[jackie_w]

I'd definitely be interested in this

Some of the reader apps have very nice Home screen widget options and I suppose they're sufficient for anyone who only ever uses a single reader app. I think CC may be even better, though, especially if CC could 'remember' which app was last used to open any particular book.

As background I've attached widget screenshots from my Galaxy Note 3 of the offerings from 3 apps - Pocketbook, Moon+ and Mantano. The best I've used have been Pocketbook and Moon+ (unfortunately IMHO Moon+ makes such a mess of css styling that I can't reconcile myself to using it for epubs).

• Pocketbook (see 1st pic) has 3 different widgets to choose from:
  1. Top left: Most Recent x4 (size 2x3, not resizable) which shows a vertical cascade of the last four books read in PB. Each of the 4 images is clickable and big enough to read author/title.
  2. Mid right: Most Recent x1 (size 1x1, not resizable). The last book you read. Because there is no text, I find the cover icon quite easy to read, despite it being 1x1.
  3. Bottom row: Any book (size 1x1, not resizable). You can have as many of these on the Home screen as you want. I find the covers a bit too small, but you do get the Title as well.
  The beauty of widgets 1 & 2 are that you can put the widget on your Home screen once then forget about it, because the contents are auto-updated whenever you read in Pocketbook. Widget 3 needs to be added whenever you start a new book - not exactly onerous, of course
  
• Moon+ (see 2nd pic) has 2 different widgets to choose from, but only one of them is offered via the normal Home screen long-press/Apps&Widgets/Widgets. The other is only accessible whilst in a Moon+ book list.
  1. Left side: Most Recent x many (size 2x2 - 4x4 on my Note3, resizable) which shows a vertical scrollable list of (all ???) recently read books. The image size is just about big enough for me, but as you can see you also get quite a bit of helpful text. This widget is really very nice indeed. Of course I'd like options to custom design it, too Demanding? moi.
  2. Right side: Any book (size 1x1, not resizable). You can have as many of these on the Home screen as you want. I find the covers a bit too small. The text appears to be the start of Filename which is less helpful than being Title only if you happen to have set a calibre save template which begins with author_sort.
  Once again, widget 1 can be put on your Home screen once then left alone. Widget 2 needs to be added whenever you start a new book and can only be created (I think) whilst in Moon+ MyShelf or MyFiles.
  
• Mantano (see 3rd pic) only has one widget.
  1. Any book (size 1x1, not resizable). You can have as many of these on the Home screen as you want. I find the cover image icon to be so small as to be utterly useless - it's been this way for years. However, you do get the Title as a text caption. One should be thankful for small mercies.

In summary, my prize for 'Best Home screen Widget' goes to Moon+, for it's resizeable 'Recent Books' widget. However, as I find Moon+ too poor at css rendering I actually use one of the Pocketbook 'Recent Book(s)' widgets instead.

Finally, in answer to your actual questions:
1. Yes. No rush, take your time - next week would be fine
2. My vote is for auto-adding/positioning a book in the widget whenever you read it. I like widgets which are customisable when you first set them up, but once added can be left alone.
3 & 4. Depend whether the widget is for one or multiple books. 1x1 is OK if it's the cover image only. If you add a caption the text needs to be in small-print if the cover image is going to be readable. Make sure the text is Title only (configurable ?). Personally, I don't need a caption.
5. You see it twice? so what?
6. I don't think I'd use a special "last read" group. I can already sort CC by 'Date Read (CC)' when I want.

This concludes the voting of the UK judge