Since Amazon and the Kindle developed a relationship with our local library (and thousands more across the United States), I have been having a great time browsing and grazing. There aren't a lot to choose from yet, but I'm sure the list will grow with time as libraries become more comfortable with the technology. It has got to be much less expensive for them to purchase an e-book (probably at a nice institutional discount) and lend it than it costs to purchase and maintain, not to mention keep up with, a paper version.
Browsing my local library site, I found 1030 Kindle book titles to peruse, 201 were in the Romance genre, certainly enough to keep me busy a while, even if only half of them are any good. I have borrowed three so far, and returned two, never dealing with a human or leaving my house. This is nice.
Another thing I noticed while browsing the library site was an entire section of Public Domain ebook titles - 15,000 Free Classics. These books can be "check out" any time, never expire, and don't count against your library check out limit. You can browse by subject or view a list of featured public domain ebooks.
note: I'm wondering why The Adventures of Robin Hood was listed under Fairy Tales, Folklore, Legends and Myths?
While browsing with my iPad, I selected the book (Robin Hood), looking for a download button or something to send it to my Kindle - ended up with a choice to open in iBooks (an epub file) or some other reading app I had on my iPad. Of course I chose iBooks. It is a great app, with very nice visual effects. Once I opened the book, it was plain to see I had 565 pages of one of my favorite books of all time in my hand for as long as I want to keep it close. Talk about Library Fun!
special note: If your library isn't up to speed yet, don't lose heart. Manybooks.net is still available and free to use and enjoy. You can even browse Manybooks.net from your Kindle (if you have a little patience) and download Kindle-ready books straight to your little machine.
Enjoy, dear readers!
Manybooks.net note: You can download these books for your Kindle, directly from the web site. It is certainly worth clicking these book links and experimenting with your 5-way toggle. It may be a little clunky, but actually works fine. You will make good use of that free Amazon whispernet connection. The .mobi file format is my personal favorite for books from Manybooks.net on my Kindle, but you can also use .prc, .txt, and .azw files with no trouble. Experiment with them all and decide for yourself which formats you like the best. Manybooks.net books are always FREE!
Instant refresher: How to download a book file from manybooks.net and how to get it to your Kindle.
Downloading 101 - Firefox
Downloading 101 - Internet Explorer
Kindle File Management
