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E-books and audiobooks

E-books and audiobooks
A whole world of literature can be yours at the click of a button. Here you’ll find reviews of the best new e-books and audiobooks you can download onto your various devices.
The audiobook Taylor Swift was listening to in her The End of an Era docuseries, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, is going viral. Photos: EPA, Riverhead Books
Taylor Swift

All about the Taylor Swift-approved book, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

In an episode of her new Disney+ docuseries, Swift listened to this Barack Obama-recommended book by Liz Moore – now it’s coming to Netflix.

Books and literature

The ‘CoHo’ effect? Why spicy romance novels are going full steam ahead

Fashion

Why you should listen to: the menswear episode on Sean Carroll’s Mindscape

Podcasts

5 family-friendly podcasts for kids that won’t bore adults

From Music Blocks to Mission Responsible, here are podcast recommendations for curious kids that steer clear of gore and profanities

Scratching your head over podcasts that work for both you and the kid? We have five recommendations here, from musicals to crime. Photo: Shutterstock
Skincare

5 inspiring skincare books to add to your reading list

You may think you know it all when it comes to skincare, but these experts have much more to say – here are 5 books to add to your beauty reading list

Artificial intelligence

ChatGPT fuels AI-written books trend on Amazon

There were over 200 e-books in Amazon’s Kindle store as of mid-February listing ChatGPT as an author, but there is no requirement to disclose the use of AI.

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Amazon

Amazon Kindle closes shop on Tmall as some question its future in China

The popular e-book reader is still available from third-party merchants, but some are questioning Kindle’s future in China after Amazon closed its local marketplace in 2019.

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Amazon’s new Kindle Paperwhite the latest in its line of popular e-book reading devices, but official stock has run out in China, forcing consumers to turn to third-party sellers. Photo: Amazon
Amazon

Review | Why reading on Amazon’s 2021 Kindle Paperwhite is a delight

The 2021 edition of the Kindle Paperwhite has a bigger, brighter display than previous editions of the Amazon e-readers, and swapping reading modes is easier than ever. Reading books on it feels effortless.

Coronavirus Hong Kong

Letters | How public libraries can go digital to attract young readers

Hong Kong Public Libraries should allow digital enrolment in its Reading Programme for Children and Youth as soon as possible and consider encouraging readers to write book reports on social media.

Coronavirus Hong Kong

Letters | Give readers greater access to e-resources at Hong Kong libraries

More funding should be devoted to electronic collections to serve library patrons a balanced mix with printed materials. The digital lending practices of New York Public Libraries and the Chinese University provide a useful template to emulate.

A visitor at a public library in Hong Kong. Total expenditure on electronic resources in 2020 was only about 27 per cent of Hong Kong Public Libraries’ more than HK$100 million annual budget for acquiring materials. Photo: AFP
Podcasts

Audio or video? Science explains the rise of podcasts and audiobooks

This is a revolutionary time for podcasts and audiobooks, and a scientist thinks he knows why: in an experiment, students responded more strongly to the audio than the video of classic scenes from Game of Thrones and Silence of the Lambs.

More people around the world are embracing audio entertainment, with podcasts and audiobooks leading the way. Photo: Getty Images
Tencent

ByteDance wants web novels to be free, but readers aren’t so sure

TikTok owner ByteDance hopes free content on Tomato Novel will help it take on Tencent’s China Literature, its dominant competitor that continues to attract top talent.

Artificial intelligence

AI is helping authors imagine new sci-fi worlds

AI algorithms are helping writers fill in additional details after the first sentence, but past efforts were less than perfect.

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Books and literature

Feeling alone in a crowd? Three books to read about loneliness

This One Wild and Precious Life, by Sarah Wilson, looks at ‘moral loneliness’, A Biography of Loneliness, by Fay Bound Alberti, studies the ‘modern epidemic’ of searching for a soulmate, and audiobook The Power of Ritual, by Casper ter Kuile, explains how the non-religious can create communities.

Feelings of loneliness can strike at any time, whether you are physically alone, or among a crowd. Picture: Getty Images
Coronavirus pandemic

Libraries reopen, offering readers respite from pandemic blues

Cleaning, disinfection increased, fewer seats provided, and all library users must wear masks.

A young girl in a mask reads at book at the Hong Kong Central Library in Causeway Bay after it reopened to the public. Photo: Winson Wong
Royalty

6 royals who have written books – from climate change to manners and morals

Educated, well travelled and impeccably connected, royals can draw on a lifetime of diverse and inspiring experiences when deciding what to write about

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China technology

ByteDance takes stake in e-book operator amid content war with Tencent

TikTok owner ByteDance has acquired a stake in Beijing Dingtian Culture Entertainment, which runs multiple online reading platforms competing with Tencent-backed market leader China Literature.

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Food and Drinks

Lockdown baking mastered? Try making chocolate desserts

Experiment with the recipes of Lyon’s famed Bernachon patisserie using the American translation of its cookbook, A Passion for Chocolate.

Try your hand at making chocolate desserts using the recipes of Lyon’s famous Bernachon chocolate and pastry shop translated for American kitchens, in the cookbook, A Passion for Chocolate. Photo: Shutterstock
Books and literature

Chinese are reading more online – regardless of the coronavirus pandemic

Chinese digital reading platforms signed up 100 million new users in February, the height of the coronavirus outbreak in China, according to a new industry whitepaper

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Racism and other prejudice

Review | Why Asians have a thing about pale skin, and the trouble with that

Asian-Americans question why their beauty is judged by how light their skin is in a new anthology, Whiter. Among its stories is that of a woman born to a Chinese mother and a black father who experienced rejection from Chinese-Americans.

NBA

Kobe Bryant’s recommended reading list: 15 books that inspire

After Bryant died in a helicopter crash, the Los Angeles Public Library compiled a list of books the basketball legend had recommended in interviews and social media posts. It also listed four books the retired LA Lakers player wrote or co-wrote.

Basketball star Kobe Bryant was a reader as well as a writer, and the Los Angeles Public library has compiled a list of his recommended books. Photo: Wally Skalij/LA Times/MCT
Edward Snowden

Whistle-blower Edward Snowden slams China censorship of his book

References to China’s military cyber intelligence, Great Firewall and the Arab spring missing from simplified Chinese edition of his memoir Permanent Record.

Former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden addresses attendees through video link at a technology conference in Lisbon on November 4. Photo: AP
Books and literature

Reading out loud: how audiobook voice talents hone their skills

Downloads of audiobooks have tripled in the past five years, and voice-over artists are in demand. Renowned voice-over artist Johnny Heller teaches hopefuls the finer points of audiobook recording.

X (formerly Twitter)

Letters | Classics in the age of Twitter for kids who won’t read

Books and literature

Almost one in three Hongkongers have not read a book for a year

Lack of time and preferring to read online among the reasons given in Hong Kong Publishing Professional Society survey.

Rebecca Chee from the Hong Kong Publishing Professional Society said parents should stimulate their children’s interest in reading. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Technology

Ditched your book for a Kindle? Here's why you're wrong

In China, the world’s biggest smartphone market, there is still healthy demand for Amazon’s Kindle e-readers.

Kick back with a nice Kindle? Some still prefer a good old paperback

Review | Fight Club author Palahniuk takes aim at Trump’s America

Set against a dystopian backdrop, Adjustment Day simmers with anger as it offers a less than sophisticated satirical takedown of current societal ills

Technology

Review | If you like to make notes but want to go paperless, Boox Max2 is for you

At first sight an e-reader twice as big as an Amazon Kindle and with a black-and-white screen may lack appeal, but wait until you see what the Onyx device can do, and to almost any file format

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