books-reader

Project Overview

Books is a local-first, cross-platform desktop ebook reader built with Electron, React, and Redux. It continues the familiar reading experience of Koodo Reader while extending local library management, shelves, reading statistics, reader customization, and online libraries. Your books, progress, and reading environment stay under your control; the library location is configurable, and the lower-left panel lets you browse and manage folders directly.

Your books, progress, and reading environment stay local and under your control.

Key Features

• Multi-format reading: supports EPUB, PDF, MOBI, AZW, AZW3, TXT, FB2, Markdown, DOCX, and several comic formats
• Local library: a configurable library location with shelf creation and drag-and-drop organization
• Reading statistics: tracks reading time, progress, and book counts
• Reading customization: themes, background images, fonts and sizes, line spacing, page layouts, and night mode
• Symbol colors: custom symbol-color rules that highlight specific content while reading
• Notes and progress: notes, highlights, bookmarks, reading progress, and reading history
• Backup and export: snapshots, data restore, book export, and note and highlight export
• Cloud sync: configurable cloud sync plus online libraries and sources
• Library panel: a lower-left panel to create folders, create Markdown notes, and refresh entries
• Portable run: a no-install Windows portable build

Target Audience

• Users managing a large local ebook collection
• Readers who take notes and highlights on a computer
• People who want reading statistics and shelf organization
• Users who want their library data kept entirely local

Quick Start

1. Download Books-x.x.x-win-x64-portable.zip from Releases and extract it
2. Double-click Books.exe; no installation is required
3. Click import to select local books, or add from sources and online libraries
4. Adjust theme, fonts, and layout in the reader, and select text to add notes and highlights
5. Configure the library location and cloud sync in settings

Core Advantages

• Local-first: app data and library location are yours to configure, with cloud sync and online sources enabled only as needed
• Broad format coverage: opens everything from ebooks to comics and documents
• Portable data: snapshots, export, and restore keep your library backed up
• No install needed: the Windows portable build unzips and runs

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
OS	Windows, macOS, Linux
From source	Node.js 20 or later, npm or Yarn
Build deps	Python, Visual Studio C++ Build Tools, and LLVM

Notes

• Online libraries and third-party services depend on network conditions and local laws
• The project is independently maintained based on Koodo Reader, retaining its Apache 2.0 license and attribution
• Cloud sync and online sources are enabled only after the user configures them