jr conlin's ink stained banana

As some of you may know, i have a Sony PRS505 ebook reader. It's a darn nifty device which my father has an unnatural attraction to, but that's beside the point.

In this case, the point is that while he's rightly smitten by the device, i'm… well… not.

It's not that i wouldn't like to. i tried. Thing is, i have no problem reading on devices like LCD screens like my computer, laptop or ipod, so when i'm in the mood to sate the literary muse, that's where i turn. (Plus, i tend to read more websites and technical stuff rather than some torrid page turner about how a stoic band of cowboys defeated Nazi Estonia.)

So, i've been thinking about giving it to my brother. Of course, since he tends to get things that my father likes, he may already have one, which means that i'd probably hand it to the other heavy reader in the family, my niece.

This, of course, raises the question: What books to load up on it for a (nearly) 10 year old?

Since i'm a cheap bastard and happy to sow the seeds of both geekery and a touch of subversion, i'm looking for various free books that i can pile up on it. i've already grabbed some of the stuff i read at that age:

• 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea
  Nothing like a bit of kick ass pacifism
• Journey to the Center of the Earth
  the non-Disney version that had me looking for holes with Icelandic writing (sadly lacking in Northern Virginia).
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
  because there's always room for deductive reasoning
• Princess of Mars
  Tarzan was overrated
• Gulliver's Travels
  She won't get all the jokes, but it's good adventure
• Alice in Wonderland
  Because it's curiouser

i've also included (based on the recommendation of Kent) Charlie Stross' Accelerando (which i've also loaded up for my own reading purposes).

On the wishlist of books i'd love to add to that digital pile:

• The Stainless Steel Rat
• The Princess Bride
• Another Fine Myth
  Sadly, i don't have the Foglio version
• Roadmarks
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

(i'm planning on giving her the first three in paperback anyway.)

But then things sorta peter out. Granted, that's a lot of reading right there, but since this isn't an assignment, i'm happy with letting her say "Nah, not really into this" and skip. She's already gotten into fantasy, so the stuff i'd be giving her would (i'd guess) be right up her alley. None of it has anything really offensive (even Slippery Jim goes out of his way not to kill anyone).

Can you think of any others that might fit the bill?