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Calibre is great for managing an ebook library, and okay for reading ebooks but the reader is clearly not its primary focus, so I'm wondering what readers folks here use across platforms.

I know of a few, but I'm always on the lookout for different options that may have features I didn't realize I'd love to use.

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[-] YexingTudou@lemmy.ml 18 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Depends on device for me. For android I use Librera for books, Tachiyomi/Kotatsu for manga/comics, on the old Kindle I was gifted (Kindle Touch 2) I use KOReader so I can read epubs. For desktop I do use Calibre for reading, though I'm not a big fan of their reader. I mainly read textbooks on desktop and find the search features useful, which is the main reason for using it, it all works well enough. I had issues getting Okular to work well on my computer, but I've heard it's good? Here's hoping I can unify things a bit in the future.

Eta: I forgot I actually started using Seeneva for comics, since I like the speech-bubble zoom feature

[-] ALostInquirer@lemm.ee 4 points 2 years ago

I had issues getting Okular to work well on my computer, but I’ve heard it’s good?

Which OS were you trying it with? I was pleasantly surprised when I found it was available on Windows, and a simple install had it working for me. Another option to consider if it still gives issues (and you're on Windows) may be SumatraPDF, which despite the name supports a wide range of formats.

[-] YexingTudou@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago

I'm running Debian. Okular worked for smaller epubs just fine iirc, but was struggling with large textbooks which is what I was using it for (Deitel Java specifically). Took forever to load, and was sluggish to search.

Unfortunately it looks like sumatra is windows only, but I'll keep searching!

I use Koreader. It's a bit heavy because it has basically any option you can think of, it works on a wide multitude of platforms, and can have weird bugs sometimes but hardly ever. But the way I read, I need some settings that aren't in very many readers and it has them. Try it out.

[-] constantokra@lemmy.one 1 points 2 years ago

I've also had good luck using syncthing to sync my library (and progress) across devices with koreader.

[-] Trent@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 years ago

ReadEra on android and Calibre's reader on Xubuntu desktop.

Might look into some of the stuff suggested here.

[-] muhyb@programming.dev 8 points 2 years ago

Foliate on PC, Librera FD on Android.

[-] FarraigePlaisteach@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

I have Foliate on Linux too, it’s great.

lately I just open them on my phone and have the screen reader read it to me. I don’t have to turn pages and it works with the screen locked too.

[-] lckdscl@whiskers.bim.boats 7 points 2 years ago

koreader is good if your platform supports it.

I use a second-hand kindle on airplane mode and just transfer books to it from calibre. E-ink is better for my eyes.

[-] rizoid@midwest.social 4 points 2 years ago

I really like Alexandria on desktop and there's android support on the roadmap on GitHub.

[-] catsup@lemmy.one 4 points 2 years ago

Believe it or not, DeGoogled-Chromium with Dark Reader. It makes for perfect dark mode

[-] databender@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Am I just a tech-peasant by using Book Reader? It's not the flashiest but I dig it.

[-] Octorine@midwest.social 3 points 2 years ago

I like book reader. It's simple and does the job.

[-] atlasraven31@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I use Lithium on android. The dark mode is great for night reading.

[-] Tatar_Nobility@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago

Not open source but the app is ad free and has zero trackers.

I also use Lithium.

[-] Zeoic@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I am surprised I haven't seen Kavita show up here yet! It's a very nice self hosted ebook/manga/comic reading server that you can access from a web browser on any device. It's really matured over the years.

I have a few thousand novels in there and really like being able to hop between devices while keeping my spot in a book.

[-] VerbTheNoun95@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 years ago

I run Calibre-web tied into my Calibre server so I can read on every device I own.

[-] AngryDemonoid@lemmy.lylapol.com 3 points 2 years ago

If I only read on my phone, I'd use Librera. But for syncing between my Onyx Boox device and my phone, KOReader is hard to beat.

[-] ram@bookwormstory.social 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Switched from the proprietary moon+ reader to Librera because of this comment and I've been happy with it. Presentation's quite different but all the functionality I like is there, including custom fonts. Thanks for posting about this software!

[-] darq@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I use Ttsu Reader. Browser-based so it'll run on anything, and has all the conveniences thereof.

Edit: Unless I'm actually using my Kobo, then I'll just use my Kobo.

[-] IzzyData@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

I wish I could get this site to let me rotate by 90 degrees. I only have a single monitor and it displays it horizontally instead of vertically. Which would make sense for a tablet or phone that you could physically rotate.

[-] cyclohexane@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 years ago

Book reader on android.

[-] craigevil@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 years ago

Okular it can read pretty much any format. MoonReader+ on my android devices.

[-] Roshakk@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I also use Calibre as a library manager, but I haven't found another way to read that is not my kobo. The not e-ink screens just tire my eyes too much.

[-] redxef@feddit.de 2 points 2 years ago

I have a cheap Kobo and put KOReader and Syncthing on it.

[-] radioactiveradio@lemm.ee 2 points 2 years ago

Try foliate or koodo reader, they got a clean UI

[-] God@lemmy.org 2 points 1 year ago

Foliate has been absolutely amazing. I love the simple interface that doesn't look as dated as calibre.

[-] 68silver@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago

I use my hacked kindle 4 and Bookreader on android tablet.

[-] PM_ME_FEET_PICS@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

Only thing I miss from Apple was their mobile eReader. Anyone know of a decent copy of that one?

[-] ky56@aussie.zone 1 points 2 years ago

I'm holding out for the PineNote from Pine64.

[-] xia@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 years ago

Remarkable 2, but the PineNote might be usable now.

[-] janguv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 years ago

Always wondered how good the Remarkable series is. Have been tempted but the hardware isn't that cheap really. Since discovering the PDF reader of Zotero and running it with a night mode plugin, I've found myself mainly just wanting to use that. The annotations are stored separately as well, so you don't get massively inflated PDF filesizes (though if you want the option to export with embedded annotations, you can do that; you can also import embedded annotations to Zotero and then clear the file of them). Very cool.

this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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