Recently I installed the Android version of the Overdrive Media Console on my Nexus 7. It’s a free app. Install via the Play store and it’s ready to go in a minute. You enter your zip code to help locate your library, pick the library you use, and then enter – at least where I live – my membership id, no password. That’s it for set up.

I’m not sure how big the ebook inventory is. It’s broken up into fiction and non-fiction, looks like a couple thousand books, maybe more – definitely a subset of the full print inventory. Browsing the catalog is about what you’d expect, lists of books with a cover image and a blurb. The catalog shows how many copies are available. If you want a book and it’s available you click, confirm, and then get routed to Amazon to download the book. If the book isn’t available you can place a hold and get added to the end of the waiting list.

The first couple I tried went smoothly, then I hit one that for some reason has to be downloaded to a different device and moved to the reader via USB cable. Strange. Of course since I didn’t quite understand the rules I checked out 3 (which seems to be the max) and then one of my holds became available. That would normally be good, but the books generally require that they stay checked out for 2 full weeks and the book on hold has to be checked out within 48 hours of being available. A minor issue given the cost!

My reads so far? The Profiler by Pat Brown (interesting, but dark – Criminal Minds without the bad guy ever getting caught), Artic Drift by Clive Cussler (the one that requires USB and may or may not get read), and The Art of Power by Jon Meacham. The one on hold that I didn’t get to read yet? Mission to Mars by Buzz Aldrin.