I still miss Stanza

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't think it's that it's complicated; more a case that it's just not a particularly good way to deal with a large library. Most people are interested in being able to browse on more than simply "author", hence a database which allows you to sort your library by author, title, series, genre, tag, etc, gives you far more flexibility.

I.e. Browse useful information rather than being constrained by the storage of books in the underlying file system.

But you surely dont want a large library in a single long list? That is the advantage of those which use a folder analog to deal with it. Author is just one option. I dont want to have to search, see, I just want to browse and that is usually going to be (for me, anyway) either by author or genre, but mostly by author because I have favourites. I never know what I might want to read next, but in scrolling through an Author list, I can make a quick decision about who... and then what.

I guess its all about personal preferences, and I would like to have the option to see my books sorted into different pages by Author. Any other way of managing books is unwieldy, for me. I keep forgetting about Shubook with the excitement of new apps (i'm now pretty much Hyphen dependent) but I will use it again because it actually is closest in functionality to Stanza.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

But you surely dont want a large library in a single long list? That is the advantage of those which use a folder analog to deal with it. Author is just one option. I dont want to have to search, see, I just want to browse and that is usually going to be (for me, anyway) either by author or genre, but mostly by author because I have favourites. I never know what I might want to read next, but in scrolling through an Author list, I can make a quick decision about who... and then what.

As we've discussed before, on my iPad I prefer to keep library management separate from reading, and use apps which give me the best experience for each. Calibre Companion lets me browse and search my library by any conceivable criteria, and then lets me read a book in whatever reading app I choose.

[kyteflyer]

Yes we have, havent we. For some reason, even though my devices are all on the same network, calibre companion just spins and doesnt do much at all. No matter, theres plenty of options for all of us.

[cedhax]

Originally Posted by nrubenstein

Shubook is the only option that I have found with acceptable book management.

I still don't understand why browsing by author in folders is such a complicated concept for people who make ebook readers.

I have used ShuBook too and liked it very much. Please note that browsing by author in folders is also supported in MapleRead. Apparently, it is not a difficult implementation at all at least for the developer of MapleRead. IMHO, its book management is better and more powerful than those of ShuBook.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by cedhax

I have used ShuBook too and liked it very much. Please note that browsing by author in folders is also supported in MapleRead. Apparently, it is not a difficult implementation at all at least for the developer of MapleRead. IMHO, its book management is better and more powerful than those of ShuBook.

I bought Mapleread for my phone, but until sbaylor loses that totally UGLY interface and uses something more generic, I am not even considering it as an alternative. Its just awful.

[HarryT]

I use MapleRead myself, and honestly can't say I've ever particularly noted its interface; what matters to me is that it renders books nicely. Which parts of it offend you particularly?

[svenlind]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I use MapleRead myself, and honestly can't say I've ever particularly noted its interface; what matters to me is that it renders books nicely. Which parts of it offend you particularly?

I also like Mapleread's rendering of content, IMO the best rendering of those apps I have tried. Marvin is a very close second.

I also use Calibre Companion as organizer of my books. None of the reader apps I have tried come close to CC in that regard.
As an added benefit it is very easy to transfer books to your favorite reading app. And as Harry says you don't really notice the ins and outs of the reader app if you only use it for rendering of content.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I use MapleRead myself, and honestly can't say I've ever particularly noted its interface; what matters to me is that it renders books nicely. Which parts of it offend you particularly?

The pseudo-wood. It really grates. and yes, I know it does books well. I cannot (perhaps will not) move past the wood. a standard iOS interface would be nice as an alternative.

[cedhax]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

The pseudo-wood. It really grates. and yes, I know it does books well. I cannot (perhaps will not) move past the wood. a standard iOS interface would be nice as an alternative.

The faux wood bookshelf is fine with me. But you can make it almost disappear by doing the following. Tap Scenes. Turn on Transparent Shelf. Set background brightness to minimum. Alternatively, use List instead of Icon view.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by cedhax

The faux wood bookshelf is fine with me. But you can make it almost disappear by doing the following. Tap Scenes. Turn on Transparent Shelf. Set background brightness to minimum. Alternatively, use List instead of Icon view.

I did all that, in an effort to like it. After all I had paid for it. But, it failed for me. *shrug*. The thing is, that wood doesnt disappear completely. I went for the list because that gets rid of the blasted wallpaper. All those trappings are just unnecessary and I wish that underlying all that was a standard UI which could be called up.

Does it link to Goodreads? Thats something I have come to depend on with Hyphen and Marvin, and I havent explored further with Mapleread.