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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.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in a still from their romantic drama film, It Ends with Us, which was adapted from the novel of the same name. Photo: Sony Pictures

Books and literature

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

First came Twilight and Fifty Shades of Gray … now, romantic fiction is enjoying another heyday, with authors like Colleen Hoover boasting legions of fans

8 Oct 2024 - 12:52PM

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

10 Sep 2024 - 5:45PM

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

3 Aug 2024 - 6:45AM

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

16 Mar 2023 - 10:19AM

The Skinny Confidential’s Get the F*** Out of the Sun book outlines the ins and outs of skincare. Photo: @laurynbosstick/Instagram

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.

22 Feb 2023 - 7:32PMvideocam

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.

4 Jan 2022 - 9:00PMvideocam

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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.

28 Oct 2021 - 5:22PM

The Paperwhite is the latest in Amazon’s long-standing Kindle line that serves as your personal, portable library.

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.

15 Jul 2021 - 7:00AM

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.

30 Jun 2021 - 6:00AM

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.

23 Mar 2021 - 10:51PM

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

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.

2 Dec 2020 - 6:00AM

Just a year after its launch in April 2019, ByteDance's free online literature platform Tomato Novel had more than 10 million daily active users. Picture: Screen shot of Tomato Novel

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.

31 Oct 2020 - 6:06AMvideocam

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.

18 Nov 2020 - 11:48AM

Coronavirus pandemic

Libraries reopen, offering readers respite from pandemic blues

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

3 Oct 2020 - 3:06PM

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

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

20 Aug 2020 - 6:00PMvideocam

Royals who have written books: Meghan Markle, Queen Rania of Jordan, Prince Charles. Photos: Reuters, @queenrania/Instagram, @charlesprinceofwales/Instagram

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.

2 Jul 2020 - 6:00AM

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.

7 May 2020 - 4:06PM

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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

25 Apr 2020 - 6:54AMvideocam

A welcome screen for the QQ Reading application, operated by China Literature, is displayed on an Apple iPad mini. Photo: Bloomberg

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.

20 Apr 2020 - 5:57PM

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.

8 Feb 2020 - 5:08AM

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.

13 Nov 2019 - 1:13AM

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.

14 Aug 2019 - 8:00PM

Voice actor and instructor Johnny Heller (left) offers tips to voice actor David McKeel during a recording session at Edge Studio in New York. Photo: The Washington Post/Bryan Anselm

X (formerly Twitter)

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

23 Apr 2019 - 8:00AM

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.

19 Apr 2019 - 7:00AM

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.

8 Feb 2019 - 5:41PM

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

28 Jul 2018 - 1:01PM

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

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

20 May 2018 - 6:29PM

Chinese authors

Online publishing in China: a ticket to fantastic fortunes for very few

Quantity tops quality as millions of would-be authors churn out cliched words in quest for mass approval

10 May 2018 - 12:28PMvideocam

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