[GUIDE] FAQ on My Library, e-reading & associated apps

[janner43]

E-reading on an Asus tablet (Transformer or MeMo) is a very popular thing to do. It also generates a lot of "help me" posts

This thread has been created to try and pull a lot of information from various posters all into one place in an efort to make it a "one stop shop" for the subject.

1. Adobe DRM within My Library & Aldiko
This has been a source of difficulties to more than one person! The answer has been found & is here.
Adobe DRM authorization in My Library?

Additionally, the Aldiko app support site has a lot of information on this subject. You can find it here - Aldiko Customer Support


2. Where can I get e-books from?
This question has got a range of answers, a nice long list of them can be found here.
Where to get ebooks


3. My Library crashes / fills up with strange "books"/ won't read my Kindle books any more / doesn't sort my books very well
This range of problems all have one thing in common - the app! Unfortunately, while the My Library app looks good, it doesn't really live up to its early promise. Here is my solution to all those issues...

I had an issue with My Library. In sorting it out I realised that all My Library actually does is scan the tf for books, pdfs etc that it recognises & then displays them for you to select. It also has a problem with repeating copies of books in its listings & picking up various extraneous files that it "thinks" are books, but aren't. This makes it very unwieldy and cumbersome in use. There is no known way to stop My Library doing this.

To clear all this dross from My Library...
- go to settings, applications, all
- scroll down to My Library & force close it, clear the cache, clear all data & then do a cold boot.

This will empty My Library of all its data & leave it pristine and clean. It will NOT delete any of your e-books from your tablet. If you re-open My Library after this, it will re-index all the "books" on your tablet, so if you decide not to use it, repeat the process and then do not open the app again. This will leave it clean & clear. As an app installed by Asus, My Library cannot be removed from your tablet.

Instructions on how to do a cold boot can be found here
http://www.transformerforums.com/for...html#post97001


4. What are the options for e-reading on my transformer?
It is the global nature of My Library that has put me off using it. I can't get it to easily & reliably sub categorise its Library as I can in Aldiko, for example. So I now don't use it at all. The things that I especially liked about the app - reading in 2 page landscape format, or having a book read to me, can all be done using another app, Cool Reader.

I suggest the following.

a)Use three ereaders. The first should be Kindle. Why? Because it is so useful.
# Amazon keeps a record of all the books you download,
# there are thousands of free books available from Amazon
# it is the safest place to buy books from,
# you can browse their entire catalogue from either the app, the tf browser or any pc browser and send them to any kindle app on any tablet you ever own or any actual kindle without ever having to "buy" them again.
# from version 3.6.0 of the app, tablet users can customize their reading experience with new margin and line spacing controls and see two pages side-by-side in landscape mode.

It really is an excellent tool. I would check that the supplied app on the tf is up to date by looking for the Kindle app on the market before you start, as it often isn't up to date and for some reason, it does not always appear as an app to be updated, until you perform this manual search & update for yourself.

In my experience most, if not all of the free books available elsewhere are available from amazon for kindle. Out of interest, with the latest app update, all the books you get for kindle are stored in a kindle specific format in the /mnt/sdcard/Android/data/com.amazon.kindle/files folder (not as previously in the "kindle" folder, which is why My Library can no longer see the files and open them.)

For those who like a bargain, this thread contains great information about FREE books from Amazon for your Kindle device or app. it has information that applies to the USA & the UK & I see no reason why other English reading readers should not get benefit from the information it contains.

http://www.transformerforums.com/for...ks-amazon.html

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b) Use Aldiko for any other .epub & pdf you obtain. Why? Firstly because, it too can handle Adobe DRM and secondly because "sideloading" i.e. getting the epubs/pdfs by downloading them from somewhere else and then accessing them in the app is very straightforward.

How...? See below - the guide below assumes the tablet is out of the dock (if you have one) and there is a micro sd card in the tablet and that you have placed your epubs on it in a folder called ebooks. But the process is similar no matter where you have your ebooks.

#Get your epub files that you already have in a folder/s of your choice. Say on your micro sd card in a folder called "ebooks". You can even place subfolders within that folder such as "fromlibrary" or other categories you might want to setup to help with your organising of things. This has taken MUCH longer to write than it takes to do, but I have tried to give you a tap by tap guide.

#Open the app

#In the home view - (the one with 4 icons "shelf view" top left & "files" bottom right & the bookshelf) tap the icon called "files" This should open up to a display of your tf built in flashdrive & will list folders with names like "alarm, android, ASUS,bluetooth"

#Tap the "< arrow" in the top left, next to /mnt/sdcard) This will take you first to a folder called "mnt". Tap the < arrrow again and you come to a list of folders that start with acct, cache, config, data and so on. Tap on the folder called removable & then the folder called microsd.

#When you tap on the folder called ebooks you will see the list of epubs in that folder - tick each one you want to see in Aldiko. You will then be given an option at the top right of the screen saying "import to aldiko". Click it & your epubs will be imported.

#Repeat the process above to select any of the sub folders you created like "from library" and then tick those books & import them

You are also able to set up your own categories within the app and therefore catalogue to your hearts' content. How?

#In List View, tap the collections tab/icon.
#Then tap "Add Collection" to create a collection - whatever name you like
#Then tap the little down arrow on the right of the new category you have just created & add the books you want in that collection

You can repeat this process as often as you like & books ( ie epubs or pdfs ) can appear in multiple collections.

If you backup the app + data as part of the Asus backup app, all of these collections will be saved as well. Which is a very good thing. However, the appbackup utility does NOT save the actual epubs themselves, just the app data.

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c) Have Cool Reader available if you want to read a "non kindle book" in landscape format or have a book read to you.

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If you do use My Library, you will probably get tired of its reparsing of every file you open, its unwieldy categorising system that doesn't always work, and the way it insists on listing anything & everything that it thinks is a book.

BTW, both Aldiko & Cool Reader are available free from the Play Store. Other e-reading apps that others enjoy using are too many to list, but helpfully, someone once posted this link to a geat long list. The Big List of Android eBook Reader Apps - MobileRead Forums


5. I don't want to do it that way - I would rather access my books from a file manager type of environment.
Happily, forum member thenrik was kind enough to post some really detailed instructions on how to do this. Thank you Tom .

"I leave all of my ebooks on my Microsd card. I create a shortcut to the card using ES Explorer, browse to the book I want to read, choose open as text and then either use FB Reader, Cool Reader, Adobe Reader or EZpdf and Jota Text Editor. I'm limiting my ebooks to epub, pdf or text.

I find that My Library, while very attractive, cannot handle the volume of books I have. It stutters trying to create metadata images and then crashes. I tried the trial of the paid app, Mantano Reader, and while not as bad it crashed as well.

Kobo, Aldiko, Moon Reader et all can't handle books well stored on the Microsd card. No thank you. I'm not going to spend five seconds trying to get a Ebook reader to find my books. I don't want to have to import books or comply with the readers' odd file systems and storage.

FB Reader handles Epub books in an attractive manner. It also shows up in the open text as menu. Highly recommended.

Cool Reader is also a great reader:
*Open any book, hit the menu (four lines) icon at the bottom of the screen and then go to options.
*There is a three menu page with an eye, a picture (frame with a mountain) and a wrench.
*Choosing the eye menu change Background texture to Fabric. Change the Hyphenation dictionary from Russian to US English or the language of your choice.
*Choose the Picture Frame and change View Mode to pages, Landscape pages to Two Pages and Selection animation to Paperbook.
*Tap OK and you should find a reading experience similar to My Library.

As a bonus Cool Reader also reads most of my palm books but not all. I also occasionally run into Epub books that Cool Reader can't open but FB Reader will.

I don't know if Cool Reader or Adobe can find \Removable\SDcard on their own now. I know they couldn't before so this is predicated on using ES File Explorer to make a shortcut to the MicroSD card and placing it on your homepage. If anyone needs step-by-step directions, let me know and I'll post.

As others have pointed out the paid apps, EZpdf or Repligo, have more bookmarking and editing options but the free Adobe app works fine for reading ebooks.

Finally I use Jota Text Editor for text files. It works fine and can open huge files.

If I want to read an ebook, I don't open an app but instead go to my MicroSd shortcut, go to for example the fiction folder, press "Tale of Two Cities.epub", get a open as dialog, chose text and then Cool Reader or FB Reader. I organize my ebooks the way I wish and chose an app to view the ebook.

Tom"

How to do what Tom suggests....?

"My solution:
*Download and open ES File Explorer and click on the SD Card Icon below local/mnt/sdcard
*This will take you to the root directory. Open Removable.
*You should see Microsd. Long press on Microsd. Chose shortcut when the menu pops up.
*You should see a MicroSD folder on your home screen.
*Open the MicroSD folder, browse to your desired file, Press on the file, choose open as text from the menu and then text for docs/ebooks, images or videos and so on.
*Choose the app of your choic.
*You can choose to always use a particular program to open a particular file type or select from various apps each time.
*Use the same method to press on any file on your Microsd card and use open as to choose the app of your choice.

I would strongly suggest organizing your books on your MicroSD card and then use the shortcut method to open your book with the appropriate reader, Cool Reader or FB Reader . . .

As you have pointed out, otherwise Kobo wants you to put them in X and Alkido wants to put them in Y. This reader will find 70% of your books--it's just asking for a headache. Many of these apps are designed for cell phones and cannot navigate to \Removable\MicroSD. If an app doesn't show up in Open as . . . I don't use it.

I bought a 32gb MicroSD and use this method for all of my files. I use Music Folder Player free which does the same thing automatically.

Hope that helps,

Tom"

The original thread that contains Tom's posts can be read here -
My Library



6. A word about Google Play Books.
Google's own Play Books app has received some pretty mixed reviews. But for one or two reasons, I quite like it.

It's page turning animation in landscape mode is very smooth & the way it displays books is very clear too. Personally, I don't plan to move over to the service 100%, but when the Play Store has great books offers, they really are good. They had some great photographic books on sale recently for only .01. Yes, that's right - 1c, or 1p or 1 whatever.

So, in short, I have it installed. Why not give it a try.


7. Reading comics (.cbr) as e-books
This is not a subject I know anything about, but forum member mastermesh has a useful thread, here...
cbr and other comic sources?

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[janner43]

Please feel free to add any helpful comments or observations to the thread.
Questions are also welcome - hopefully someone will know the answer!

Please bare in mind that this thread is as an information resource & not a discussion thread. As such, posts may be edited or removed to keep it that way. Thank you for understanding .

Some readers may want to say thanks for a particular post - can I ask that we keep the thread as tidy as possible by saying "thank you" by simply tapping the LIKE icon at the end of the post you like. It will make it much easier to read the thread that way. Thank you.

[janner43]

Another thread on the forum raised a question about offline dictionaries.

The Kindle app allows for the download of an offline dictionary that is linked to the books you have in your Kindle app. However, I also have installed two dictionary apps that have offline databases available. They are Dictionary - Merriam Webster; and Offline Dictionaries by NGHS.FR. Either of these has full offline access. The Merriam Webster also has useful additions such as hyperlinked synonyms & antonyms within the database. They are both free apps on the market.

[janner43]

If performing a Factory Reset after a firmware update, as many have done after the ICS update, be aware that the Asus appbackup utility, while it will successfully backup all of the settings & configuration data of your e-reading app, it will not copy the actual epubs into the backup file. You must backup these manually.

[janner43]

Here is a great tip from View Profile: Beancounter - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Forum

I'm wondering if anyone on the forum has had any luck with reading library ebooks on their prime with aldiko? The problem I'm having is that when I download the library book with Adobe Digital Editions on my laptop, then connect my prime via usb to my laptop, Adobe Digital Editions does not find the transformer prime.

So I followed an alternate method for putting the epub book onto my prime (in the digital editions folder). I registered aldiko with the exact same user and password as the adobe digital editions yet when I try opening the epub book I get an error message saying that aldiko cannot read the file.

Has anyone been able to borrow ebooks from a library and read them on their prime with aldiko? Any help with this would be very much appreciated.

I read library books using a different method (no PC required). First go into Aldiko, Store then My Catalogs. Hit the + button to add the website URL of your library. Long press on it to copy it and then you can paste it in by long pressing again where you want to put it. You only have to do this step once. Then go to the library website using the browser and check your book out. There is a bug in Aldiko that causes force closes if you try to check out the book from the Aldiko app. Once the book is checked out, go back into My Catalog and tap your library. Sign in to your library account go to your bookshelf and download your book. It goes right to your Aldiko shelf.

Taken from this thread, if you want to discuss it...
Prime - Aldiko - Adobe DE & Library books problem

[Bob_of_QF]

Excellent!

I have but one suggestion: Calibre- E-book managment

The program is a community-supported program, and has too many features to list quickly-- and a level of customization that borders on too much.

But, right out of the box, it just works. I use it on my PC (there may be a Mac version? I do not know...sorry--edit, yes, yes there is. Linux too*) to organize my collection of over 300 non-DRM ebooks I've obtained over the years. Calibre will let you easily (and in batch-mode too) convert from one format to another--either keeping or discarding the old format. You can also modify the tags, changing them to suit your own preferences. You can correct or add missing cover-art or replace it with your own. It even has a "generate cover art" option which is pretty good. If the book you have has an ISBN number? You can paste that in, and most of the time, Calibre will locate a suitable cover jpg file.

Sorting your books is simple, too, and you can easily add custom tags, if you like to categorize your collection into groups.

Calibre handles EPUB, FB2, HTMLZ, LIT, LRF, MOBI, PDB, PDF, PMLZ, RB, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ, ZIP.

Finally? This program will happily side-load your collection via USB to your device; including a Kindle, Sony reader, tablets, ipads, etc.

I cannot say enough how well this thing works apart from this: every time I open it? (which, to be fair, is about once a month or so) It wants to update itself. Reminds me of the early versions of Firefox, actually.

Whereas it is free to use for individuals? It's run on the "pay what you think it's worth" business model, which so far, seems to be working for the authors.




* Download page

N.B. Calibre is not an e-reader, or an app, for Android-- it's an eBook management software package for a desktop/laptop computer to run in conjunction with eBook readers and tablets.[/b]

[Rachel]

Re Caliber and converting e-books.

If anybody need to convert an e-book or a document to another format of e-book you can also do it quickly on-line without the need to install a program on the PC.
Here are 3 sites which do it nicely and free of charge.

DocsPal - Free online file Converter and Viewer
DocsPal is a free online file converter that supports all kind of documents, video, audio, images, e-books and archives like microsoft word (doc, docx), powerpoint (ppt, pptx), excel (xls, xlsx), open office documents (odp, odt, ods), pdf, djvu, postscript; avi, mpeg, mkv, mp4, mov, flv, wmv, as well as video for iPhone, iPad, iPod, HTC, PSP, BlackBerry; mp3, wav, wma, aac, ac3, flac; chm, fb2, jpeg 2000 (jp2), png, photoshop documents (psd), tiff; 7z, jar, rar, zip and many others. Moreover, it offers an online viewer that allows you to view documents and images online directly in your browser, without having to install anything else.

Free ePub Converter - Convert PDF and other types of documents & ebooks to ePub format
The Free Online ePub Converter
This ePub converter allows you to convert pdf, doc and other types of documents & ebooks to ePub format, the standard format for ebooks, supported by many ebook readers including iPad, iPhone, iPod, Sony Reader, BeBook, Nook, Kobo (for Kindle use mobi).
Input formats: doc, docx, epub, fb2, html, lit, lrf, mobi, odt, pdb, pdf, prc, rtf, txt.
Output formats: epub, fb2, lit, lrf, mobi

Online converter - convert video, images, audio and documents for free
Free online file converter lets you convert media easy and fast from one format to another. They support a lot of different source formats including various e-books formats.

[janner43]

The latest uodate (at the time of writing) for the Amazon Kindle app, has several great improvements for tablet owners...

3.6.0:
•Tablet users: customize your reading experience with new margin and line spacing controls.
•Tablet users: see two pages side-by-side in landscape mode.
•Fixed a bug that required some users to re-register when returning to the app.
•Several bug fixes.

[Kent]

Which epub readers support external hyperlinks, sound, video and animation?
Many children epubs go this direction and are supported by iPad's apps.
Please suggest any android epub readers, which have these functions.

[janner43]

Which epub readers support external hyperlinks, sound, video and animation?
Many children epubs go this direction and are supported by iPad's apps.
Please suggest any android epub readers, which have these functions.

Welcome Kent

I haven't come across this, but I suggest a browse through this list, posted in the OP of the thread, coupled with some "window shopping" in the Play Store should yield results for you.

The Big List of Android eBook Reader Apps - MobileRead Forums

For example, one app they list there is...

blio Reader
Cost: Free
Formats supported: XPS, ePub
Online catalogs: proprietary, with ability to sideload other content (no DRM)

Notes: Large (12MB) download.
Multiple bookmarks. Phrase highlighting with lookup. Text-to-speech (TTS) with word highlighting as it reads (may be useful for literacy work). Can add notes (not just text) for serious study. Supports interactive books.