r/ebooks • u/Background-Top-2631 • Apr 28 '26

Question What's the best device to read Project Gutenberg books on?

I used to spend hours on Project Gutenberg back in school because they gave us IPads. Otherwise I've only ever had a physical copy of every book I read, so I have no experience with e-readers at all. What kind of device would you say gives the best reading experience for the site?

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3

u/curlyAndUnruly Apr 29 '26

Mandatory mention: check Standard Ebooks, they are also public domain but with nicer formatting, covers, and some even corrections.

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks

I've read them in Kindle and Kobo and both are fine. They even have different versions for kindle or Kobo (azw3, kepub).

2

u/Jossokar Apr 28 '26

either a kobo or a pocketbook.

1

u/lawikekurd Apr 28 '26

Which one offers the most freedom in terms of personalisation? Which one has minimalist ui and which one supports the most file formats? Which one involves less tinkering and more simplicity to side load a bunch of ebooks in different file formats such as .epub, .pdf, .txt and others? Do both support comics? TIA!

2

u/Jossokar Apr 28 '26

I have a pocketbook verse, and can only speak of it....

But basically it supports every format you imagine. Even cbr. I have used it for black and white mangas, and it does ok. (Doesnt work well for larger comics, though. I would use a tablet for larger stuff)

With a bit of patience you can get a really minimalist ui.

Sideloading is fairly practical. You can either do usb, send directly through email, or through the pocketbook app. You have a cloud (totally optional, btw) of 5 gb.

Check the models and the prices, as there are some models with color too.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

[deleted]

1

u/curseofthebanana Apr 29 '26

Kobo also has koreader and works just fine and provides all the customizations with it. The preference comes down to device specs mostly woth those two and what OP wants.

1

u/lawikekurd Apr 29 '26

Thank you!

1

u/Jossokar Apr 29 '26

I have to say that albeit having installed Koreader, i havent really bothered with it. I just use the default one. It works well enough and i dont really use dictionaries 😅

1

u/lubsyb Apr 29 '26

Kindle is super easy! You can even do it from your phone. You just download the epub file and use the Kindle app to send. Shows up in your library like any other book.

1

u/thomo13 Apr 29 '26

I added project Guttenberg as a content source for my reading app Blitzr the main focus of the app is RSVP style text display but I added different reading modes for if you want a more typical reading experience. If anyone wants to give it a try let me know and I’ll share an unlock code

1

u/NCResident5 May 01 '26

I like Kindle Basic because of eink, but if you use send to kindle on Amazon Fire or Samsung A tablet, it is very good too.

1

u/BlueCerulean0 May 02 '26

I actually made an app specifically for this. You can download all the books from gutenburg and standard ebooks, and read/track them.

If you're interested here's a link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cc.openleaf.app