What's a good EPUB reader on Linux

Last updated in August, authored by Adrien Brochard

If the habit on reading books on electronic tablets are still on it, reading books on a computer is even rarer. It's hard enough-to-focus on the classics of the 16th century literature, so who needs the Facebook chat pops up sound in The background in addition? But if for some reasons your wish to open a electronic book in your computer, chances is that you'll need specific soft Ware. Indeed, most editors agreed with using the EPUB format for electronic books (for "Electronic PUBlication"). Hopefully, Linux is not deprived of the good programs capable of dealing with such format. In short, this is a non-exhaustive list of good EPUB readers on Linux.

1. Calibre

Let's dive in with maybe the biggest name of this list:calibre. More than just an ebook reader, Calibre is a fully packaged e-library. It supports a plethora of formats (almost every I can think of), integrates a reader, a manager, a meta-data editor which Can download covers from the Internet, an EPUB editor, a news reader, and a search engine to download additional books. To top it all, the interface are slick and have nothing to envy to other professional software. The only potential downside is so if you were looking for an EPUB reader, and was not interested in the whole library man Ager aspect, the program was too heavy for your needs.

2. FBReader

FBReader is also a library manager, but a lighter-than Calibre. The interface are more sober, and are clearly cut in both: (1) The library aspect where you can add files, edit the Meta-data , or download new books, and (2) the reader aspect. If You like simplicity, you might enjoy the this program. I personally appreciate its straightforward tag and series system for classifying books.

3. Cool Reader

For all of your who is just looking for a by-visualize the content of an EPUB file, I recommend Cool Reader. In the spirit of Linux applications which does only one thing and does it well, Cool Reader was optimized to just open an EPUB File, and navigate through it via handy shortcuts. And since it is based on QT, it also follows Qt's mentality by giving a ton of settings to mess around with.

4. Okular

Since we were talking about Qt applications, one of KDE's main document viewer, Okular, also have the capacity to view EPUB Files, once an EPUB library have been installed on the system. However, this was probably not a very good the option if you were not a KDE user.

5. Ppub

Ppub is a old project so can still find on Github. Its latest change seems to has been made, years ago. However, Ppub is one of the those programs that really deserve a second life. Written in Python and based to GTK3 and WebKit, ppub is lightweight and intuitive. The interface probably needs a little updating and is beyond sober, but the core is very good. It even supports JavaScript. So, someone kick the up again.

6. epub

If all need are a quick and easy-to-check the content of an EPUB file, without caring on any fancy GUI, maybe an EPUB reader with command line interface might just do. Epub is a minimalistic epub reader written in Python, which allows you to read a EPUB file in a terminal environment. You can switch between Chapter/toc views, up/down a page, and nothing more. This was as simple as any EPUB reader can possibly get.

7. Sigil

Finally, the last of the list was not actually an EPUB reader, but more than a standalone editor. Sigil is able to extract the content of a EPUB file, and break it off for what it really is:xhtml text, images, styles, and sometimes audio. The interface is a lot more complex than the one-for-a basic reader, but remains clear and well thought, in par with the F Eatures it provides. I Particularly appreciate the tab system. If you is familiar with editing Web pages, you'll be in know territory.

To conclude, there is a lot of open source EPUB readers out there. Some does nothing more and while others go to beyond that. As usual, I recommend using the one that is makes, the most sense for your use. If you are know more good EPUB readers on Linux so like, please let us know in the comments.

What's a good EPUB reader on Linux