard copies of Eric Flint's books - yet. I haven't been to a bookstore since I discovered him! :lol: And yes, I'll end up buying a few of his in print, just for the principle of the thing.)

I just.....I can't buy 2 or 3 copies of each book - like, say, for the kids, for school. Amazon won't allow you to put it on more than 1 device (and that's assuming they'll sell it in a format my reader can handle, or that Calibre can re-format)...so either 1 kid can haul the ebook around while the other is chained to the 'puter, or I have to purchase 2 copies. That's not right......I mean, with a print book I can read it, hand it to Himself, who can read it and hand it to Herself, and so on.....but with DRM, we're stuck.

I'm not trying to cut the author's royalty payments...but I don't understand why libraries aren't getting the same flack. It's...the same thing, really - 1 copy that hundreds of people can read. I'm not sure, even, why Half-Price doesn't get zinged - I mean, they're profiting on re-selling books, and I haven't heard any publishers whine about *that* (or garage sales, or thrift stores....I mean, really. What's the difference???)

:sigh: For the moment, I'm hunting free sites, and I try to avoid the obvious non-legal ones. I'm not sure what a real solution would be - again, I don't want to hurt author's royalty streams, but.......I dunno. I'm rambling, instead of cleaning.

Guess I need to go clean something.....