[YRead]

Wow! Thanks to all on this thread for the insights on how to restore Marvin 3 and all the books from my last backup. I was able to do so using the Imazing app in Trial mode. Marvin 3 was fully restored along with all the books in the library. Awesome!

I got in this situation because of the bug in Apple iTunes that may brick your iOS device if you update your AS in iTunes while connected by USB. Usually I update OTA, but in this case I updated in response to a prompt from iTunes after doing a regular backup by USB. I've done this before with no problem, but this time it bricked my iPad to the point where only a full Restore brought it back to life. I never heard of this bug but it's a thing - just search on it. So beware of updating by cable via iTunes. At any rate, as many have pointed out, if you reset and restore from backup, any apps no longer in the App Store get nuked. Not a happy day, as reading through Marvin is something I do for hours a day.

I thought all was lost so I started to look at alternative readers. We have a large always-on Calibre library content server using OPDS shared among 6-8 family members. I found two readers I thought were contenders for our situation.

PocketBook Reader says it does OPDS, and seems to have a large following. However, I tried many different ways and combinations and I could not get it to connect to OPDS. I know OPDS is working because I can connect to it natively through the IP, and now that Marvin is restored it connects fine too. Documentation on OPDS for PocketBook is minimal at best, and the one post I found in the app reviews on connecting to OPDS didn't work. So scrape that off the table.

BookFusion is emerging and has a lot of fans. They are improving and updating rapidly and it looks quite promising.
Pros:
* The syncing across devices and platforms is attractive - I think Marvin had something like it but I never tried it. When I thought about it, the idea of having a sync'd Kindle Paperwhite for the bedroom (easier on your eyes) and going out for hikes and lunches would be very nice (more later). Also reading a sync'd book on the web could be useful, particularly for tech work. The ability to read multiple formats on the one reader would be great - currently I flip back and forth between Marvin for ePub and GoodReader for PDF.
Cons:
* It's a subscription model. While I don't mind paying a reasonable fee to support staff and development, all too often rentals turn into an unreasonable fee once they get you hooked. They often decrease level benefits to push you into higher levels.
* No OPDS. They provide a Calibre plugin which works nicely. However the plugin is tied to an API key specific to your account. If my family members all have their own BookFusion account, I don't see how they would get their books off our Calibre content server. To boot, only two of us get their books off Calibre directly. The others login to the Calibre native OPDS IP, and download the books to their reader that way. Without OPDS, those members have no way to load into BookFusion, and the two of us on the home network cannot have separate accounts.
* It turns out Kindle is load only, book reading progress on Kindle Paperwhite is not sync'd across platforms.
* Lack of sharing options. Every time I finish a book on Marvin, I send myself an email to remind me to update my "Read on" column in Calibre. You can also send emails to folks about a book you're reading, even send them the book. No sharing options in BookFusion.
* Doesn't have same access to Calibre columns that Marvin had - this was a nice feature you can use to find books to read next.
* Marvin has the ability to convert ebook to uniform formatting in case of strange native formatting.
* There's some other minor features Marvin has that BookFusion is missing, but the team there seem energized and I think they'll be added as they proceed onward.
The big obstacles for me are the lack of OPDS and the lack of syncing to Kindle. If they add those features I think I would jump in. It is shaping up to be a feature-rich app, and after all Marvin is apparently deserted and at some point we need to support a viable provider.

Anyway, the pressure is off for me personally because of the wonderful contributors here who found a way for Marvin to say "I'm not dead yet!"