If so, how do you do it? Do you use Google Play books or use apps like PDF file readers? I’m only 19 and I’m interested to start my reading hobby. Though I can also grab some books on a close bookstore nearby, I am also interested to do it digitally.
I use the Jellyfin app, I get books from Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ and https://www.smashwords.com/
Get a Kobo. They’re awesome for reading. They feel like paper, like you’re reading a real book. And it’s pretty simple to sideload books. Plus you only have to charge them every few weeks, up to a month sometimes.
Get a used kobo. An aura or h2o can be had for $50 or less on eBay and will do all that you need, has a battery you can actually replace, and has an active 3rd party software community if you find the default (perfectly good) software lacking.
Plus one for Kobo, mine is almost 10yo and still going strong. Plenty of storage even for long vacations. My partner uses a Kindle and rages against its limitations 😅
Kobo? I did a google search and it looked interesting. Thanks for the info. I think I might try that app.
I think they meant the physical device
They can be a bit pricy if you’re young and on a budget.
If you’re trying to read on your phone only, I’d recommend these apps:
- Readest: The app is on both mobile and desktop, it’s a nice experience, and it’s free/ open source. I found it to be stable but I’ve seen comments about bugs: https://github.com/readest/readest
- Moon Reader: It’s paid / proprietary, but well known and customizable: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Moon%2B&hl=en-US
As for sourcing the files
- see if your library does any digital lending
- check out free sources like Project Gutenberg and Internet Archive
Some comments brought up a home server, but you don’t really need that if you’re starting out with the hobby and it’s just for yourself. That’s more for managing large libraries of books and access by many users.
I did indeed mean a physical kobo. they’re great little devices, and pretty much completely repairable.
Free Moon+ Reader haven’t shown me any ads, maybe it’s regional or something. I use it for years.
+1 for Kobo. I love being able to read in the dark without bothering my partner with the light
That’s step 2. - They want to get into reading.
Step 1 is to do it the cheapest way possible. Which means either real books or on a device they already have.
Then if they find they enjoy it they can/should start spending some money on hardware/software to enhance the experience.
But there’s no reason for them to spend any money on tech until they know reading recreationally is for them.
I find reading on my phone to be far easier than on paper due to dyslexia.
I use Libera FD, it’s a combination eBook, PDF, document viewer that can scan your docs and form fit them to your desired font, size, and density.
As for getting books, annas-archive is my new best friend. I grab every weird fiction and horror I can get my hands on.
Moon+ reader as an app for reading on your phone. I’ve had it on every device since my Galaxy S. And the app is still maintained, receiving regular updates. Nice to be able to read a couple of pages when standing in line somewhere instead of mindlessly scrolling.
I’ve been using the pro version, Moon+ Reader Pro, for years. It’s great for reading EPUBs, which I either buy DRM-free or, if that’s not possible, in any format and then download a “liberated” copy from Anna’s Archive.
Anna’s Archive or libgen for downloading epub, Librera Pro from F-Droid for reading.
PDF sucks, epub let’s you configure everything like font, font size, space between lines and alignment to the left.
I pretty much prefer reading on my phone than physical book.
I also use this method. Very easy, no fuss.
Yes. I’ve got a Kobo reader but mostly use the Kobo phone app to read the books I buy there. For my own files, eg from Project Gutenberg, I use ReadEra Premium, which is superior to the Kobo app. It can handle just about any format, including .mobi, which not even Amazon’s Kindle app does now. I like it a lot.
Finally, there’s Libby, the library app. I use it mainly to read the New Yorker magazine. You need to belong to a library first. Sign up to Libby and you can borrow from the library’s collection. Mine allows you to borrow a book for two weeks, so I mainly stick to magazines.
I’m so used to reading on my phone now that I find print books cumbersome and limiting - I always have half a dozen books on the go and can’t imagine carting around that many books.
No, I read books on paper.
No, that’s why I bought a Kobo last year and it’s been great. The phone is for audiobooks.
I always said I’d never do ebooks, mostly because of the screen. Then came eink. I resisted for years but finally got a kobo last year and I fucking love it.
No more carrying 5 paperbacks on a trip, just the kobo with 20+ books queued up and ready to go. Plus, I can read in the dark without disturbing the spouse with the backlight on 1%
I begrudgingly have been won over.
But yeah, screw books on phones with LCD/OLED… eInk only.
When I use/d my phone for reading I always go high contrast - Black background and bright orange text.
Whether LCD or OLED I find that color combo works great for legibility while keeping screen brightness low in the dark (to reduce eye strain) and not having to set brightness as high during the day outdoors (preventing the screen from eating the battery as quickly.)
Nice. I also recently added an ebook with some games to play with a standard deck of cards. So I can bring my kobo and a deck of cards since I have some games queued up to learn.
Yes.
Project Gutenberg website. They also have files you can download, but I prefer using the website.
My partner does and I have no idea how they stand it, for ebooks, my library works with my kobo so it’s either that or epubs. I can do a tablet for ebooks but I find the phone way too small.
Libby is supported by a bunch of library systems on android, used KOReader for ebooks on android too.
I enjoy reading on my phone when other people are around, for instance during lunch at work or at a park or something. If I read a normal dead tree book, I get people asking me what it is I’m reading, what it’s about, WHY I’m reading, and so on. If I read on my phone, I’m just another Standard Phone Zombie and can be ignored.
Ha ha, that reminds me of some of the performative reading I did as a teen - ostentatiously reading a “cool” or difficult book to impress people. The joke was on me when I started reading War and Peace. I got swept away by it, loved it, and was condemned to carrying around this massive paperback until I’d finished it.
I really should read it again… 😅
THAT will teach you.
Moon Reader+ and Calibre. (There are some other suggestions for obtaining material listed that are great). I read 3-4 books a week, sometimes more.
Moon Reader+ has been my epub reader for many years and it’s worth the few bucks to buy. The free version is perfectly adequate if you don’t want to read pdf files. I don’t read on a phone, but prefer a tablet with the larger screen, but have used it on a phone without too much discomfort when my tablet died.
Same here. I’ve used this app for over a decade now. I’m just now realizing it.
I’ve used moon+ reader pro for years. Maybe even since it’s release. (Admittedly I don’t use it as much anymore as I prefer eink devices for reading but am stuck with a kindle for now)
The tons of customization options was my biggest draw. plenty of font/layout and color options to help find what works best for you and your device.
I also love and use calibre, but I’m not sure it’s needed by OP at this time. It doesn’t sound like they’ve got a large collection of books so I think it would just be overkill and depending on their tech level might turn them off.
I use an ereader that runs googke text to speach which makes any book an audiobook. I listen to about a book a day.
Absolutely! I use the Libby app and a regular library card. They link up so you can read all the ebooks in your library system for free, just like checking a regular book out. Sometimes you have to wait for a popular book, which I usually try to appreciate as a rare exercise in patience but can be annoying of course. But it’s actually free, no adds, simple to use.
I usually download an epub of the book and put it on my Kavita server, then read from my phone.
Kavita? Is that an app?
The link Axolotl replied with is it. Its a selfhosted server software that you host on one machine and access from others. You access it via its webui on your browser, and it gives you a browser based reader for all your ebook and manga files. The benefit to that is its device independent. You can pick up and keep reading from anything with a browser.
Kavita sounds awesome! I see that you can send files to a device for offline reading. Do you know if you do that, if your reading state re-syncs to the server when you go back online?
I did not tried it yet (i still need to buy the hardware for my home server which is a pain in the ass with all these price spikes of…well everthing) but it seems so from the demo site + there is also sync with Anilist/MAL as the site says
