I’ve been a book reader for a long time, but never got into eBooks. I want to try it out next, but don’t want to use any privacy vilotating devices or software. So, those “10 best” lists I found while searching are out, all of the Amazon crap is out.
What’s left? What’s a good device to buy so I can self-host my own eBook library and get into eReading. I would prefer suggestions for devices which just read books and comics and such. I don’t need access to the app stores on it, I think.
Thanks for any ideas.
ETA: I have a Linux PC and an Android phone, if those things matter.
ETA2: Thank you all for these replies. You’ve given me a lot to think about and I appreciate the help!
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I have a Kobo sage and its pretty good. Just avoid the color ones.
Yeah, kobo is what I’m planning on upgrading too.
I’m very surprised the top answer isn’t pocketbook. Their entire business model is reworking Chinese e ink tablets to make them GDPR compliant and privacy respecting. I’d recommend the pocketbook verse pro if you want a lit screen and USB C, but they have a cheaper model without those features.
Here is a good spec comparison table for ereaders in general. I’d point out basically all e-readers have great battery life.
PineNote (Pine 64) or reMarkable (Pro if you have budget, 2 or even 1 otherwise)
Both work on Linux proper, the reMarkable comes with Linux out of the box whereas PineNote comes with Android but one can install Linux on it.
They are mostly to sketch but it is also good to read. You can pretty much use whatever you want on them, including developing your own software. I don’t know if they have Calibre clients because whats I do is… just
scpmy ePubs or PDFs on there.Here are my tinkering notes on both https://fabien.benetou.fr/Tools/Eink but feel free to ask any clarification.
PS: the Bookeen Diva also does not require any software, namely you can plug it on Linux, it gets detected as a filesystem and you can copy DRM-free content on it. It’s a totally different form factor (much smaller so IMHO not great for comics) and I don’t think there is the same open-source community as the other 2.
Also a good moment to clarify that DRM sucks, but as a user, or even a consumer, you don’t have to be worry of them (at least technically) because it’s trivial to remove. For example you can use this super convenient script https://pypi.org/project/DeGourou/ to straight up download content that should in theory be “just” for you. The online public library I use, namely https://www.lirtuel.be/ does offer ePub and PDF so I was overjoy… only to realize they meant with DRM. As I had already registered and was honestly pissed at them for not disclosing it from the start I tried DeGourou and… it just worked and is very convenient (you just give it the .acsm then it downloads and remove the DRM, so you get a proper file after). So… yeah, obviously don’t buy any DRM content if you don’t have to but if somehow you must, it’s not that big a deal technically speaking.
Just… Another kobo. I don’t actually use calibre though, i just get the books in epub format. Then when you hook the kobo to the PC, it shows as mass storage anyway. Just dump your files, and after ejected it does its cursory file scan, and it shows them properly listed in the device.
Of course Calibre offers a lot more functionality, so if you want to have a proper library it might make sense to manage your books from there. I’m basically saying no conversion is needed a it natively reads epub.
Haven’t tried any other similar product (except the pro version), but I have the Remarkable 2 and in my experience it’s pretty good as an e reader as well. Maybe expensive for just using it as an e-reader but you can also use it as a note taking device. It’s pretty big but still really thin and light, so it’s a pretty good reading experience especially if you have bigger hands, some people may find it too big as an e-reader tho, but I really like the size.
One recommendation I can make is that if you are interested in it, if you have the money consider the pro version. If notetaking matters to you, the little I experienced writing on the pro version was so much better. The pen is much better as well as the tracking. My version tends to be off by about a millimeter at some places and the edges. This becomes extremely frustrating when you’re trying to e.g. dot the i-s and you keep missing where you want to write. From what I saw, the pro version is much better at this and is in colour.
I have had quite a battle with/trying to avoid Remarkable’s cloud service with both my RM1 and RM2. It is very deeply linked, and their privacy policy isn’t the best.
This might not be applicable if you’re only going to use it as an ereader, but I want to keep sensitive documents on mine and it has not been easy. I currently use this script, but it’s a clunky experience.
Unbelievably good piece of hardware though!
I’d argue it’s a simple toggle, namely if you do not register to their cloud, you don’t have access to their features and that’s it. If you somehow “mess” registration up and still went through the steps, hard reset and voila, clean reMarkable.
Source : I had the one and now have the reMarkable 2 and Pro and I do not use their cloud.
Also note that you can how your own self hosted alternative https://github.com/ddvk/rmfakecloud
Oooh, amazing! Do you use it? How mature is it?
Ah, didn’t realise this was the Privacy community, yeah not main the goto if that’s your focus.
The Miyoo Mini Plus. It’s a Gameboy Linux Emulator device. Besides being able to run most games up to ps1, you can also put ebooks as pdf or epub on it.
Kobo is the answer. It used to require some finicking to get it so you didn’t have to sign up with Walmart, but now that’s supposedly no longer an issue (I’ve had my Kobo for a long time). Install Calibre and the Kobo extension for Calibre. You now can borrow epubs from your local library, purchase them from your favorite online ebook store, or sail the high seas if you don’t give a fuck.
…and then my Kobo Clara briked itself into a bootloop after i connected it to WiFi.
Also beware how you buy ebooks from kobo’s store or you won’t be able to un-drm them (i.e. they get locked to the kobo).
All in all they do tend to be nice hardware and my usual recommendation.You can de-DRM books purchased from the Kobo store, I do it frequently. Use Apprentice Alf tools in Calibre.
Sorry to hear that. I’ll admit I don’t buy ebooks. Yoho yoho and all that. And yeah, I also never turn on wifi. Have you tried a hard reset?
The problem with all hard resets is that the reset button’s either:
a) at the lower back of the device
b) under the coverWhereas mine seems to be c) these is none.
At least they’ve partenered with iFixit, better late than never.
I use my (likely knockoff) Kobo that I got cheap from a shady online shop. Adding EPUBs is so damn easy.
I was on the same journey as you a month or so back and luckily the PineNote just got a second batch produced.
I wrote down some of my thoughts here, maybe that helps: https://domistyle.gitlab.io/pinenote-2024/
I read your blog post. I was interested until I saw the price on the EU store :(
I ordered from the global store and paid 530€. Still expensive of course and it comes without warranty but it is cheaper and in stock.
You page loads up then it goes away. Not sure what’s up. Maybe it’s my ad blockers. Who knows.
Which browser do you use? The only issue I’m aware of is that the videos don’t load on Firefox for Android.
Kobo. Simple as that. 😊
Is rakuten more private? I only know them for the smart tv app.
Whats the experience like for buying ebooks with a kobo? Is it easy to do, are there lots of books, are there lots of ads?
No ads. Easy to buy. It you’re really concerned about privacy, just flash KOReader on it which is an alternative backend. The easier alternative is to never connect to the WiFi and manually transfer ePubs to the device through Calibre.
I got a Kobo and just use the networking to sync Pocket articles. Stock system.
I don’t even think an account is available in my country. Just been syncing over Calibre. It’s not perfect (it uses a community plugin) but once you get the quirks of the Calibre-to-Kobo transfer it’s easy enough.
Now the hard part. Actually reading.
Lol. An e-Reader was actually one of the best purchases I’ve done. Started reading waaaay more than before. Also great that one can start digesting all those old out-of-copyright ebooks from like standardebooks.org, on a screen that resembles paper. I can never read a book on an ordinary screen.
I still prefer paper, although not having to store moisture-sensitive fragile things is nice. So is the fact that I can read books that are out of print or hard to find (or banned, yay Middle East), even if fumbling with PDFs isn’t wonderful on the device.
And of course, the obvious: downloading them for free. Which is always ethical when Routledge wants to charge you 85$ for a scholarly work of which the author doesn’t see a dollar.
Agreed on all points!
Thank you. Ive read that you can get ebooks from puplic libraries in uk with kobo but not kindle. Looking at getting one for my mum. Shes not tech literate, she can buy and read an ebook but shes always accidentally subscribing to amazon subscriptions on the kindle
Yeah if the library supports Overdrive, it’s possible. I’ve used it and it seemed to work fine.
Just don’t connect it to a network. Calibre to manage your library, transfer books via USB, done. Kobo+Calibre works fine on Linux.
However, in rare cases Kobo devices can be a bit funny with displaying covers properly without internet access to fetch/correct them “automatically”. This is not privacy friendly, obviously.
YMMV with this issue, but regardless if you choose a Kobo or not, I’ll drop some handy tips for you below just in case you care to polish your experience via Calibre.
I can’t give credit for below cause this is copied from my notes and I don’t know the author/source. Enjoy.
Calibre is so powerful and customizable that it has a bewildering amount of options and ways to do things. I wanted to scrape good metadata and covers for my ebook library in the simplest way I could. Here’s my procedure:
PREPARING THE MEDATA SOURCES (This only needs to be done once)
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Go to Preferences -> Get plugins to enhance Calibre -> find and install the ‘Kindle hi-res covers’ and ‘Goodreads’ plugins. Reboot Calibre.
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With your library open in Calibre, choose a selection of ebooks -> Ctrl+D to download metadata and covers -> configure download.
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On the lower right hand side, I set ‘Max. number of tags to download:’ at 4. This is personal preference.
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The only sources to have check marks (with their corresponding cover priority) should be:
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Goodreads: 3
- almost always has the best metadata, and is best for tags, which I limit to 4
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Google Images: 2
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While selected: Configure selected source -> [Choose your preferred cover size and max number of covers to retrieve - I up it to 10]
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If you end up choosing the covers individually Google often has good covers the other sources don’t
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Kindle hi-res covers: 1
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It usually has the best covers but can be a pain because it often picks a foreign cover and you have to go choose the cover individually afterwards.
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I change the maximum number of covers to get from 5 to 10, but that’s not necessary.
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PREPARING THE EBOOKS FOR SCRAPING COVERS AND METADATA
I clear all the ‘Rating’, Tags’ and ‘Series’ fields because the data may be from all over the place (tags are often particularly awful), but Goodreads metadata will standardize it (as far as it can be for my liking, anyway - they seem to have a finite and well-ordered number of tags unlike many other sources). You can clear other fields but I only do those three.
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Select your books -> Right-click -> Edit metadata -> Edit metadata in bulk
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For ‘Rating:’ select ‘Not rated’ from the dropdown and then check ‘Apply rating’ on the right
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Also on the right side, check ‘Remove all’ on the ‘Remove tags:’ row and ‘Clear series’ below it.
TO GET COVERS
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Select the ebooks you want to scrape and press Ctrl+D -> Download only covers.
- If I choose ‘Download both’ I usually have to reject many because the cover is foreign or something, and then I end up scraping the metadata separately anyway.
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When the job is done -> Review downloaded metadata -> Check ‘Mark rejected books’ (this option will stay selected in the future) then go through the books, pressing ‘Reject’ for any books that don’t have a satisfactory cover.
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After finishing the selections, the marked books will show. Select them all -> Right click - > select ‘Edit metadata individually’
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Press ‘Download cover’, select a cover, and press ‘Next’ until finished
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Select all the rejected books and press Ctrl-M to toggle the marked (pinned) status to off
- I put the ‘Mark books’ icon in the main toolbar with Preferences -> Toolbars & menus -> select ‘The main toolbar’ from the dropdown and move the ‘Mark books’ icon to the column on the right
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Press the X at the end of the search bar to clear the selection and get back to the main book list.
- If you don’t see the search bar add it by pressing ‘Layout’ at the bottom right and toggling ‘Search bar’ to ‘Show’.
Rather than using the above steps, if I have some free time I like to select ALL the covers manually, because it can be fun to look at the different choices. Sometimes I’ll pick a foreign cover because the art is better. (Also many of the larger covers - especially from Kindle hi-res - are actually much blurrier than some smaller choices and you can’t tell from the thumbnails so I like to right-click and compare them at full size) To do it this way, instead of doing step 1 above:
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Select the ebooks you want to scrape -> Right-click -> Edit metadata -> Edit metadata individually
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Do Step 4. That will be the last step
TO GET METADATA
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Select the books you want to scrape and press Ctrl+D -> Download only metadata.
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When the job is done -> ‘Review downloaded metadata’ OR ‘Yes’
- If I DO review the metadata, I usually only check the comments, because I can usually trust the metadata from GoodReads
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OPTIONAL: If any of the metadata you reviewed is unsatisfactory, ‘Reject’ it when reviewing, then do step 3 from the ‘TO GET COVERS’ section, then go to step 4 but select ‘Download Metadata’ instead of cover and follow the instructions from there.
You should now be finished selecting metadata for your selected books!
Thanks, very detailed. I was looking to get my mum, whos not tech literate at all, off the kindle; have seen she could get ebooks at a library with the kobo (uk). But with this info I think I might want one for myself too to use offline as described
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I can’t speak to the privacy of it, but I love my Kobo Elipsa 2E setup. I’ve got NickelMenu, Synching and Autoshelf installed, so I can sort books by directory and have them sync. I also have KOReader installed with some other goodies, but rarely use it. The reading experience in the stock firmware is way nicer. And the screen is big enough to read full size PDFs comfortably. Kobo runs Linux under the hood, and there are extensions to give you Telnet/SSH access so you can mod what you need.
Also, being able to borrow books from Overdrive/Libby on it and support my local library is rad.
I did the whole Calibre with Kobo extensions thing for a few weeks, but it just didn’t work out very well for me. I like to have my books synced to multiple devices and Calibre just isn’t built for that.
Yeah I like my Kobo too. It’s never done anything sketchy as far as I can tell, plus you can sideload things, and if you plug it in via USB it just shows up like regular drive so you can do what you want with it. And also Libby is awesome lol.
Buy a Kobo, never connect it to WiFi. Or flash KOReader on it. Either way much better than the alternatives.
I have a Clara 2E. It was some time ago, so I cannot remember all the fine details, but I couldn’t get mine to start without some internet connection. I gave a throwaway email and allowed it to update before I switched off WiFi and could freely move books with Calibre.
To it’s credit, in 3 years since purchase it has not asked for internet since switching it on the first time.
Got a libre2 recently as a gift. My first ereader. I was able to plug it into the PC. Change a line of code and reboot.
Thst made the email prompt go away.
Then installed koreader and syncthing on it. I DL books on Android and it syncs over to Kobo. I can even read via koreader app on andrpid and it syncs progression.
What is the reason not to connect it to the WiFi ?
If one doesn’t want telemetry etc being sent to Rakuten.
I have an old Kindle Paperwhite. I put use Calibre and USB to manage the library, no Amazon connection necessary. Works great.
Used to have Paperwhite. Upgraded to Kindle Oasis a few years ago. No regrets.
Yeah with ebook readers the actual device doesn’t really matter as long as you use calibre. I also use the same kindle and honestly I’m not even sure if it has wifi. Maybe. Probably. But it never gets used.
Instead of self-hosting, I have a device that can hold a large amount of sideloaded material and sync between my PC and device with syncthing. Boox devices work well for this.
Pocketbook devices mostly run on Linux, except for a few android models. I have the Pocketbook Basic Lux, and I side load manga onto a SD card for it. It has a bookstore that can be entirely ignored, and you can use it without ever connecting wifi. I use Kindle Comic Converter to resize all my manga to the same resolution of the screen to prevent artifacts when the software downscales the images, as well as significantly reducing file size. It has a very simple menu and does not come with any bloatware or unnecessary additions. It is simply an eReader.
Have a later model, the Pocketbook Verse (not the pro edition). Flashed KOReader on it which was much easier than anticipated. Have a couple extra features in the reader that way.
It does as promised. I just plug it into my devices to get epubs onto it. You don’t even need a book management software like Calibre, you can use it similarly to how you’d use a thumb drive.
+1 for Pocketbook
Never had any issues with it whatsoever.
The device works great with Calibre.
There is some other functionality that I did not use.
I just got the Dandadan opening out of my head, now it’s back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4na2opArGY
How’s the manga?
It seems they took some liberties to do more cool action scenes that weren’t in the manga. Otherwise it seems almost the same content-wise so far. I like the way Momo looks in the manga; she seems more lighthearted at times.
I use a Boox Note, and I like it a lot. Its an android based eBook reader so you have full access to android apps including side loading apps from other stores.
By default it does not have Google services set up but you can use the Play store should you want. But its not integrated to googles services. Obviously there is some integration to Onyx Boox services which is based in China. However infindnit is unobstrusive and you dont have to use their store or any of their tools.
Personally I use Calibre on my Linux PC to manage my books on the device, and I use fbreader as a reader (closed source) but you can install open source software if thats your preference. KOReader certainly works but I’m not a big fan of the interface personally.
I use ebooks.com to buy books (and calibre to remove DRM so I can use my preferred software), and you can install the Kindle app to access a kindle library if you haven’t liberated your books yet. Ebooks reader works on the device too. Obviously DRM free books from any source and format can also be used.
My device - the note - has an nice crisp screen, is well made with a nice aluminium chassie and is comfortable to hold. I read books in portrait mode so you have 2 pages visible at a time. Its also good for a4 size documents. They do also have smaller sizes that match a kindle paper white.
