Top 10: Book management software

2023. Sony to discontinue Sony Reader for desktop



Sony has recently announced the discontinuation of downloads for their Reader Software for PC or MAC, resulting in the inability to use Sony e-Readers such as the PRS-T3, their most recent model from eight years ago. Sony holds a significant legacy in the e-reader and e-note industry, predating major competitors like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo. They were pioneers in introducing front-lit displays in e-readers and were instrumental in popularizing the concept of e-notes, digital devices for drawing, note-taking, and PDF editing. Sony's contributions have significantly shaped the e-reader landscape, and Good e-Reader is excited to present a documentary exploring Sony's journey in the e-reader and e-note space, tracing its history and current position.


2021. Book management software Booknizer 10 gets a new engine, quick filters for authors, group operations



The new major update of the book management software Booknizer 10 brings a number of significant improvements thanks to the new internal engine. Most of the program's old code was completely rewritten to get rid of bugs and include modern optimizations. In previous versions of Booknizer, the quick filter menu always referred to books. New Booknizer can apply quick filters to authors, too. When the "Authors" tab is active, the menu switches to the authors view automatically. In the new version you can move the mouse cursor over the list of covers / photos and select an item by clicking on a checkbox that appears. This enables Group Operations, allowing to change / update multiple items at once. This is different from previous version, where you needed to enable Group Operations separately. Besides, it added support for picture download via HTTPS, quick search of highlighted phrase on Google, warnings in Add Book tool that a certain book is already in the library, autocomplete feature in drop-down fields. The new publication year field can hold the year of a particular edition and the total cost of your collection is now shown in the statistics window (according to the price entered or downloaded).

2019. Calibre 4.0 improves Content server



The new version of popular ebook management software Calibre is making its Content server ever more capable. It has gained the ability to Edit metadata, Add/remove books and even Convert books to and from all the formats calibre itself supports. It is now a full fledged interface to your calibre libraries. Besides, the new version is built on the new web browser engine Qt WebEngine. The change to use Qt WebEngine has entailed a complete rewrite of various parts of calibre, including the E-book viewer, PDF Output, Book details etc. Every attempt has been made to preserve features and functionality in a backwards compatible way, see below for a list of some known incompatibilities.


2017. Delicious Library restricted to looking up items on Amazon US and Amazon Canada only.



Book management software for Mac, specifically Delicious Library, will no longer receive updates for ebook metadata from Amazon, particularly from European Amazon sites. This decision has been made collectively by Amazon sites in Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Spain, and The United Kingdom, severing their ties with Delicious Monster this week. However, Amazon sites in the United States and Canada will continue to function for the time being. It's important to note that these sites primarily cater to English-speaking users and predominantly offer items for sale in North America. Amazon consistently restricts third-party ebook software and apps from accessing its content, whether on Kindle or in its book-store. This behavior suggests Amazon's desire to establish a monopoly as a book provider and exert control over every aspect of book consumption. It brings to mind the notable issue surrounding the novel "1984."


2013. Alfa Ebooks Manager 4: New design, Book details pane and other features



Alfa.NetSoft released the new version of its book management software Alfa Ebooks Manager 4. The list of new features includes new sleeker design, book details pane (that allows to view book details while browsing your library), new cooler 3D View with author photos,  File Finder (that allows to move library to another drive or computer), Kindle Integration (now you can manage your Kindle's library in Alfa), Import from Calibre OPF files, fast PDF parser (that allows to retrieve PDF metadata) and  DJVU full support (now you can retrieve metadata and covers from Djvu books).


2012. Kindlian 3 allows to manage books on Kindle Paperwhite



The book management software for Kindle, Kindlian, has introduced support for the new Kindle Paperwhite e-readers. The developers had to overcome Amazon's efforts to prevent third-party apps from managing the device by creating a special agent—a file that users simply need to copy to their Documents folder. They assure that this process is both easy and safe for your Kindle device. Additionally, Kindlian now offers the convenient feature of on-the-fly conversion, allowing users to seamlessly convert EPUB and HTML books to MOBI format. When EPUB or HTML books are added in the new version, Kindlian automatically converts them to MOBI. Moreover, the updated software allows users to rename PDF books and edit other PDF metadata at twice the speed compared to previous versions.


2011. Book management program Calibre integrates with book websites



The latest release of the book manager, calibre 0.8, introduces a convenient new feature that enables users to search through numerous web stores, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, and more, to locate e-book editions of their desired books. The search results are intelligently sorted by price, allowing users to easily identify the most affordable edition to add to their collection. This feature, along with the rest of calibre, operates on a plugin-based system, promising the addition of new stores in the future. In addition, when downloading covers for a specific book, calibre now retrieves covers from all available online sources, providing users with the flexibility to choose their preferred cover instead of having one automatically assigned. Furthermore, users can now utilize the Bulk metadata edit tool to perform search and replace operations within their calibre library's book list. Additionally, when exporting books from the calibre library, it is possible to construct complex file names using book metadata. The introduction of Virtual columns offers the ability to incorporate custom metadata fields and automatically populate them from calibre. This allows for the creation of columns such as ISBN or formats to display the various file formats a book possesses.


2009. LibraryThing faces Amazon incursion



Amazon has recently imposed a requirement on online book management software, LibraryThing, instructing them to remove links to alternative booksellers such as IndieBound and Barnes & Noble from their work pages. Instead, Amazon insists on being the sole primary page link. This decision has sparked disagreement among the LibraryThing community. LibraryThing clarifies that it is not solely a social cataloging and networking platform for Amazon customers but a platform created for book enthusiasts in general. In response to this, LibraryThing is currently developing a new "Get it Now" page that will include links to various booksellers, with a focus on local bookstores and libraries, alongside several new features. The platform will reduce its primary-page links to Amazon and enhance secondary pages to provide users with improved browsing experiences. This edition-aware page will draw upon live data or feeds to ensure the functionality of the links. Additionally, these new features will allow members to access live pricing data for their owned books, further enhancing the platform's utility for users.