I have a massive ebook collection from multiple platforms (3000+). I currently use Calibre to store them, but it's impossible to sort through unless I know the exact title. How do you people organize efficiently?
Some background: I mostly use the Amazon Kindle app on the iPad mini. As much as I like e-ink readers, a lot of them tend to cap at 4gb in size (I guess the new Oasis doesn't?) and I have much more than that - I read a lot of manga and comics as well so my Kindle app in the mini takes up something, like, 40gb (whoops, just checked, 51gb). This is of books I haven't read yet. My kindle algorithm is "Have I read this yet? Yes? I will delete it from the Kindle. No? It stays on." This has mostly worked for me. Is there any better way to organize books on the Kindle app at the moment? As far as I can tell, Collections can't really be synced across different versions of Kindle (e.g., desktop app, ipad app, ereader, etc).
I like to keep backups of all my books, however, because Amazon (US) isn't actually the only platform I use (that and I don't trust them to keep my books, would like to reread, would like to strip DRM, etc). I currently use Calibre on a desktop to back up almost every ebook I've ever bought across multiple accounts - Amazon, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.co.jp, Kobo, Nook, Comixology, etc. As far as I can tell, it does not support some genre specific platforms (e.g., Bookwalker). I also don't know how to handle certain Kindle books that will not download to the Kindle app for the desktop (yes, I have 3 of these!), so I have no idea how to backup those without needing to purchase a paperwhite or something to do it.
I'm not particularly a fan of the Calibre UI, but I'm also not a power user - I just kind of load up the books into a big list. But with 3,000+ books in here, I just don't know where to begin. How do you guys organize your ebook collections efficiently, or is it all a manual horror? Is there any way to flag read books without literally marking it off one by one in Calibre (can I sync somehow to Goodreads??) How do you sync with multiple platforms? A very specific question for anyone who organizes Japanese ebooks: is there any way/plugin for Calibre to display Japanese ebooks without it being a horror show (sideways and poorly formatted?).
I'm not wedded to Calibre, so if there are any alternates to Calibre that suits massive collections across multiple platforms, I'd be happy to try them. Tell me how you organize your ebook collections! I'd love to hear many viewpoints on this. |
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