Another great thing about ebooks: You can read authors in e-format that you can't read any other way. One of my favorites is Ed Howdershelt, a man whose bio is as interesting as his books--in fact, many of his books are reportedly based on his varied experiences as medic, spy, mercenary, artist, computer geek. And you can't get his books in dead-tree editions.
A good place to start: 3rd World Products, Book 1. The book opens with first contact: an alien spaceship appears in midair off the coast of Florida. Protagonist Ed watches it for a little while; it does nothing but hang there. So he goes about his day, figuring that it would either be there later, or it wouldn't. Thus begins an unpredictable, erotic, happily satiric adventure that continues for at least seven more books. (And I'm not kidding about the erotica--it's an ever-present Howdershelt feature. In some of his books, such as Assignment: Atlanta and the In Service to a Goddess series, sex fulfills a major plot function and makes Ed seem like a particularly good guy to know. But the sex never outweighs the story) I'm not going to write a longer review because you can find a great review here. This book won the Preditors & Editors 2005 Reader award for best SF novel, and it gets great reader ratings at Fictionwise (along with Howdershelt's other books).
Don't care for SF? Then try Dragonfly Run, a book that explains why Ed left a job helping people escape from East Germany and joined up with mercenary forces in Africa. Or Field Decision, that recounts how Ed helped a minor diplomat whose daughter was kidnapped. Or Anne, a novel about Ed's first romantic relationship--with his high school teacher (and yes, I do mean romantic and no other adjective). Or Cade's Quest, a historical thriller set in post-Civil War America. You can buy these books many places--even at Amazon--but Fictionwise gives you more formats and more services for your money.
Sure, none of these books is ponderous enough to discuss with colleagues at your next department function, but who cares? They're all great entertainment, and with ebooks, nosy types can't see what you're reading, anyway.
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