Organizing - back to the drawing board

[leebase]

So many of you good folk inspire me. One of the ways is by managing your books in Calibre. I've kept moving from pc to pc and screwing up my Calibre setups over the years, that I just don't bother other than using it to liberate my Amazon books (for archive purposes).

So, with my amazing MacBook Pro 16, I figure it's time to give it another go. I won't be giving up this pc anytime soon.

I had no problems exporting and importing my library from a Windows pc where I have Calibre installed. Step 1 - success.

I went through the steps to keep Kindle for Mac from exporting to kfx. Success.

I installed "ebook liberator" library into Calibre like always.

Import kindle azw book and then export to epub.

NO SUCCESS.

I turned on debug mode, looked through the log. I can see where it's failing. But frankly, this now exceeds my attention buffer.

I have the entire setup working on one of my Windows PC's. It's about the only thing I use that PC for. Still, I go so long between "book liberation" efforts that I'm always having to relearn what to do, and where the files go etc. This time I at least documented it.

But -- there's ANOTHER annoying issue. The Kindle for Mac app does not sync with the "cloud collections". So all that organizing I did on my iPad, doesn't carry over to my Mac. I'd go through the effort of organizing in Calibre...but the "book liberation" feature is the MAIN feature and that's not working for me.

So I'm falling back to my OneNote notebook to keep my "books read" and "books to read" lists going. My books live in Amazon's cloud and I occasionally remember to download them and liberate them to archive them. But I just don't see myself getting into Calibre more at this point.

Once again, I must just admire some of you good folks from afar.

Oh, one more thing. My main reason for liberation isn't archiving but format shifting to epub so that I can read the books in my favorite app which is FBReader.

Fbreader is great and it is on iOS and Android and syncs seamlessly. But now I have a Kindle eInk device. So now I have to read via the kindle app if I want to be able to pick up any device and continue reading. Bummer. It's one of the reasons that I'll probably go back to the iPad mini instead of the Kindle Paperwhite.

Then again, I'm also starting to buy ebooks in Kindle and Audible format so that I can switch from reading to listening and back. For that experience, I also have to stick with the Kindle app.

But @#$#@$@# Amazon for not keeping their Mac app up to speed with their own features.

[Sirtel]

As for me, I read 99% of my time on my eink readers, and only at home. So I don't need any syncing and can organize and sideload everything from Calibre. Those very rare instances I read a book on my phone, I can find my place from memory. And I never read novels on tablets or laptops.

When I started with ebooks 10 years ago, I used Calibre only for liberating, like you. But I quickly learned that everything else is lightyears behind as far as book organizing goes, Kindles and the Amazon Cloud included. So I switched entirely to Calibre and never looked back. The decision was easy for me, because I didn't really need Whispersync.

[leebase]

When you load from Calibre to your kindle, do you physically connect the eInk reader to your computer?

Since almost all of my books come from Amazon in the first place, I think it’s just easier to download them from Amazon.

We will see. I do like the kindle device. For me it’s big advantage is it’s size.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by leebase

When you load from Calibre to your kindle, do you physically connect the eInk reader to your computer?

Yes. Mostly because I use a metadata plugboard and page count, both of which can be transferred only with a direct connection. And also because I want to use the azw3 format, it being the only one which supports custom font sizes on a Kindle (the FONT_RAMP hack). AZW3 cannot be downloaded directly from Amazon to newer Kindles (Amazon uses KFX nowadays for direct downloads), and it cannot be sent via wifi without jumping through some hoops. There have been a few instances I've used an over-the-air method to load a book to my Kindles (email or the send-to-kindle app), but it's not my preferred way.

[Sirtel]

As to "liberating", now that you have an eink Kindle, you don't need to use the Kindle for Mac. You can use the download and transfer via USB method for getting rid of DRM.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

As to "liberating", now that you have an eink Kindle, you don't need to use the Kindle for Mac. You can use the download and transfer via USB method for getting rid of DRM.

I’ll look into that. Just so used to everything being wireless/cloud.

As for using Calibre for organizing and transfer to kindle…is what I need in the help docs, or is there a “how to use Calibre” web page you’d recommend?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by leebase

As for using Calibre for organizing and transfer to kindle…is what I need in the help docs, or is there a “how to use Calibre” web page you’d recommend?

There is the general user manual
https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/

As to transfer to Kindle, that's easy. Just connect your Kindle via USB, wait until Calibre has finished analyzing your device, select a book or several and click the "Send to Device" button. There's nothing else to it. Kindle collections cannot be managed with Calibre, unless your Kindle is jailbroken.

Metadata plugboards are used mostly to modify titles on the device, for example adding series info to a title. They're not necessary for just transferring books.

As to formats, you should be aware (you may already be, of course) that while mobi can be used to send your books wirelessly to your Kindle Cloud and sync between devices/apps, it's not the best format for reading. It doesn't support custom fonts and boldness adjustment, for example. For USB transfer azw3 is best.

[theducks]

I have moved Calibre (Libraries) between 5 different PC's (Win,Linux) since I joined MR. Only once, did I do something stupid and needed to recover from an older backup

I did copy my Config folder as part of the move and all I had to do was adjust the Path (Create/Switch: Use existing) to the new Library location.

OTOH Keeping Kindle Tools functioning

Over the years, I did slightly change how I tracked Series, but most custom column stuff dates back to Kiwidudes PI's first showing up

[leebase]

The problem is that I just don't do "Calibre" things often enough to keep the knowledge in my head. It's not Calibre's fault. It's a bummer that I couldn't get the Mac setup to work. I expect to keep that Mac for a good while.

The Intel NUC I have Calibre running on, is fairly stable. I just don't use it for anything else these days so "out of site, out of mind". I bought a newer windows mini-pc to take it's place. Perhaps I'll move the Calibre setup there.

Still, I gotta say, just having my To Be Read and To Read list in a OneNote note works for my purposes. Last year I read 50+ books. This year, I'll maybe it 30. So it's not like I read so much.

My "what I'd most like to accomplish" are
- Keep track of the series I like and when new books are put out by the authors
- Start reading from the many books I've already bought and have completely forgotten about
- Have some semblence of what I want to read next

I'm a series guy. I like to find a good one and just read nothing but the next book in that series until I finish them or catch up and have to wait for the author to write a new one.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yes. Mostly because I use a metadata plugboard and page count, both of which can be transferred only with a direct connection. And also because I want to use the azw3 format, it being the only one which supports custom font sizes on a Kindle (the FONT_RAMP hack). AZW3 cannot be downloaded directly from Amazon to newer Kindles (Amazon uses KFX nowadays for direct downloads), and it cannot be sent via wifi without jumping through some hoops. There have been a few instances I've used an over-the-air method to load a book to my Kindles (email or the send-to-kindle app), but it's not my preferred way.

I do want to correct you on one thing, if you email a dual mobi (or send using the Send To Kindle app), you do not get it in KFX format on your device. I just double-checked, and they are definitely in azw3 format, so the FONT_RAMP will work.

Shari

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by shalym

I do want to correct you on one thing, if you email a dual mobi (or send using the Send To Kindle app), you do not get it in KFX format on your device. I just double-checked, and they are definitely in azw3 format, so the FONT_RAMP will work.

Shari

Yes, but sometimes the book won't arrive, or arrives as the old mobi. At least it happened that way a few years ago, I haven't tried recently. That's what I meant by jumping through hoops (dual mobi, .png or .txt file extension etc. Can't just send the file as it is.)

[leebase]

Well, what do you know. I was trying to move my Calibre/Kindle setup from one Windows PC to a newer one...and had issues. In trying to solve them (unsuccessfully), I came across info (from here) regarding getting the Mac going.

So now I have my Kindle/Calibre combo working on my Mac...a "I'll have this machine for years" computer.

So now I can finally get around to learning to use Calibre for more than just liberating kindle books (for archiving and format shifting to read in my favorite app).

The new fly in this ointment - is that I now have a Kindle eInk device. I like reading on it due to it's size and being light. That would mean I need to stick to the Kindle app on my iDevices so that syncing works. Along with "audible read alongs" that I use to switch between reading and listening. Which means that I still have archive needs, but really might not be using my favorite reading app - which is FBreader.

<sigh>

[Quoth]

I never bother with sync.
Faster to type in a few words in Search than turn on WiFi, Sync, turn off Wifi on two devices. Besides Kindle programs and Apps "talk" to Amazon too much.
If you have Calibre + kindle eink you don't ever need the kindle WiFi on. Download to Mac. Copy & Paste the Kindle S/N in My Devices on Amazon into Alf's plug-in.

Never rely on the so called "Cloud", really someone else's server.

Also sync is useless between devices/apps from different suppliers.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Faster to type in a few words in Search than turn on WiFi, Sync, turn off Wifi on two devices.

I hear you on that. I've done that before. Still, it's VERY nice to just pick up whatever device I want to read on/listen too, and the sync just happens.

Originally Posted by Quoth

If you have Calibre + kindle eink you don't ever need the kindle WiFi on. Download to Mac. Copy & Paste the Kindle S/N in My Devices on Amazon into Alf's plug-in.

Thanks, I'll look into that. It's just do darn easy to use the kindle app. Well, easy now that I've documented the steps so I don't have to keep refiguring it out.

Originally Posted by Quoth

Never rely on the so called "Cloud", really someone else's server.

Also sync is useless between devices/apps from different suppliers.

So much of my computing experience relies on the cloud. If an atomic bomb hits, I want to be at ground zero. I don't want to live in a post connected world

I loved that I could buy a Google Chromebook, log in, and all my settings and passwords from my pc/Mac just sync. Same with Windows login on new Windows computers. Same with Macs, iPhones, iPads with iCloud.

I have Amazon tablets, iPads, iPhones, even a Walmart Android tablet. I have Windows PC's, Linux PC's, Macs. Now I have a Kindle eInk device. I use all of them to some extent. The "somebody else's computers" help make the experience quite seamless switching.