A selection of best programs to read ebooks on PC. eBook Reader that will help you to read books in electronic format on any computer as if you were reading a paper book.
E-books are a great way to appreciate literature: they are cheaper than printed books due to the lack of printing and distribution costs (free if the work is in the public domain) and you can start reading them simply by buying one sitting comfortably on your sofa at home.
There are many programs on the web for reading eBooks on a Windows PC, Mac, or mobile device. These are especially useful for students who want to refer to text in their work, add annotations or refer to online resources.
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Best programs to read ebooks on PC
If you want to avoid spending money on a touchscreen eBook Reader, you can rely on your laptop screen to read eBook books.
But what makes an ebook reader better than others? For general use, a clear layout and the ability to synchronize the library across multiple devices are essential; for students, taking notes and bookmarks are essential; and for anyone with low vision at times, text-to-speech and one-click font customization are welcome additions.
1. Kindle per PC (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)
The best free ebook reader.
- Compatible with all ebook formats
- Automatic synchronization
- Multiplatform
Kindle, Amazon's official app for Windows, Mac and mobile devices, is among the best programs to read ebooks on PC. It's smart and elegant and doesn't need any configuration if you already have an Amazon account. Log in with your usual username and password and your virtual shelves will be populated automatically (although you'll have to click on a book cover to download it, so keep that in mind if you're planning an offline reading). Notes and bookmarks are automatically synced between devices, as are the flashcard (paper or electronic representation of a set of information), an extremely useful addition for students using digital textbooks for review.
Kindle for Windows also includes the speech synthesis and change font sizes and color combinations by simply clicking a button. Amazon Kindle is also a popular app for reading books.
2. Freda (Windows, Android)
Free Premium Features: Freda is a great ebook reader, a true rival to Amazon's Kindle.
- It connects to the Gutenberg Project
- Bookmarks and annotations
- Unable to read protected Kindle books
Freda is a superb epub reader that integrates with Project Gutenberg, giving you access to thousands of free ebooks and Smashwords, where you can find works by independent authors and publishers. Importing your e-books is also a breeze, with support for all popular formats. You can even connect Freda to your Dropbox account to access books from multiple devices.
Freda supports bookmarks, annotations and highlights, making it a good choice for students. There's also text-to-speech for those who have trouble with text on screens, as well as auto-scrolling and speed-reading, a tool that works much like Spritz, showing words in quick succession so you can read without them. move your eyes.
Freda is financed by advertisements, but these are discreet and only visible on the shelf screen; they will not interrupt your reading.
3. Calibre (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS)
An open source ebook reader, great choice for students.
- Choice of reading modes
- Metadata can be edited manually
- Unable to read protected Kindle ebooks
caliber is a lightweight and lightning-fast open source ebook reader and manager. Unlike many free ebook readers, Caliber supports the AWZ di Amazon (although it doesn't open DRM protected files) as well as all other popular ebook file types, and if metadata is missing (such as genre or cover), you can add it using the shelf options menu.
One of the best features of Caliber is the reference mode, which shows the current chapter and paragraph number in the top left - ideal if you need to cite references in an essay. Also like Flow Mode, where text is shown as a continuous scrolling flow with no page breaks; not as pleasant as simulated page turning for recreational reading, but a practical time saver to avoid scrolling back and forth through a textbook. caliber it is also a free book reading app.
4. Sumatra PDF (Windows)
A PDF, ebook and comic reader ideal for multiple PCs.
- Reads PDFs, ebooks and comics
- There is no need to install it on your PC
- No graphical interface for some options
Despite its name, Sumatra PDF is a small and large PDF ebook reader, capable of viewing books in EPUB and MOBI format, as well as comics in CBZ and CBR formats.
Sumatra PDF is a portable app, so you can save it to a USB stick or cloud storage service and use it on any PC. You can also save your ebooks in the same place, eliminating the need to sync your library.
It's easy to adjust basic settings like font size, but Sumatra PDF's advanced options can only be changed by opening a text file and typing in new values. If you want to change the page color, for example, you will need to find the hex code for your favorite shade and enter it in the appropriate line. It is not difficult, but it would be preferable to do it in front of a graphical interface.
There's no way to add notes or highlights, but the convenience of taking your bookshelf and ebook reader everywhere could outweigh those drawbacks.
5. Icecream Ebook Reader (Windows)
A stylish free ebook reader lacking in advanced features.
- Archive and export ebooks
- Cannot read Kindle books
- No annotation or highlighting
Icecream Ebook Reader is a great program for reading ebooks. It supports EPUB, MOBI, PDF and FB2 ebook formats and, once imported, books are arranged in a neat shelf with a choice of viewing options. A particularly useful feature is the ability to archive and export your e-books; ideal if you use more than one PC and don't want to bother importing your books twice. There is no cloud sync though.
The reader itself is similar to the Kindle app, with one-click (or tap) buttons to change the font size, color theme (day, night, or sepia), and view the table of contents.
Unfortunately, some options are only unlocked paying $19,95 to switch to version For. Premium features include importing multiple e-books at once, adding notes, editing metadata, and copying text.
The free version of Icecream Ebook Reader is fast and very easy to use, but really only suitable for recreational reading. Students will find the lack of notes and copies frustrating.
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