LibreRead - Ebook Library & Reader

[yusf]

@jdaviescoates As I never read ebooks on LCD screens I'm mostly interested in a library web interface. I'd mainly like to be able to

• download ebooks to my e-ink reader
• share libraries with other users
• possibly share libraries with other instances

@girish My problem with all these solutions is this requirement:

using an existing Calibre database.

I find it really weird to have a dependency on a desktop app for this. A standalone ebook library service is what I want.

[jdaviescoates]

@yusf there is https://i-librarian.net/ but it's not really for your use case (nor mine tbh).

I curate https://library.uniteddiversity.coop which is mostly PDFs but I'd also like a nice way to present and share them. I'll probably just start using Surfer once you can sort by columns on public folders (and nicer icons - and ideally thumbnails - would be nice too).

One solution I used in the past is to use the Document Gallery WordPress Plugin which nice generates thumbnails and let's you add descriptions etc. It still works but hasn't been updated in years and is far from ideal for the sort of things you're talking about...

I just found this http://vaemendis.net/ubooquity/ but it's not open source and redistribution isn't allowed (although I wonder how they'd respond to an approach from Cloudron).

There is also this https://inventaire.io/ but it's for creating a p2p library of hard copy books rather than ebooks!

[jdaviescoates]

@yusf perhaps amusewiki?

https://amusewiki.org/special/index
https://github.com/melmothx/amusewiki

It's what powers all the Anarchist Libraries

I also found another great one Komga, but sadly only for comics and not ebooks.

Anyways, think I'll add amusewiki to the app wishlist...

[thetomester13]

@yusf I entirely agree, but in my research so far, all of the stable self-hosted ebook solutions rely on Calibre as a server for some strange reason. I agree that packaging a desktop app for Cloudron is weird, but there is a way to start up only the server-side piece of it, enabling a web solution, like CalibreWeb, to access it.

[yusf]

@thetomester13 said in LibreRead - Ebook Library & Reader:

all of the stable self-hosted ebook solutions rely on Calibre as a server for some strange reason

I simply can’t grasp the reason. :S

[yusf]

@thetomester13 said in LibreRead - Ebook Library & Reader:

start up only the server-side piece of it, enabling a web solution, like CalibreWeb, to access it

So would this be viable in a Cloudron setting? If so we need to decide on the best front-end. Calibre Web has been mentioned, but there's COPS and BicBucStriim too…

Additionally there seem to be a Nextcloud app or two available if one's invested in that ecosystem (I'm not).

[thetomester13]

@yusf I have a Calibre instance up and running on a VM (so only the server side piece) and I followed this tutorial to get it set up. The main piece to follow there is the Run Calibre Server section. This guide also just reminded me that user management on Calibre is entirely unique and not easy to manage eyeroll

As for other front ends, I am currently using CalibreWeb on that same VM and it works mostly well, but am open to other suggestions.

And as for COPS, that actually looks like it might be a replacement for Calibre entirely?? I'm very open to that!

[yusf]

@thetomester13 said in LibreRead - Ebook Library & Reader:

COPS, that actually looks like it might be a replacement for Calibre entirely

That's what I thought too, until i read:

3. Prerequisites

The path to a calibre library (metadata.db, format, & cover files).

[thetomester13]

@yusf womp womp I guess all the more reason to try and package Calibre?

[yusf]

@thetomester13 Seems like it.

[yusf]

Finding myself yet again in a need for a proper ebook application for collectively gather ebooks. Did you improve on your solution @jdaviescoates ?

I kind of loathe Nextcloud but I suppose there are epub preview plugins available in some state and shape…

[nebulon]

I will lock this topic, since the initial app request libreread does not exist anymore. For other alternatives, please create a new topic to avoid confusion. Thanks