Personal Usage

2024-05-23

Since this article was written earlier, some content is outdated. Below are some recent personal usage methods for reference only. These are the ways I currently find most comfortable.

  1. Obtaining E-books

    • Direct download from the internet: Zlib + Anna
    • Self-made e-books: Web2Book↗
    • RSS subscriptions: QiReader↗
    • Good articles found: Save to Instapaper and then push to Kindle

  2. Transferring E-books

    • Send to Kindle software
    • Larger files transferred via Caliber
    • Non-Epub format files, such as AZW3, MOBI, or even PDF, are converted using Convertio↗ before transfer.

  3. Start Reading!

The methods mentioned above will be introduced in detail below, so you can continue reading. However, be aware that some methods may no longer be usable.

Obtaining E-books

The following does not include content purchased and downloaded from e-book stores. The content below may involve copyright infringement, etc. If funds permit, it is recommended to purchase and download from legitimate sources.

Getting E-books from the Internet

Z-Library

The organization describes itself as “the world’s largest e-book library” and “the world’s largest scientific article store.” It operates as a non-profit organization sustained by donations. However, in November 2022, the website’s domain was seized by the U.S. Department of Justice. Among Z-Library’s user base, Chinese users far outnumber those from other countries (data from Z-Library’s blog: Worldwide Statistics: How Students and Educators Use Z-Library).

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How to Access Z-Library

Note: Some content, such as blogs and booklists, may not be accessible through the main domain. These can be accessed using a personal domain.

The above domains may be reclaimed at any time. If they become inaccessible, you can obtain the latest domain via email or from the official channel: Official Channel↗ .

Anna’s Archive

Anna’s Archive↗ is a backup of the Library Genesis and Z-Library shadow libraries. It became a popular alternative site after Z-Library was shut down and can be accessed directly.

Creating Your Own eBooks

If you frequently read documents or personal blogs that are not available as eBooks, you can create your own eBooks to read them on your Kindle. Below are some methods for creating your own eBooks.

Using Browser Extensions to Generate eBooks

WebToEpub

Documentation Tutorial↗

Example:

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KTool

Input the links into KTool to generate and push to Kindle. However, you can only import up to 30 links at a time, and the generated e-book will be divided into multiple books if the number of links exceeds 30.

Software used: Sigil↗ . The most starred e-book creation software on Github. Of course, you can also download and use other software.

Writing Your Own Software to Generate E-books

Before discovering this browser extension, I wrote a script to fetch article content. Compared to the browser extension, program deployment might be a bit more cumbersome. However, the program I wrote uses multi-threading to crawl articles, making the crawling speed much faster than using the browser extension. If you need to fetch a large amount of article content, you can give it a try.

Fetching Article Links (This functionality is now fully integrated into the software below)

I wrote a sh script to fetch document links by parsing the DOM. Script Repository↗

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Web2Book

This crawler fetches all article content from the provided links and writes it into specified files for subsequent e-book creation. Github Repository↗

The crawler can fetch articles using multi-threading and outputs them as an epub file. It also saves images from the web pages during the crawling process. Additionally, if you encounter unwanted elements, you can remove them using CSS selectors.

The program can integrate the use of proxy servers but cannot automatically fetch them, which is an area for future improvement. If you need to fetch proxy servers, you can check out this repository: [ProxyPool](https://github.com/Python3WebSpider/Pro#####↗ Sigil

If you have some saved HTML files, you can also directly use Sigil to create e-books.

  1. Import HTML Files

You might encounter errors during the import process.

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If there are only a few errors, you can manually correct them. If there are too many errors, you can use the following method, percollate, to create the e-book.

  1. Generate Table of Contents

Generating a table of contents allows for quick navigation to specific pages.

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  1. Edit Metadata

Here, you can edit the book title, author name, and other details.

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  1. Add Cover

Add a cover so that the Kindle Library can display a thumbnail.

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percollate

percollate↗ . A command-line tool to turn web pages into readable PDF, EPUB, HTML, or Markdown documents.

Install according to the official documentation.

percollate epub --output output-file-name.epub url-of-the-web-page

Transferring E-books

Calibre Transfer

Using the Calibre↗ e-book management software, which is also my most commonly used solution for transferring e-books.

First, import the book you want to transfer to your Kindle into this software. Connect your Kindle to your computer. Click on the book you want to transfer, and a Send to Device button will appear in the top menu bar. Click this button to directly import the e-book into your Kindle. Additionally, if your e-book is not in the mobi format required by Kindle, the software will automatically convert the format. Using this software not only makes it convenient to manage your e-books but also avoids issues with e-book format conversion. (Of course, some formats cannot be converted to mobi.)

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KTool Transfer

Kool Official Website

Another very useful software, but it requires payment. The author has been wearing glasses since the age of five and is blind in his right eye, so he is very careful about protecting his eyes. He built this tool to push reading materials to his Kindle to protect his eyes. Here is an article↗ he wrote on Hacker News, which you can check out.

Send to Kindle

Use the official Send to Kindle↗ software for pushing. I won’t elaborate further here as the official website provides detailed instructions.

Email Transfer

Amazon - Manage Your Content and Devices - Preferences↗ -> Personal Document Settings -> Approved Personal Document E-mail List

Follow the steps above to…### Email Transfer

Simply add your email address to start using it to send emails to your Kindle. However, please note that there are specific format requirements for email transmission, and Amazon will gradually phase out support for the msn format in the future.

Web Transfer

Drag and drop files onto the webpage to transfer them.

https://www.amazon.com/sendtokindle↗

Plugin Transfer

Use the official Send to Kindle plugin or the Ktool plugin for transfer.

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Plugin Interface

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Push Web/WeChat Official Account Articles (Currently Unavailable in China)

Use Send to Kindle to push articles.

Simply open a webpage or WeChat Official Account article in your browser, click share, and send it to your Kindle software to push successfully.

Instapaper

Instapaper↗

Use Instapaper’s “Read Later” feature combined with the built-in Send to Kindle function.

Use the browser extension or directly share the article link to the software.

Browser Extension: On the webpage you want to push, click the icon.

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This will save it to your “Read Later” software.

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Afterward, open the software, go to Settings -> Kindle -> Send Articles Now to push it to your Kindle.

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Push RSS

Free Solution

KindleEar↗

This solution does not require payment, but currently, you need to use a credit card for deployment.# Automation Platforms

Examples include: IFTTT↗ , Zapier, etc.

Drawback: With the free plan, only one Feed can be pushed.

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The advantage of paid plans is that they are hassle-free, making them suitable for those who prefer not to tinker too much. There are many excellent push platforms available on the internet that you can search for and use on your own. Examples include: Qi Reader↗ , Newsletter to Kindle↗

Pricing for Newsletter to Kindle:

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Managing eBooks

Calibre

This is essentially the best software for managing eBooks. Even if you don’t use a Kindle, you can still manage your eBooks with this software. The basic operations of the software are also very simple and intuitive.

Github Repository↗

Resource

Bookfere↗ : Offers many tips on using Kindle.