TUI Ebook Reader


Keywords
ebook, epub, epub3, fb2, mobi, azw3, TUI, reader
License
GPL-3.0
Install
pip install epy-reader==2021.4.7

Documentation

$ epy

Downloads

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screenshot

CLI Ebook Reader.

This is just a fork of epr with these extra features:

  • Supported formats:
    • Epub (.epub, .epub3)
    • FictionBook (.fb2)
    • Mobi (.mobi)
    • AZW3 (.azw, .azw3)
    • URL
  • Reading progress percentage
  • Bookmarks
  • External dictionary integration (sdcv, dict or wkdict)
  • Inline formats: bold and italic (depend on terminal and font capability. Italic only supported in python>=3.7)
  • Text-to-Speech (with additional setup, read below)
  • Double Spread
  • Seamless (disabled by default, read below)

Installation

  • Via PyPI (Linux and Mac OS)

    pip3 install epy-reader
  • Via Pip+Git

    pip3 install git+https://github.com/wustho/epy
  • Via AUR

    yay -S epy-ereader-git
  • Windows Binary

    Standalone binary for Windows is available at release page.

Usage

  • epy /path/to/your/book/book.epub (Remember to make sure your book's title doesn't contain any spaces)
  • c Switching the color profile
  • Shift + h Previous chapter
  • Shift + l Next chapter
  • Shift + g Skip to the end of the chapter
  • g Skip to the beginning of the chapter
  • Shift + m Show metadata of the book
  • t Table of contents
  • / Search
  • b Add bookmark
  • Shift + b Show bookmarks
  • q Quit
  • - Shrink the text
  • + Enlarge the text
  • o Open an image
  • s Show or hide progress

Color profiles

In the config file you will see the following section.

 "DarkColorFG": 47,
 "DarkColorBG": 235,
 "LightColorFG": 238,
 "LightColorBG": 253,

Change the values by using this image. (Make sure to ignore zeros at the beginning, it won't launch otherwise.) image

Reading Tips Using Epy

When reading using epy you might occasionally find triple asteriks ***. That means you reach the end of some section in your ebook and the next line (right after those three asteriks, which is in new section) will start at the top of the page. This might be disorienting, so the best way to get seamless reading experience is by using next-page control (space, l or Right) instead of next-line control (j or Down).

If you really want to get seamless reading experience, you can set SeamlessBetweenChapters to true in configuration file. But it has its drawback with more memory usage, that's why it's disabled by default.

Configuration File

Config file is available in json format which is located at:

  • Linux and Mac OS: ~/.config/epy/configuration.json or ~/.epy/configuration.json
  • Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.epy\configuration.json

URL Support

You can read online books like: short stories, fan fiction, etc. using epy with an url as cli argument. Pretty useful when you want to read with less distraction. epy will also remember your reading progress online.

eg. You can read Moby Dick from gutenberg directly with:

$ epy https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm

But note that epy will never be a web browser, it's simply a TUI program to read your favorite fiction stories in the comfort of a terminal. So please do not expect for web browser features to be implemented in epy.

Using Mouse

Although mouse support is useful when running epy on Termux Android, it’s disabled by default since most people find it intrusive when using epy in desktop. But you can enable it by setting MouseSupport to true in config file.

Key Action
Left Click (right side of screen) next page
Left Click (left side of screen) prev page
Right Click ToC
Scroll Up scroll up
Scroll Down scroll down
Ctrl + Scroll Up increase text width
Ctrl + Scroll Down decrease text width

Text-to-Speech

To get Text-to-Speech (TTS) support, external TTS engine is necessary.

List of supported engines:

  • mimic
  • pico2wave
  • gtts-mpv (requires both gTTS and MPV)

Dictionary

To use "Define Word" you will have to install an external dictionary cli program (sdcv, dict or wkdict). After you've done that, it is recommended to manually modify the configuration.json file, and set your desired dictionary there, so everything works properly.

After that you will be able to find definition of word by pressing d, and aprompt will appear to let you type in word to define.

Double Spread

Double spread is intended to mimic the behaviour of real book, so line scrolling navigation will act as scrolling page and textwidth is not adjustable.

Changelog

  • v2021.10.23: Major refactoring which harness a lot of new stuff in python>=3.7 and epy won't be backward compatible with older python version and older configuration.

  • v2022.1.8: Change in configuration and reading states schema that is not backward compatible. So if error is encountered, deleting the configuration and states file might fix the issue.

  • v2022.1.15: Early implementation of URL support, table of contents isn't available for now.

  • v2022.1.23: Library implementation: ability to switch ebook from reading history inside epy (default key: R).

  • v2022.2.5: Fix process.join() issue for unstarted process.

  • v2022.10.2: Major breakdown epy.py module into package structure for easier development.