

I need books that I can’t buy, I drink beer that I can’t sip - kitallis
http://code.scrapcrap.org/books-beer

======
tfincannon
Safari (safaribooksonline.com) offers a good option for reading widely at
relatively low cost. They have all the O'Reilly books, many Addison-Wesley and
Microsoft Press books, and recently added some Apress titles. Alas, Safari has
almost nothing on Lisp. You can download Practical Common Lisp and On Lisp
elsewhere, courtesy of their authors.

~~~
markbao
See if your local library has a subscription to Safari Books Online.

For example, Boston Public Library's hidden gem is that anyone in
Massachusetts can sign up for an E-Card for free. From there, you can use
their electronic resources, which includes a huge number of databases, as well
as Safari Online Computer & Business Books. It's brilliant.

Though admittedly it's a pain in the ass to read on the computer.

~~~
kitallis
Hmm. That's a neat idea. Although I have an American Library in my city. It
has a one or two unique titles but I couldn't find anything for LISP and
neither for Python or Ruby. It did have Code Complete.

~~~
sangaya
Try asking one of the workers there for a specific book. I was at my local
library today (in Chicago, IL, US) looking for a specific book on design
patterns. They didn't have it but were able to order it for me. I should be
able to pick it up in a week or so. After I finish with it it'll be available
at the library to any future person that wants to read it.

------
richcollins
He doesn't need books he can't buy. Information about Computers is ubiquitous
online.

> I have a growing interest in the LISP language and the only book I could
> find here was LISP

Is he joking? Is Google banned where he lives?

<http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book.html>
[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.001/abelson-
sussma...](http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-
lectures/) <http://www.gigamonkeys.com/book/>
<http://www.paulgraham.com/onlisp.html>

~~~
kitallis
Here are a few questions.

Have you ever read SICP (online)? Have you ever read The Practical Common LISP
(online)? Have you ever read any e-book worth 400 pages completely?

I guess not.

~~~
dimitar
If someone made a Firefox plugin that converts the volume of text which has a
appeared at a users screen for more than 10 seconds to A4 pages, I am sure a
typical Internet user reads more than 100 pages daily. For example the
Wikipedia article for "Common Lisp" in print view will be printed to 19(!)
pages. And it appears so short. You can make notes in notepad (the real thing)
if you like to think about the problem outside - notes are great thing by
themselves.

You will have to do the exercises eventually and so there is no escape from
the screen. I usually read a book about programming by executing the examples
and solving the exercises while occasionally looking at the text for some
guidance when I am stuck.. has anyone read a programming book which is ~100%
executable (no cheating with excessive comments ;-))?

~~~
Retric
Yes, OSS such as LINUX are great textbooks.

------
staunch
I'm not saying you can find almost any programming book on Scribd but someone
could have said that and I wouldn't accuse them of lying.

~~~
Anon84
s/Scribd/gigapedia/g

~~~
gojomo
Can you say more about Gigapedia?

The site seems fishy: there's little info unless you register (which I have
not yet), and registration requires a Google account.

~~~
CalmQuiet
Even if you don't use Gmail ... Google (apps & hacker resources included)
offer so much that it's a shame not to have an account already!

~~~
gojomo
Of course I have a Google account; that's not the point.

What is strange is that a site that may, from the context of the thread, be a
source of unauthorized ebook copies:

\- hides its 'help'/'about' info from all-but-registered users

\- requires a Google account to register

\- runs Google ads

Wouldn't it be a little odd if the Pirate Bay required a Google account to see
its content, and ran Google ads?

~~~
andreyf
Even stranger, it seems to have been black-listed from Google's index:
<http://www.google.com/search?q=gigapedia>

~~~
gojomo
Well, I guess that's one datapoint for the independence of Google's index from
its advertising operations.

"Sorry, you're too sketchy to appear in our index. However, we'll still gladly
partner with you to make a buck on advertising!"

~~~
prakash
_"Sorry, you're too sketchy to appear in our index. However, we'll still
gladly partner with you to make a buck on advertising!"_

LOL! Well said!

------
rms
<http://www.ebookee.com/>

------
adnam
I found a really good tech bookshop in Delhi - right on Radiv Chowk between
radial 2 & 3 on Connaught place. The same books you might find in a european
book store but at a fraction of the price.

------
hardik
There is the Connaught Palace stretch in Delhi, the whole lane leading up to
Churchgate in Mumbai, also friends tell me of similar places in Kolkatta and
B'lore, where most of the popular tech books' pirated versions are available
pretty cheap. Now, I am not endorsing privacy, but if you are actually so
desperate..

Also, indiaplaza.in has some deal with some international book publishers,
they take good 30 days to deliver such "international books" but they _can_ be
bought in India.

------
nose
Slightly off topic, but you can get the audiobook version of "The 7 Habits of
Highly Effective People" for free right now:
[http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/17691/Free-Stephen-R--
Coveys...](http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/17691/Free-Stephen-R--Coveys-
The-7-Habits-of-Highly-Effective-People-Audiobook)

------
seregine
Sounds like a business opportunity.

------
toodlestech
He is posting on his blog and yet doesnt know how to use the internets or even
amazon or ebay? Who buys books in a bookstore at full price anymore anyway?

~~~
raheemm
Folks living in developing countries where "Free" shipping is not an option
still buy in bookstores.

------
altek
Go to a better school.

~~~
rw
For how many people on the planet is that not a feasible option?

