How to organize your books on your Kobo ereader

One of the very best things about an ereader, like my Kobo, is that is stores LOTS of books. If you get bored reading one, you can easily switch to another. And the Kobo comes preloaded with 200 more books. Many people, including me, thought that the number of books would be a problem and wanted to know how to delete them. There is no reason for this. And there is an easy way to organize the books that you are reading without having to plow through the huge library. It's the Kobo's "I'm Reading" area.

As soon as you have download a book to your Kobo, start reading a page or two. That will place it on top of your "I'm Reading" list, which is the first screen that opens on your Kobo. When you are finished reading a book, and would like it to be handy, start it from the beginning again. Your Kobo will say, "1% read" and it will keep it close to the top of the list.

There is no reason to go out of the "I'm Reading" area on your Kobo, unless you want to look around at the pre-loaded books, in the "Books, By Title". If you like one, open it up and read a page or two, and it will go into your "I'm Reading" screen.

Right now I'm reading "The River of Doubt" by Candice Millard.

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Reading outdoors with your ereader

An ereader, like my Kobo, uses a type of technology called "e-ink". The screen is not lit up like your cell phone or your computer, or even your iPad. And this means that you can do something easily with an ereader that you can't do with those other devices - read a book outdoors.

There is no light inside of my Kobo. You can't read it in the dark, or in dim light. It's just like a paper book that way. Today I am sitting in my backyard, reading. What a wonderful technology!

And, by the way, the book that I am reading I checked out from my public library, downloaded to Adobe Digital Editions, and copied to my Kobo. The book I am now reading is How Not to Act Old: 185 Ways to Pass for Phat, Sick, Hot, Dope, Awesome, or at Least Not Totally Lame by Pamela Redmond Satran.

Cool (I'm old enough to say that).

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How to check out free library books for your Kobo ereader

If you were wise enough to get a Kobo ereader, and install Adobe Digital Editions (which is free) on your computer, you are now ready to check out books from the library, which are, of course, free. I am in the greater Phoenix area, so I go to The Greater Phoenix Digital Library. The login is the same as the one that, if you are a library user, is the same that you have been using for years for renewals, etc.

The file format that you are looking for is EPUB. The interface at The Greater Phoenix Digital Library is pretty clumsy, so you have to do some searching. But, hey, it's free! Libraries have always been like this. They are not as easy to use as a bookstore, but in my opinion, they are worth the trouble.

Here is the tricky part: on The Greater Phoenix Digital Library site, there is no button that says "download". There are hyperlinks that say "Place a hold" or "Add to Wish List". The download button doesn't appear until you find a book that is available to check out. And it doesn't say "download" or "check out" either! It says, "Add to Digital Book Bag". The designers of these systems must stay up late trying to figure out ways to make them impossible to use! Actually, I'm sure they mean well, but it's a government thing, you know, like the DMV.

But it is worth the trouble! It works!

No, this doesn't work for a Kindle, sorry. They have a proprietary system that forces you to buy books in a Kindle format. I hear that it's pretty easy. But what fun is that?

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How to download free ebooks from Gutenberg

The Project Gutenberg has the greatest collection of books on the web. Their ebooks were previously published by bona fide publishers and digitized by them with the help of thousands of volunteers. I just downloaded "From the Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne onto my ereader and this is how you do it.

Find a book that you would like to read on The Project Gutenberg site. If you want to get From the Earth to the Moon" it's here. On that page click on Download. Like most pages of this type the trick is to ignore all the other stuff on the page, and yep, there's a lot of it. Clicking Download takes you to the next page where you will have to make a selection based on the type of ereader you have. Don't worry, it's not all that difficult. If are reading on an iPad, an iPhone, an Android, a Sony Reader, a Kobo, a Nook or just about anything else, choose EPUB. If you have a Kindle, choose Kindle. Kindle doesn't support the EPUB format, because, well, they don't have to. Except for Kindle, EPUB is the industry standard format for ebooks.

Download the file onto your computer. I have created a separate folder for my ebooks called "Digital Editions". And Adobe Digital Editions is the software program that I use to manage my books. If you are using the propriety software such as Borders, it won't work. Don't worry, Adobe Digital Editions is free.

How to manage your ebooks using Adobe Digital Editions.

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