this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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Are any of you hosting their own E-Books? If so which Software are you using and is it compatible with the E-Reader of your choice (if you use one)?

I don't have an E-Books nor do I have an E-Reader, but I'm considering to dig deeper into the business and wanted to hear your stories.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Calibre Server to host.

KOreader to install on my favorite reader and direct connect to calibre.

Pocketbook as my favorite reader.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use Jellyfin. You have to install the Bookshelf plugin (or at least I didn't the time I set it up, may be a default now). Saves progress, and gives me one less service to manage as I use Jellyfin for Movies, TV, and Music libraries already.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I do this too. When I want a better reader I just download the book to my device and read it with any number of apps

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm using calibre as server and moon+ reader (pro) as reader. I can download the ebooks from my calibre server and with the pro version of moin+ reader I can sync reading positions (and books) between devices. This way I can continue reading on the phone where I was on the tablet while traveling.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Same, I've been doing this for years. It's just flawless.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I don't like Ubooquity, but Calibre somehow seems worse.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Calibre on local machine, sharing a database with self-hosted calibre-web, OPDS enabled using a Kobo to read.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Using a Kobo reader with Calibre & Calibre-web to serve the books.

Setup a shelf on web, create a sync token on web. Add token to the Kobo config, automatically syncs any books that are added to the shelf. This replaces the Kobo store api for syncing, but I don’t use it so no biggie for me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Did you have to do anything special to get the Kobo sync working? I followed the instructions and nothing worked for me ...

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I just followed the instructions here and it worked right away.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I shall try again, thanks!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Just set it up and working perfectly, thanks!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Audiobook server does work with ebooks.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use calibre to manage my library. Well, mostly just to put them into one place. But to browse/read/download books I've written my own service reads the calibre sqlite database and serves it as a web page. It doesn't have opds support yet, but I'm looking into that. Check it out here: https://sr.ht/~ilikeorangutans/books/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Calibre-Web for serving, Calibre in a container to automatically ingest from designated folder, and Apple Books or GoodReader to read.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I manage my library on my laptop with Calibre, then replicate that to a server with Syncthing and serve it up via OPDS with COPS:

https://github.com/seblucas/cops

I like this because COPS is simple and easy to set up. It does just what I need and nothing else.

I read on a old jailbroken Kindle Paperwhite running KOReader.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use Calibre with FBReader on a few android devices. You set up calibre as a web server and FBreader just connects to it directly. It stores reading position on Gdrive or dropbox, unfortunately not on NC or other self-hosted storage.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

My flow is GoodReads (tracking/requesting) -> Readarr (manage downloads) -> Calibre (manage library/metadata) -> Calibre-Web (user friendly browsing/serving) and then I can send to kindle or download or whatever from Caliber-Web. I download from Usenets/Libgen/Openbooks

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Just copy to the reader?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I run BicBucStrim on my NAS, and I access it through the web browser of any PC or tablet, my Kobo eReader, or Mobiscribe eReader. You can download a book to the device to read it, though. It basically just generates a nice web layout to access your Calibre library.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Honestly I've been using Google play books for years, just upload pdf or epub and you have it on phone, ipad and computer. Plus it remembers how far you are on between devices.

Readarr for storing on own server, before I upload them.

[–] d13 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Calibre on docker to manage the library. I can remove DRM, edit metadata, convert format, etc.

Calibre-web on docker for a nice way to browse, manage users, expose OPDS endpoint, etc. It also has a web reader in case you need it.

Moon+ Reader Pro on Android for reading. Connected to the OPDS endpoint mentioned above.

I've used Kindle and Kobo readers in the past, but I honestly prefer my phone. With an OLED screen and a nice dark mode, it's very easy on the eyes. Maybe in the future I'll try an e-ink Android tablet with Moon+ on it.

Disclaimer: I have been using Calibre and Moon+ for years, but I have only been running this through docker and using Calibre-web for a short time. It's great so far, though!

[–] astraeus 1 points 1 year ago

I’ve enjoyed using Kavita, but it seems pretty early in its development and geared more towards comics/manga potentially

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Kindle screens are very good , but eff Bezos

An iPad is versatile, but then Apple…

But FOR ME, I cannot read books on a computer screen, it is just too awkward.

So yes I iPad.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

if you want an e-ink screen, there's always kobo and/or boox.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Kobo is good.

Unless they have changed something recently, Boox violates the GPL.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Ooo. Thank you.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Syncthing on my Kobo and all other devices where I want access to my books.

[–] xcjs 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm using https://www.kavitareader.com/ with Moon+ Reader. Kavita supports OPDS feeds, which is perfect.