calibre

This software forces you to copy your entire ebook collection into a single directory. The developers aren't willing to consider anything else. Additionally, it doesn't modify the original files. So literally, this software will — without confirming with the user — duplicate your entire reading collection.

I've used the application for a number of years now and am abandoning it for good now. Can't believe this software won't let you manage a collection manually. I don't know about other users, but my reading collection contains both fiction and educational material, which I've spent a great deal of time organizing to be accessible. I'd love to use this application but it's just not possible unless you want to mix EVERYTHING you have into one folder. Yet another application that could be 100x better with little to no change but wont because the developers are religiously bound to a flawed approach to ebook management.

I recommend using another application called Blio for personal reading needs. It also has a flawed approach to file management, but it makes up for the fact with looks.

Calibre is primarily a powerful ebook organizer and secondarily a viewer. For smaller epub and mobi files I find that Calibre works well enough even if the internal reader is simple. I suggest users setup Calibre to view PDF files in either Okular (linux) or SumatraPDF. The internal reader tends to be slow or occasionally crash with larger or unusual files regardless of ebook format.

You should take note of where Calibre is storing it's ebooks (Calibre Library icon > first line of text will contain your folder/path). From here add this path to a backup program so that you don't lose all the work you will eventually put into Calibre.

Calibre is incredibly good software and updated often. I have donated to the project twice and recommend others do so as well. $5 (or less) goes a long way towards helping the creators of open source software.

The calibre reader is the only one that I have tested that renders source code examples correctly in EPUB books. I have tested about 10 different other readers and none of them did that.

When I moved away from proprietary ebook readers, Calibre saved me when it came to transferring my ebook library to epub format. It's simple, quick, and being able to edit the metadata to change sort functionality is an added bonus.

The best personal library/collector/organizer for my books. Free + Open Source.

I first started using Calibre whilst playing around with some applications for digital book keeping. At first, not only did I find it useful in the regard that it could open any type of book format for free. No premium version needed. Simple, straightforward interface, but after some time I did notice it started to slow my computer down a bit and make it very heavy. Ended up uninstalling it but was good while it lasted.

From my point of view this is the best app for managing e-book library. Very simple interface and great functionality! good job

I usually don't write review (too lazy) but after reading the last review, I felt that I had to write this.
Firstly, I admit that Calibre is slower than other native program (Calibre is developed mostly in python) but it is a very active project ( there is new code written almost everyday and new release every Friday). Believe me when I say that Calibre will be faster and faster (if you are curious, you could compare v0.6.x with v0.8.x: I didn't use v0.6 cause it too slow but I'm very happy using v0.8).
Secondly, there are lots of features/options (+plugins) in Calibre. Using Calibre is fun for those who like to play around with softwares and easy for new users. You can also get help/tips/guide (or whatever related to Calibre) from Calibre's website, the manual and MobileRead forum.
Lastly, after setting Calibre to my liking, I can stop worrying about book management and enjoy reading.
Calibre will not satisfy every user, but give it a try. :)

Calibre has a lot of features, does a reasonably good job of importing metadata and book covers, but is so slow and unresponsive to the point of being quite useless. This is on a quadcore i7 4gb of ram on Ubuntu 11.10. It was slow with just a few books, but by the time I added a hundred it became practically unresponsive, and actually opening an ebook from within the software takes far too long.

It's a pity that there are few alternatives, I will try using Mendeley instead.

Great ebook manager to complement your ebook-reader

It’s clunky, yeah, but there is no real alternative :D

Simple cross-platform e-book library software providing great conversion options and document viewer. Excellent solution for whoever desires to remain independent of a single e-book reseller. Also manages administering device-bound files, which can be still opened after removal from and reupload to said device.

It can be buggy nevertheless, and a self-update solution would be greatly appreciated.

I can't seem to get Calibre to work with the openlibrary.org anyone else have any luck?

I like Calibre. I have used it for some time now mostly on a Linux Desktop but also on WinXP systems to connect with my Kindle Touch and Kindle v4 (when I can find it) and originally with my Kindle Keyboard v3 (until it did a Humpty Dumpty). For free software it is amazing and reasonably fast. It can find and connect to a variety of devices, it can format, convert between formats, and display books for each device, it allows downloads of ebook magazines from the internet directly to your device - my current favorites are Reader Digest, PC Magazine and local newspapers .. and sync's the documents between all my eReader devices .. Yes the GUI is a little dated looking. Yes, the external internet links occassionally get out of date and can be slow to connect to, but that is no fault of Calibre. Meanwhile, it works and lets me find and read 'all that stuff' on my devices. Extensive Help documentation available in ebook download or online at http://calibre-ebook.com/about .. Sweet and very recommended.