ok since i’ve guided people through using libgen a few times now, i’ll make a post about it. it’s super easy actually, i just think the interface intimidates people.
the interface isn’t as nice as z-lib’s but i honestly find it easier to get around libgen, i guess because i’ve been using it longer. so don’t get intimidated
here’s the search, self-explanatory. you really don’t have to change anything unless you wanna see everything available from a specific author, publisher, series, etc. i don’t actually know what “the column set default” means and that has never prevented me from finding what i need lol.
the non-fiction/sci-tech and fiction categories are exactly what they sound like…sort of. i’ve found that if i’m looking for creative nonfiction (e.g. a memoir), i’m more likely to find it under “fiction” than “non-fiction/sci-tech”. poetry books are under “fiction” as well.
now let’s search. mike davis died recently and i’m interested in checking out his books, so i’m going to search for his book city of quartz: excavating the future in los angeles, which is nonfiction. just “city of quartz” is a good search term, since it’s a pretty unique name for a book.
sorry if you can’t see this too well, i’ve taken a screenshot of a “mirrors” section to highlight it (i’ll get into that in a second) but this search results page is just a list of the files that fit my search. libgen lists the author, title, publisher, year, page count, language, file size, file extension (this is important if you’re picky like me–i like epubs for personal use, but when i was in grad school i needed pdfs to reference consistent page numbers). any information that isn’t available (e.g. some of the page counts here) will be blank. the mirrors are what you really want here.
books from libgen aren’t all torrents (usually a torrent link is AN OPTION but it’s an option i’ve never taken in this case, it’s easier for me to just download files directly), but if you’ve ever torrented anything, you’re probably familiar with the term “mirror” in this context. if not, a mirror is a copy of a file hosted on a given server. in other words, these three “mirrors” are just the same file hosted in three different places, if one doesn’t work, you can try another. i’ve actually never had an issue where i’ve had to check different mirror links, but because libgen’s mirror links are often from zlib, i imagine that’ll be different now.
anyway, you can either click one of the mirrors listed on the search page, or click title of the book, which will take you to a page like this, which also has a selection of mirrors:
the first three links are the most relevant to you if you’re not interested in downloading a torrent. again, these are the same file, just in different locations. so i’ll click “this mirror” and that’ll take me to the download page for the file hosted on this site. if you’d clicked #1 of the numbered mirrors for this particular version of city of quartz on the search results page, it’d be the same result
see that big “GET” link at the top? that’s the download link. just click it and the file will start downloading. boom. easy!
Friendly reminder that this is book piracy, which hurts authors, most of whom are not exactly rich to begin with.
With all the stuff on tumblr about supporting screenwriters and visual artists, I find it weird that writers of books aren’t considered so highly.
This is your friendly heads-up that if you want to travel to see the total solar eclipse coming up in the spring, now* is a good time to start making your arrangements!
This one will be visible as at least a partial eclipse to most of North America, with the path of totality cutting a diagonal from Sinaloa, Mexico to Newfoundland, Canada, including 15 US states from Texas to Maine.
Although we just had one a few years ago in 2017, we won’t have another solar eclipse visible in the continental US until 2045–and the path of totality for the 2024 one is within driving distance for a much larger proportion of the US population than either 2017 or 2045. The Northeastern US won’t see another until the 2070’s.
For millions of people, including me, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a total solar eclipse without getting on a plane. Hotels in major cities along the path of totality are already starting to fill up.
Last time, in 2017, I was able to see the partial eclipse from where I live, but it wasn’t feasible to travel to see the totality. I heard from people who did see the totality that it’s really quite something, so I decided back then that I was going to go to this one. (The one in 2079 might be a bit closer to where I currently live, but I’ll be 101 by then, so I figure I’d better not wait.)
Erie, PA is the closest place for me to see it, and I figured I’d camp. I started looking into it last night, and pickings are pretty slim already. I lucked into a camping cottage at a park 20 minutes’ drive outside the path of totality–I think someone must’ve cancelled recently, for me to get it, because out 87 spots, all they had left was 9 tent/trailer sites, and the one cottage.
So anyway, if you want to go, it’s an overnight trip for you, and you don’t want to end up sleeping in your car at a rest area, now’s* the time!
(*Actually several months ago would have been the best time, but the second-best time is now.)
Hey. Hey. Hey.
Buy your solar eclipse glasses and solar lens covers for your camera now.
I saw the 2017 eclipse and it was one of the coolest things I’d ever witnessed.
one thing about orpheus and eurydice is you guys are all like “i’m different i wouldnt turn to look at her” because you are all familiar with the story of orpheus and eurydice. but orpheus wasnt familiar with the story because he was in it lol.
“i wouldn’t look back bc logically if she’s not there it wouldnt help to look and if she is there looking back would cause me to lose her” cool so has love never made you stupid and insane
another thing thats interesting is i think most people assume its a walk of reasonably short length that you have to resist looking back. but we dont know how long that walk was. its out of the underworld, time could work very differently. could be days. could be months. could you walk for months without looking back to see if your love is okay? i dont think you could
exactly. like oh you’re not going to look back? have you never lost a love? there is so much looking back.
