The Absolute State of eBooks?
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Anyone have any recommendations for a good eBook setup?
I'm looking for a way to store all my eBooks on some kind of a cloud thing so I can read them on my phone, my ostensibly dedicated eBook reader which is really just an underpowered tablet (both Android) and my (Windows) computer.
Google Play Books is along the right idea, except that the server (and also Google Drive, I think) rejects certain books that come in Humble Bundles. I can't figure out what's wrong with the books that don't work. Most of my eBooks come from bundles, so it's kind of important that that works.
As far as I can tell, there isn't an ebook app on Android that would let me store the books in my OneDrive account and then open them with a file picker, which would really be ideal.
How do you guys do this?
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Neither of these are going to help you, I suspect, but since you asked…
For novels: I do my reading on a Kindle Paperwhite and use Amazon’s Personal Documents service for storing books. It’s limited to 50 MB per file but that’s usually not an issue. I can access the same books with the phone/tablet app if I want, but I prefer eink.
For comics: I do my reading on a Kobo… uh… forget the name. But the screen is 2-3” bigger, so it’s easier to see details and read dialogue. It’s got Dropbox access so I can put files in there. (Note that not all models have Dropbox support.)
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@GuyWhoKilledBear Calibre on the pc, sync via Calibre companion on Android devices, read with Moon+, which syncs position through gdrive. Manual sync (as in search for the top line on the screen) to go to/from nook, but your ereader as an android device might be able to install Moon+.
There's also a content server which you could also expose to the Internet if you really want to.
This all depends on them being drm-free.
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@GuyWhoKilledBear I also use Google Play. It has the best multi-platform cloud-based e-reader around, in my opinion.
Only the iPad app doesn't always sync correctly to the last-read position, but that is no problem on pc and Android.Never had a problem with Humble Bundle books, but I haven't bought any in the last couple of years. Before that, I could generally just download un-protected ePubs, but that may have changed?
I do have some copy-protected ePubs, where I am not able to strip the protection. I have to use the Kobo reader for those instead, which sucks.
That's the Kobo app (iPad and Android) and online, I do not have a physical Kobo e-reader.In the past I also tried the Kindle app, but that seems even more picky about the format than Google.
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@nerd4sale said in The Absolute State of eBooks?:
@GuyWhoKilledBear I also use Google Play. It has the best multi-platform cloud-based e-reader around, in my opinion.
Only the iPad app doesn't always sync correctly to the last-read position, but that is no problem on pc and Android.Never had a problem with Humble Bundle books, but I haven't bought any in the last couple of years. Before that, I could generally just download un-protected ePubs, but that may have changed?
I do have some copy-protected ePubs, where I am not able to strip the protection. I have to use the Kobo reader for those instead, which sucks.
That's the Kobo app (iPad and Android) and online, I do not have a physical Kobo e-reader.In the past I also tried the Kindle app, but that seems even more picky about the format than Google.
The ebooks I'm getting from Humble Bundle are unprotected ePubs. (Or unprotected MOBIs or PDFs - the issue appears to happen in those formats too.) I assume there's some issue with how they're encoded.
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I've been able to use the Nook reader with outside content. It's...not really intuitive but you have to open it from the file explorer or whatever and tell it to use the Nook app to open.
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I don't have any auto syncing, but FWIW I use Calibre on my PC to manage my collection, FBReader on my Android devices, and a standalone Kobo e-reader.
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@GuyWhoKilledBear said in The Absolute State of eBooks?:
tore all my eBooks on some kind of a cloud thing
Great ideas in the era of Internet of Shit.
You'll never remember those books which suddenly disappeared from some Kindle, and their odd british author.
Only then at that first time, Amazon forgot to remove the notes which some users had scribbled down on those ebooks - they were now still reminding of the fact that the product once upon a time existed.
Winston is proud of you: you make his work for (person of unknown size + person of unknown gender + person of unknown relation to you) easier.
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I'm in the Amazon eco-system so buy/convert to mobi and then email them to the kindle and iPhone email addresses. Amazon keeps a copy in its documents and then pushes them onto individual devices. Amazon is usually quite good at keeping them in sync so I can pick up where I left off on each. Sometimes I have to click the sync to the furthest read marker but not often.
@Unperverted-Vixen said in The Absolute State of eBooks?:
For comics: I do my reading on a Kobo… uh… forget the name. But the screen is 2-3” bigger, so it’s easier to see details and read dialogue. It’s got Dropbox access so I can put files in there. (Note that not all models have Dropbox support.)
For me, this was the tipping point to investing in a surface. It's become my dogsbody entertainment device. I'm waiting patiently for the intel 12 gen edition or an often rumoured ryzen edition.
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@DogsB said in The Absolute State of eBooks?:
For me, this was the tipping point to investing in a surface. It's become my dogsbody entertainment device. I'm waiting patiently for the intel 12 gen edition or an often rumoured ryzen edition.
I have an iPad but I prefer eink, hence the Kobo. (Said comics are mostly manga; color stuff I read on the iPad.)
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@boomzilla said in The Absolute State of eBooks?:
I've been able to use the Nook reader
It still exists? Wasn't that the Borders reader?
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@Gribnit no, it's Barnes and Noble.
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FWIW: I use Calibre on my PC to convert and put eBooks on my Kindle Paperwhite (2012) and phone via USB. Library's backed up like any other set of data files.
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@Gribnit said in The Absolute State of eBooks?:
It still exists? Wasn't that the Borders reader?
Borders was just a rebranded Kobo, I think. Their accounts definitely transitioned over to Kobo afterwards.
