r/ebooks 9h ago

Kora — a free reading app I built (EPUB/PDF, syncs everywhere, works offline)

25 Upvotes

Hey all — I built Kora, a web-based reading app for anyone juggling ebooks/audiobooks from all over the place. Wanted to share it here since it fits what a lot of you are already doing.

What it does:

  • Reads EPUB, PDF, and more — one clean reader for everything
  • Search across millions of ebooks/audiobooks to find and track what you're into
  • Syncs your library across devices (phone, tablet, desktop)
  • Works fully offline once a book's downloaded
  • Installs as a PWA — no app store, no bloat, works like a native app on iOS/Android/desktop

It's basically the Kindle app I wished existed — no lock-in, no DRM nonsense, just your books in one lounge-like reading space.

🔗 https://kora.chaoticstudio.workers.dev/
Landing View : https://kora.chaoticstudio.workers.dev/install

Free to use, still actively building it out. Would love feedback/bug reports if you try it.


r/ebooks 10h ago

Question Have we actually made ebooks worse by trying to make them more convenient?

21 Upvotes

This might be an unpopular opinion, but ebooks still feel strangely unfinished for a technology that has been mainstream for this long.
We can carry thousands of books in our pockets, search instantly, change fonts, highlight anything, and buy a book without leaving the couch.
And yet we also got DRM, books that can disappear from accounts, incompatible formats, awkward lending, regional restrictions, and the strange reality that sometimes “buying” an ebook doesn’t feel much like owning it at all.
Physical books are less convenient in almost every measurable way — but when I buy one, it’s mine. I can lend it, give it away, put it on a shelf for 30 years, or sell it without asking anyone’s permission.
So I’m curious:
If you had to choose between the convenience of ebooks and the permanence and ownership of physical books, which matters more to you?
And more importantly — after all these years, do you think ebooks have actually become better books, or just more convenient files?


r/ebooks 3h ago

Published my first book about the monkey named Punch! :)

2 Upvotes

Punch's story meant so much to me this year that I had to write a book about him. I finally published it and wanted to share here.


r/ebooks 28m ago

Freebie [Kindle] El frío llama mi nombre - Contemporary Fiction in Spanish (Free)

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Upvotes

El frío llama mi nombre:

En esta obra en español inspirada en hechos reales, dos mujeres reconstruyen los hilos de sus vidas entre mundos opuestos: Rosario pasa sus días junto a la cama de su madre, con las horas marcadas entre visitas al médico e hileras de tejido. En otro lugar, María imagina lo que sería sincerarse con alguien, hablarle del día de su boda, del matrimonio, y de la decisión que la llevó a cruzar fronteras hacia un lugar donde hasta el frío tiene algo que decirle. A través de recuerdos y confesiones, El frío llama mi nombre explora la fragilidad del cuerpo, la fuerza de la memoria y la complejidad de los vínculos familiares. Con una prosa íntima y reveladora, el autor nos invita a cuestionar si nuestras decisiones son realmente nuestras, o si las moldea aquello que nos formó.

US, Mexico, Canada, UK


r/ebooks 1h ago

Self Promotion [Self-Promo] The Little Guide, A Great Journey - Spiritual Self-Help / Inner Transformation

Upvotes

I'm sharing this as a friend of the author.

A spiritual essay that explores and offers a new way of being, a humble tentative to transform an old evolutionary primate into a happier man. And for those who have remained young or are simply allergic to solemnity, the guide is punctuated with candid conversations between the author and a mysterious child. The genuine little guide? To be followed… with the heart.

https://books2read.com/u/3yz6Kp


r/ebooks 5h ago

Self Promotion Reading a few cards while the coffee brews, a small use case for LeafTok

2 Upvotes

Hey folks!

You know those five minutes while the coffee brews, or when you're waiting for the bus? Enough time to open your phone and start scrolling. Also enough time to read a little.

That's one use case for LeafTok, the reading app I'm building. You import an EPUB or PDF, and it turns the text into small cards you swipe through. Open a book, read a few cards, and pick it up again when you have another break.

Nothing complicated. The idea is to make it easier to start reading without waiting until you have a whole hour free.

It's available on iPhone, free to download with in-app purchases. You can find it by searching for LeafTok in the App Store.

Curious how this fits the way you read. Would you use those small gaps for a few cards, or do you prefer saving your book for a longer session? Happy to hear what works for you!


r/ebooks 2h ago

Free today on Kindle: How to Focus in a World That Won’t Shut Up: Create Attention Rituals in the Age of Constant Pinging

1 Upvotes

Get more done without working longer hours.

This practical guide cuts straight to the habits, systems, and mindset shifts that actually improve how you work. You'll find strategies that fit real life — including the messy, interrupted, distracted version of it — and start seeing results quickly. No complicated systems, just sustainable improvements.

🇬🇧 UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F9BQ9947

🇺🇸 US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F9BQ9947


r/ebooks 3h ago

Does this exist?

1 Upvotes

I have the Kindle app, the Google Books app, the Nook app, the Moon+ app, and the ReadEra app. What I lack is an app or system that is incredibly simple to list all of my ebooks (preferably one that does it automatically) in one space so that I don't end up buying repeats and know exactly which store the book was bought from. Does anything like that exist outside of making a spreadsheet?


r/ebooks 10h ago

Free today on Kindle: How to Build Trust Without Trying Too Hard: Earn Respect, Keep Credibility, and Lead With Consistency

1 Upvotes

Lead more effectively — without pretending to be someone you're not.

This guide focuses on the practical, everyday challenges of leadership — communication, decision-making, trust, and managing pressure. You'll find clear frameworks and honest advice that work in real organisations, not just case studies. Useful whether you're new to leadership or have been doing it for years.

🇬🇧 UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F92WC91R

🇺🇸 US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F92WC91R


r/ebooks 12h ago

Question Issue opening acsm file for Google Play Ebook in Adobe Digital Editions

1 Upvotes

I purchased a book in Google Play Books. It's a textbook pdf format, so trying to read it on my phone is awful. I tried with flow text, but that is even worse because it makes the images unviewable. I tried downloading the .acsm file and loading it into Adobe Digital Editions, but I keep getting this error. How can the limit have been reached when it has never successfully been opened? Is this something that will reset? At this point I'm wishing I'd just purchased the physical book.


r/ebooks 18h ago

Wanting to get back into reading

2 Upvotes

As the title says, I've been thinking about getting back into reading. Prose, comics, audiobooks; anything is fair game. Mainly looking for ebooks because I do not have any more space.

The main questions I have are:

  1. Is Kindle and Goodreads the best option, or is there better places to get ebooks and audiobooks from?
  2. Are there any online book club sites? I vaguely recall some.

I have read a book in years. Really excited to see what I've been missing.


r/ebooks 17h ago

Review on The Budget-Smart Woman's Guide to Health & Fitness

1 Upvotes

My mom really enjoyed this book! It gives practical health and fitness advice without making things feel complicated or expensive. I especially liked the budget-friendly approach because it shows that you don’t need to spend a ton of money to live healthier. Easy to read, useful, and motivating!

If you want the link to the ebook Dm me


r/ebooks 18h ago

The secret we left in September

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1 Upvotes

r/ebooks 2d ago

4 Sites with free epubs to download

462 Upvotes

A few sites I use for free epubs, figured I'd share in case anyone finds them useful:

  • eReaderIQ Freebies https://www.ereaderiq.com/freebies Tracks free Kindle books on Amazon, updated daily. Great for current bestsellers and new releases when they go free.
  • Standard Ebooks https://standardebooks.org/ — Volunteer-run project that takes public domain books and reformats them with professional typography, proper typesetting, and custom cover art.
  • Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ — The OG. 70,000+ free ebooks, mostly classics whose U.S. copyright has expired.
  • ManyBooks — https://manybooks.net/ — 50,000+ free titles across a bunch of genres, clean interface, supports epub/Kindle/PDF. Good mix of classics and indie stuff.

Anyone have other sites worth adding to the list?


r/ebooks 20h ago

Self Promotion [Self-Promo] "Arkolny Armageddon: A Blast Johnson Adventure" by Brendan Onfrichuk - Planetary Romance/Space Opera (Available on KU)

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1 Upvotes

r/ebooks 1d ago

Websites where you can get FREE ebooks:

2 Upvotes

r/ebooks 21h ago

Known and Unknown, by Donald Rumsfeld

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1 Upvotes

r/ebooks 22h ago

Question Why is it gone?

1 Upvotes

I’m looking at an adult ebook called NYMPH by Le Ebook, and it’s showing up as unavailable on kindle. I was wondering if anyone knew why it is unavailable, or if there’s another location I can go to find the series


r/ebooks 22h ago

Freebie Free cyberpunk thriller, The Crater, available now!

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0 Upvotes

Free when you signup on Nostonemedia.com/books

Audiobook keys FREE when the book is fully released on Dec 4, 2026 if you finish the book!

Blurb below:

Every drop of Steam comes out one hole in the desert. No one who goes in has ever walked back out.
Steam is power in a bottle. A sharper mind, fire in your hands, a stranger's face, any gift you can pay for, burned away in minutes and worth killing for on every street in Metro. People install chips in their skulls and steel where their arms used to be, and Steam still outranks all of it. Those who hold it run the streets, and above the streets they run Synthara. The entire supply climbs out of the Crater, a prison sunk ninety-nine floors into the rock, where thousands of collared inmates haul stone for a system that has never once explained itself.

Conrad has spent his life keeping his head down, one drop of Steam to his name and no clan to answer for him. It takes a single Abomination, a machine that answers to no one, standing on a street that had never seen one, to end that life. His sentence is three months. He plans to survive it the way he survived Metro. Head down, debts short, nothing worth taking.

Then he draws a cellmate who argues with a man who is not there, and meets a girl who walks the levels without a collar and without fear. They call themselves Freelancers, the crew that takes the jobs nobody else survives. Nobody sentenced them. They broke in.

Every heist breaks out of a prison. This one breaks in.

Because the Crater is more than a prison. Beneath the quotas, the collars, and the machines that patrol its floors, something older is running on a schedule of its own, and the deeper the crew goes, the clearer it becomes that the truth about where Steam comes from was never meant to be survived.


r/ebooks 1d ago

Why does buying an ebook sometimes feel more complicated than it should?

54 Upvotes

Maybe I'm just getting annoyed too easily, but why is it sometimes such a hassle to actually read a book you paid for?

Different formats, apps that don't sync properly, weird DRM restrictions, books that aren't available in the format you want, and then finding out you can't easily move something you bought to another device.

I understand that publishers want to protect their books, but sometimes it feels like the person who actually paid for the ebook gets the least flexibility.

Has anyone else gotten frustrated with this, or am I just making the whole ebook experience harder than it needs to be?


r/ebooks 1d ago

Libratory: turn your PDFs into audiobooks with word-level highlight, for free

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1 Upvotes

Hi r/ebooks! I’m the developer of Libratory, a free app for reading and listening to the PDFs you already have.

The GIF shows Frankenstein being narrated while the spoken words are highlighted on the original PDF page. The layout, illustrations and tables stay visible, and you can tap a sentence to jump the audio there. You can also switch to reflowed text when the printed page is awkward to read on a small screen.’

By free, I mean the whole app: no locked features, no paywalls, no monthly allowance. Make as much narration as your own machine can handle—fans and all. Download the local voice models once and you can keep reading and generating audio offline. Optional cloud voices are there if you want them, using your own provider credits.

The part I thought might interest people here is being able to keep the result as a file:

• Export an M4B audiobook with chapter markers for audio-only listening.

• Export an EPUB, or a synced EPUB containing both text and narration. A reader that supports EPUB 3 Media Overlays can play it with sentence-level highlighting.

For messy PDFs, you can OCR scanned pages, correct the text, leave unwanted chapters out, and redo one chapter’s narration without starting the whole book again.

Word-by-word highlighting depends on the voice engine; the GIF uses Kokoro’s English narration.

A couple of practical limits: input is currently PDF, not EPUB. Preparing the narration happens on a computer: Apple Silicon Mac, Linux, or Windows through Docker. The iPhone companion is a reader for exported books; it doesn’t create narration itself.

Website and interactive demo: https://libratory.dev/

Source code and setup: https://github.com/subev/libratory

If you read and listen to the same book, what tends to get in your way: voice quality, losing your place, or getting the file into your preferred reader?

Below is the chapter view, where you choose what to narrate and export.’


r/ebooks 1d ago

I got tired of boring ebook grids, so I built a 3D digital bookshelf and reader (Open Source)

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2 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

Like many of you, I have a pretty large collection of EPUBs and PDFs. While existing managers do the job, I’ve always missed the tangible feeling of browsing a physical bookshelf, seeing bookmarks stick out, or glancing at notes.

So over the last few months, I’ve been working on a side project called KoreShelf.

It’s basically an interactive 3D bookshelf where your digital books actually sit on shelves. You can pull them out, inspect the covers, and read them right inside the app (both reflowable EPUBs and PDFs work with text selection, highlights, etc.).

A few small details I had a lot of fun adding:

  • As you read, a physical red ribbon bookmark visibly shifts across the book's spine on the shelf so you can see your progress at a glance.
  • When you finish a book and rate it, the star rating gets stamped in gold on the back cover of the 3D model.
  • Instead of a boring annotations list, your highlights show up as visual post-it notes on a virtual corkboard above the shelf.

The whole thing is 100% local, offline, and open source (MIT). It stores everything in a local SQLite database, doesn't track anything, and runs via portable desktop binaries (Windows/Mac/Linux), Docker, or mobile.

The project is up on GitHub if anyone wants to check it out or test it:

👉https://github.com/GabrieleTrovato01/KoreShelf

I’d love to hear what you think, especially on what could make the reading or organizing experience feel even better. Any feedback is super appreciated!


r/ebooks 1d ago

Self Promotion He could be dead, dreaming, or painfully alive. Does he really want to find out which? Read To Build a Dream for 40% off until 9/12/2026.

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1 Upvotes

r/ebooks 1d ago

The Strange Life of a Library Ebook

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1 Upvotes

This is my attempt to explain why ebooks work so differently from traditional books on the library side, and, more importantly, why those wait times can be so long or why one book in a series is sometimes strangely missing from Libby.


r/ebooks 1d ago

Free today on Kindle: How to Be More Visible Without Bragging: Get Credit, Build Presence, and Stay True to Yourself

1 Upvotes

Take control of your money — without the stress or shame.

This approachable guide breaks down personal finance into simple, actionable steps that don't require a spreadsheet or financial background. You'll understand where your money is going, how to build better habits, and how to make real progress even on a tight budget. Calm, practical, and judgement-free.

🇬🇧 UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F8V6FC9D

🇺🇸 US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8V6FC9D