In a recent CyberKen post I told how to find and download free ebooks using your Kindle and the Gutenberg Project file called the Magic Catalog.
A CyberKen reader asked whether he could employ the PC version of Kindle (which is free) to use the Magic Catalog. The answer is YES! Here’s how to do that:
Download the mobi version of the Magic Catalog.
Download the PC version of Kindle and install it on your computer.
Or, Download the Mac version of Kindle and install it.
On a PC, from the Start menu, select Documents, and then double click on the “My Kindle Content” folder.
Drag and drop the Magic Catalog file which you downloaded previously into the “My Kindle Content” folder.
Start up the Kindle PC application by double clicking on its icon. You will see the icon for the Magic Catalog among the ebooks you have downloaded and installed. (Keep in mind that if you own a Kindle you automatically install ebooks when you download them. This is not so for the PC version of the Kindle. In this case you need to drag and drop the downloaded ebook file into the “My Kindle Contents Folder”. Only then is the ebook installed.)
Double click on the Magic Catalog icon.
Use the search window in the top right corner of the Magic Catalog screen to search for authors or book titles. If you see a title you like, click on the location link for it. You will then see that title, listed with several others in the same location. Double click on the title you want to download. The ebook you just chose will download to the download folder of your browser. Go to that folder and drag and drop the icon of the ebook you downloaded to the “My Kindle Content” folder, located in your Documents folder. Now your ebook is installed.
Restart the Kindle PC application. Click on the “Home” button. You will see the icon of the ebook you just installed among all your ebooks that are installed. To begin reading your ebook, double click on its icon.