marking book as 'read'

[apricoto]

How can I indicate that I have already read/finished a particular book? Some sort of mark, tag, banner?

I have looked at metadata, and addons, but haven't figured this out.

[ownedbycats]

Quickest way.



Then restart.

[BetterRed]

When I add a book, a step in my Intake workflow is to clear the Date (F2 in the cell, press '-', press Enter). When I finish a book I set the Date to Today (F2 in the cell, press '=', press Enter).

The Date column defaults to the date a book was added to the library, but I have never needed to know that. I like this method because it works on any library.

BR

[apricoto]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Quickest way.

Attachment 185158

Then restart.

Ok, I did that. I didn't know that there is a book list. I see the book covers. Where is the book list?

[apricoto]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

When I add a book, a step in my Intake workflow is to clear the Date (F2 in the cell, press '-', press Enter). When I finish a book I set the Date to Today (F2 in the cell, press '=', press Enter).

The Date column defaults to the date a book was added to the library, but I have never needed to know that. I like this method because it works on any library.

BR

I'm afraid that I have no idea what you are referring to. Clear what date? where?

[davidfor]

@apricoto: How to show that books have been read is a fairly common question here. So common, that it gets asked most weeks. A search here will find the discussions.

But, there are several common ways to do it:

• A custom Y/N column. Which is what @ownedbycats has suggested
• A custom column for the date read.
• Set the rating.
• Add a "read" tag to the tags.
• Use a custom column for the percent read.
• Use a custom column for status (such as "to read", "reading", "read" etc).
• Use the Reading List plugin and with lists for each status you track.
• Re-purpose an existing column, such as what @BetterRead does with the Date column.

Or some combination of the above. What people do depend on what they want to track. I think the first three or four are the most common methods. The rating and using a tag are probably the easiest as they do not require changes o

Personally, I use the custom date column plus the percent read column. The columns are automatically updated from my Kobo ereader when I connect it (courtesy of my Kobo Utilities plugin). Then I move the book to the appropriate Reading list (from "toRead" to "Reading" to "Finished") and set the rating when it is finished.

[apricoto]

I remain clueless, as I mentioned in a previous comment, regarding the locations of the suggested columns, ratings, dates, etc etc.

I see none of these, nor do I find any references to them, in preferences, on the tool bar, available addons, etc.

Since this is a frequently asked about feature, seems odd that it is not easily accessible. Or mentioned in faq.

[davidfor]

Calibre does not have a "native" way to mark books as read. Using the rating column or adding a tag is the closest you can get. The key term for most of the suggestions is "custom column". That is a column you add to calibre to store the information you want for each book. You do this in the preferences and the screenshot @ownedbycats posted showed an example of doing this.

But, the first thing you need to decide is how you want to indicate a book is read. Or how much information you need. Do you need when you read it? Do you rate the books? Or is a simple yes/no enough?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by apricoto

I'm afraid that I have no idea what you are referring to. Clear what date? where?

@apricoto - Date is a standard Column, part of the calibre furniture.

Lets say it's Christmas Day and I add the book that was under the tree:



I press F2 key on the Date Cell and press '-', the Date changes to 'Undefined':



When I press Enter the Date is blank/empty:



When I finish reading the book, I press F2 in the Date cell and press '=', it changes to current date and time:



When I press Enter the Date is current date and time:



So, because the Date cell is not empty I know I've read the book, AND I know when I finished reading it.

There's a Tweak to set the format of Date, I like dates in a military format:



BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by apricoto

Ok, I did that. I didn't know that there is a book list. I see the book covers. Where is the book list?

Turn off the cover view to see the list (spreadsheet) view. To do that, click the "Layout" button at the bottom right then choose Hide for the cover grid.

[apricoto]

@ Betterred: thanks, this is helpful, and led me to include a comment column.

[apricoto]

Originally Posted by chaley

Turn off the cover view to see the list (spreadsheet) view. To do that, click the "Layout" button at the bottom right then choose Hide for the cover grid.

this is the missing bit. I didn't know that this view is possible. Apparently it is such common knowledge that other commenters assumed that I knew what they were referring to.

thanks.

[BoschBabe]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Quickest way.
[image deleted.]
Then restart.

Thank you!!

kathy

[Chocky]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Calibre does not have a "native" way to mark books as read. Using the rating column or adding a tag is the closest you can get. The key term for most of the suggestions is "custom column". That is a column you add to calibre to store the information you want for each book. You do this in the preferences and the screenshot @ownedbycats posted showed an example of doing this.

But, the first thing you need to decide is how you want to indicate a book is read. Or how much information you need. Do you need when you read it? Do you rate the books? Or is a simple yes/no enough?

I have set up the "Read?" column as per ownedbycats, and connected my Clara HD.

Nothing shows as read, should this automatically get that information from the eBook?

If so, does it only work for books read after the column has been added?

Thank you for the all the help.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Chocky

I have set up the "Read?" column as per ownedbycats, and connected my Clara HD.

Nothing shows as read, should this automatically get that information from the eBook?

If so, does it only work for books read after the column has been added?

Thank you for the all the help.

That isn't the way to do it if you want to update the reading status from a Kobo device. For that, you need my Kobo Utilities plugin. You then need to configure the plugin and columns needed. The plugin has help for this. I recommend reading that as a starting point and then asking questions as needed.