1. Epub Reader 10.4 Full
2. Epub Reader 10.4 Windows 10
3. Epub Reader 10.4 Free

EPUB File Reader

About

EPUB File Reader is a free EPUB files viewer, can help you to open and read ePub e-books and documents. The software interface consists of two parts, the left will show document chapter directory, the right is a browser to show document content. This software is easy to use very much, it is a freeware and completely free to use.

Download

Software license is Freeware, support for Windows XP/Vista/7 and Windows 8 (PC), .Net Framework is required.

Screenshots

Avoid annoying download prompts and easily read ePub files directly in Firefox. Conveniently access previously saved ePub files right from the toolbar button. Listen to your eBooks by installing the Read Aloud extension! The requested permissions are needed so EPUBReader can download and open epub files directly from websites and save them. .epub Reader Software. Several different software programs either support or plan on supporting the ePub format. The ePub format is an open standard for ebooks by the International Digital Publishing Forum. Since it's an open standard, anyone can make a program to read or create ePub books, and anyone can make an ePub ebook.

Moon+ Reader, Librera Reader, and ReadEra are probably your best bets out of the 18 options considered. 'Supports online ebook libraries' is the primary reason people pick Moon+ Reader over the competition. This page is powered by a knowledgeable community that helps you make an informed decision.

Usage

Through 'File' menu, you can 'Open' and 'Close' a EPUB file (file extension is .epub). Using 'Information' menu, you can view the major metadata in opened EPUB file, supported metadata includes: Title, Creator, Subject, Description, Publisher, Contributor, Date, Type, Formate, Identifiere, Source, Language, Relation, Coverage and Rights.

Through 'View' menu, you can 'Copy', 'Select All' and 'Print' current file. By using 'Find' menu you can start a quick search. In addition, by using 'Save Current Page As' menu, you can save current page as a standalone file (HTML format).

About EPUB Format

EPUB is an XML-based e-book publishing format standard, file content is expressed as XHTML. EPUB format is a very popular, if you have some e-books in this format, this software is exactly what you are looking for.

Jedisaber.com

Original Content:Home| Books| eBooks| Other| Links| Fan Content:Andromeda| Avatars| Anime| Dark Angel| Matrix| Pern| Stargate| Star Trek| Star Wars

Several different software programs either support or plan on supporting the ePub format.The ePub format is an open standard for ebooks by the InternationalDigital Publishing Forum. Since it's an open standard, anyone can make aprogram to read or create ePub books, and anyone can make an ePub ebook.

I've reviewed several different programs that both read and create ePub books.If anyone is wondering where I hear about these programs, I primarily use two sources:Google, andTeleread. Also, lately I've gotten a fewe-mails asking me to review a program, so I've reviewed those as well. Also,Wikipedia has a list of ePub readers for different platforms on it's ePubPage.

(Skip the explanation stuff and jump to the reviews)

How each software program is scored:

Each program is given it's own review section with the review, how I scored it,and the date the review was updated, as well as a link to download the program.Please note that the focus of these reviews is on the programs support of the ePub standard. Otherfunctions and uses of the software may be covered briefly, but is not the focus of this review.

I score the programs on several different criteria:

• ePub format support (0 - 9)
• TOC support (0 -10)
• Ease of use (0 - 10)
• Overall (0 - 10)

To test ePub format support, I open ePub books from nine different sources(noted below). The program is given a numerical score based on how many of theeBooks it can open. (If it can open only one of the eight books, it gets a 1, ifcan open all of them, it gets an 9.) There's probably a more scientific way totest this (using ePubCheck to ensure you're opening a compliant book forexample, or making a list of ePub features and testing support for each ofthem.), but I feel it gives a better feel for how the program performs underreal-world conditions. Sadly, not every ePub book out there is going to be 100%compliant with the ePub standard; if for no other reason than the standard isbeing constantly updated, and you're still going to want to open old eBooks withyour shiny new reading software. If you're curious about making your own ePubbooks, I have a tutorial here.

Why a separate score for TOC support? Because many ePub readers don't supportePub's table of contents. You can still read a book without it, but it's nicerto have, especially for any type of reference work, or if you read several differentbooks at once and switch back and forth between them (or am I the only one thatdoes this?)

Ease of use is a somewhat subjective score. I look for a few things in this category:how the program 'feels', does it support bookmarks, does have anoption to open back up where you left off reading, does it support multipleoperating systems and hardware, that sort of thing.

An overall score is then given based on the other scores, and adding or subtractingany additional pros or cons.

Update: 7/7/2010
New programs have been reviewed and old programs updated. I've also re-writtenthe explanatory section, as it was getting crowded and confusing.
Also, for the curious, and if you want to test for yourself, here are the booksI use for testing, and the source:

• A Knight of the White Cross - ebook I created by hand when first learning about the format (text is from Project Gutenberg)
• sample.epub - the sample ePub that I use in the ePub tutorial
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - From Feedbooks
• The Adventures of Sherlock Homes - From Project Gutenberg
• Two Years Before the Mast - From DotReader's website
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - From Web Books
• The Three Bears - From Snee.com
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - From Lexcycle
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - From Munseys

(See my Books page for websites where you can get booksin the ePub format.)

Update: 12/08/2010

Added reviews for Sony Reader Library, Nook, Lucidor, and EPUBReader. None ofthe programs previously reviewed have been updated except Calibre, a review ofthe latest version will be added soon.

Note: I will not be reviewing any of the recently launched Google Books programshere, as this page is for reviews of programs that can read any ePub book.Gooble Books are in ePub format, and you can download a few of the titles, butthe main focus on Google Books is storing books on the web and reading themthrough Google software. You cannot currently use Google Books to read your ownbooks, or books from any other source, only books purchases through Google.

Update: 03/15/2011

Added a review of Bluefire.

Update: 12/05/2011

Updated the Azardi review for version 7. Added reviews for: CoolReader,Cobynsoft's Review, Ibis, and KooBits.
Yes, I know that Calibre has had several new versions out since the last review.I hope to update it soon.

Update: 9/18/12

First, there have been updates since last November. Check each program for the specifics on when it's review was last updated.
A few reviews have been updated (Azardi, Calibre). Also, if you're interested in making or editing ePubs, I now have a Sigil tutorial available.

ePub Readers

Free hide folder 3.1 serial key. These programs read books in the ePub format. (Over-all SummaryChart)

Desktop/Mobile Reading Software (Read books on yourcomputer or mobile device using the same program)

• dotReader (abandoned)
• Calibre (Also edits ePub files)
• Mobipocket (Can import ePub)

Desktop Readers (Read books on your computer)

• EPUBReader (Note: works on Firefox mobile)

Mobile Readers (Read books on a mobile device such as an iPad, iPhone,Sony Reader, or other mobile device)

These programs can edit, create, or convert books into the ePub format.

• Calibre (Also reads ePub files)

Adobe Digital Editions

Link: Adobe Digital Editions
ePub Format Support: 9
TOC support: 10
Ease of use: 9
Adobe DRM Support: Yes
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 9.5
Version: 2.0

Pros:

• Available for Windows and OS X, (Linux support is coming)
• Library management functions
• Supports multiple Bookmarks
• Singe Key Page Turning
• Sort and Filter Book listings
• Search Books

• No mobile version

Of all the programs reviewed here, Digital Editions was the best at opening ePub files generated by any processes. Andit has library management and book-marking features.

The downsides are that the library management features are light on features compared to some of the competition. Possibly the biggest annoyance is also it's greatest strength: it's written in Flash.This lets the application run on almost any platform, updates are automatic, and it's easy to install. The downside of thisis that you can't download the installer to install on other computers, you have to go to Adobe's website from each of them.Also, because of the Flash interface, it doesn't act like a regular program, and you have to have Flash installed to install Digital Editions. This last one isn't really a problem, almosteveryone has Flash installed these days, but in principle you shouldn't have to install a whole different program just toinstall the one you really want.

Updated on 10/4/2010:
A few readers have pointed out that you can download a stand-alone installer here.

Updated on 4/8/13:

Whoo-hoo! Someone at Adobe seems to listen to me.. or everyone else has been complaining about the same things.. The black-on-black is gone! I can see the interface! Also, menu bars have been added, a few right-click options are here now, and I think a few minor improvements in the already great navigation have been made. With the new version, about the only reason this program isn't a solid ten is the library management functions don't do as many things as some of the others (I can't correct meta-data for the books), and there's no mobile version. This is easily the best of the e-readers for most users.

Azardi

Link: Azardi
ePub Format Support: 6 (out of 10 - see below)
TOC support: 9
Ease of use: 9
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 8
Version: 11
Reviewed on: 9/18/2012

Pros:

• Supports the table of Contents
• supports Windows, OS X, and Linux
• Can have more than one book at a time open
• ePub 3 support
• Cloud reader feature

Cons:

• Didn't open all files (see below)

The interface for the new version looks much the same as the old one. A lot of viewing formatting options havebeen added: You can now change the font size, indents, background color, andalmost anything about how a book displays. In version 11 all the same options are there, but they've been condensed a little.

You can also have more than oneinstance open, which is a welcome feature that most other readers don't have.(Why would you want to? Well, if you have a few reference books in ePubformat.. Or, in my case (I write sci-fi for a hobby) it's nice to have a few ofthe older books open so I can check character names and such..)

Library management functions have been added, and it's now super easy to addbooks to the library (Just drag them from a Windows Explorer window and drop them on Azardi). You can also display the books in your library by title,or by cover image. Azardi reads the ePub metadata when importing books, so youdon't have to type in anything, but you can edit the information if you want tobefore you add it to the library.

Version 11 adds a feature where you can read your books in the cloud - Much like Bookworm. You upload your books to Azardi, and can read them wherever you have internet access.

About the format support:

Azardi 11 was about the same as version 7 with reading files: it still had someissues reading a few files. Do note, however, that every file it choked on waseither an ePub 1.1 file, or an ePub 2 file that didn't validate correctlyanyway. In real-world use, Azardi should be able to read just about any actualbook you come across, but it might have a few problems with older books. Specifically,it couldn't open 5 of the books in my test suite, and had a few display problemswith some others.

About those display problems: In the screen shot, you'll notice that thechapter name isn't centered. The book is formatted in CSS to center all H1 tags,and it look fine in Digital Editions, but isn't centered here. In one of theolder ePub files I have (20,000 Leagues from Web Books) Azardi displays someweird XML stuff that isn't interpreted at the head of each chapter, but the restof the book displays fine.

What's this about the 10 in the format support number?

Azardi is the first reader to read ePub 3 files. (Thus, Azardi is capable ofreading one more file than is in my test suite of ePub books.) The only ePub 3file I can find right now is on Azardi's website. Naturally, it looks great. Atsome point, I'm going to make my own ePub 3 file (and add a tutorial for ittoo..) and see how Azardi displays it. When I do, I'll update the review.

I should also make a note that older versions were capable of editing ePubfiles. This feature has been removed as of at least version 7, and they havechosen to focus more on the reading experience, and it shows. The new version ismuch improved from the previously reviewed version.

A note on DRM. You'll notice that Azardi does not support Adobe DRM. Instead,they've created a AWZ format for DRM'ed books. That's just what we need. AnothereBook format.

Aldiko

Link: Aldiko
ePub Format Support:
TOC Support:
Ease of Use:
Adobe DRM Support: Yes
Single-key page turning:
Over-all Rating:
Version:

Pros:

• runs on Android devices
• supports library e-books

Cons:

• only runs on Android devices

First, a disclosure. I don't have an Android device. A friend of mine does, andthis review is based on mainly what she's told me about it. At some point, Iwant to borrow her phone and play with Aldiko for a while, then fill out therest of the review.

Aldiko (which I have no idea how to pronounce ;) ) appears to have all thestandard features, library management, sorting, searching, and various readingoptions. From the screenshots, it looks very nice. My above mentioned friendlikes it, and says she has no trouble finding or loading books, and it worksgreat for reading books on her Droid.

Aldiko also can read Adobe DRM files, and supports reading library books. Italso allows you to add catalog sources, so you can get books from a variety ofsources.

BluefireReader

Link: Bluefire Reader
ePub Format Support: 9
TOC Support:10
Ease of Use: 10
Adobe DRM Support: Yes
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 10
Version: 1.3

Pros:

• Supports Adobe DRM
• Supports Overdrive library eBook lending
• library management functions
• built-in store

Cons:

• Only for iOS devices (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) (Note: Android version is coming 'this spring')

Bluefire is a very nice eReading application. It has all the features onewould expect, feels polished, and is a pleasure to use. Why don't I use thisinstead of Stanza as my main reading application on my iPod Touch? The onlyreason I can think of is that I downloaded Stanza first and am used to it.That's about it. A few minor reasons are that, yes, you can download and buybooks from within Bluefire, but Project Gutenburg isn't one of the stores you cando that from (Feedbooks is included.) On the other hand, Bluefire can read AdobeDRM'd books (but all of mine are Public Domain or DRM free.)

One very nice thing that Bluefire does that none of the others that I've yetreviewed does is download Overdrive library eBooks. This isn't something I'veyet had the time to try, but it's nice to have the option available.

Blio

Link: Blio
ePub Format Support: ?
TOC Support: ?
Ease of use: ?
Adobe DRM Support: ?
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: ?
Version: 2.2.7036

Pros:

• Reads to you out loud

Cons:

• Windows Only (iphone/iPad, etc in the works)

I'm confused. On Blio's website, they say Biloreads XPS and ePub files. It doesn't though. The file open box only has anoption to show XPS files, and the free books it downloads from Google are savedin XPS format. So, as of the version noted, no matter what you read on the web,Blio does NOT read ePub files.

As of 9/18/12 (and possibly sooner) Bilo's website now doesn't mention reading ePub files at all. It's just one more store that sells books you can't read anywhere else.

iBooks

Link: (Just search for it in the iTunes store)
ePub Format Support: 9
TOC Support: 10
Ease of use: 10
Adobe DRM Support: No (it supports iBooks DRM, which isn't the same)
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 10
Version: ??

Pros

• Supports the TOC
• single-key page turning
• looks great
• many different display options
• easily manage meta information via iTunes

Cons

• Only available on iOS devices
• lack of a 'most recently read' list

iBooks on the iPad is a really great experience. It's snappy and responsive, thebooks look great, and all that flashiness really doesn't get in the way. Onething I really want to talk about.. the screenshot at the right. It shows thebooks in a pretty shelf.. this really concerned me before I got my iPad. Itlooks great, but I have hundreds of books, and finding them in that could getmessy. Great news! You can turn it off and just show a list of books! You canalso sort by author, genre, title or bookshelf.

One thing that I don't like, compared to how Stanza does it, is the sortingby genre. In Stanza, you can show all your books, or just say, the Sci-Fi books.You can kind-of do this in iBooks, but you have to move all your Sci-Fi books totheir own shelf, and they no longer show in the master list with everythingelse.

Another note on editing meta information. iTunes makes it as easy to changethe author, genre, title, whatever of your books as you do your music.. thedownside, you have to do this on your computer and they sync, you can't edit itright in iBooks.

CoolReader

Link: Cool Reader
ePub Format Support: 6
TOC Support: 8
Ease of use: 9
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 9
Version: 3.0.53-9

Pros

• Supports two-page or one-page viewing mode
• very customizable
• Supports Windows, Android, and Linux

Cons

• no library management functions

I hadn't heard of Cool Reader before, and I found it on Wikipedia's ePubpage. (I periodically check both that and a number of Google searches for newreaders.)

CoolReader is just a zip file download. Download, un-zip, and run the exe,that's all there is to setup.

CoolReader was able to open all of the valid ePubs in the test suite, andmade a valiant effort on the others. It only refused to open one file (ah, thatnon-conformant 'Knight of the White Cross' I should update it to avalid ePub 2.0 document, but it's such fun to watch most of the readers freakout when they try to open it..)

Surprisingly, it even opened the ePub 3 file that I got from Azardi'swebsite. It didn't display it properly, but it tried, and you could see most ofthe content in it.

The program looks great.. and by that, I mean that it focuses on the contentwithout overpowering it with flashy buttons and toolbars and such. It just letsyou read without getting in the way. Cool Reader was also one of the best as faras customizing the display of the text. You can adjust EVERYTHING about the waya book looks. The common stuff like text size, searching, and navigationcontrols are right on the toolbar. Click that little wrench icon, and you canchange the font, the background, the default text size, toggle between one andtwo-pane reading mode (it even lets you choose scroll mode, if you want it forsome weird reason..). It lets you change the look and feel of the program, whatcontrols are shown, what you want it to do at open.. (You can even rotate thetext and read sideways and upside down, if you want to. A feature that ispointless on a desktop, but remember, this has an Android version, where such afeature would be quite useful.)

The stylesheet tab. Here's where people that are nitpicky about customizationwill think they've died and gone to heaven. If you know even a little about CSS,you can change EVERYTHING about the way the book looks.

The real beauty about the way that Cool Reader does this though, is that ifyou don't know or care about all that crap, you don't have to touch it and youcan just read your books. I've ranted about the war between 'scrollreaders' and 'pagination' readers in other reviews, andCoolReader is the program that works for both types of people.

There are only two things standing between CoolReader and a 'most recommended'rating: lack of library management features, and the fact that it didn'tperfectly open every book in my test suite. If your like me, you have all yourePub files sorted into folders by genre or artist or something anyway, and don'treally need library management, but some people do. And let's be honest here,asking a reader to open every file in my gauntlet is asking a lot. I've got deliberatelybad ePub documents in there.. in real-world usage, you'd either have all goodfiles, or you should fire up Sigil and fix them anyway.

FB Reader

Link: FBReader
ePub Format Support: 8
TOC Support: 10
Ease of use: 6
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 6
Version: 0.12.10

Pros:

• Available for Windows, Linux, OS X, and several hand-held reading devices
• Library management functions
• Open Source

• No bookmark support
• No menus

FB Reader opened all files without errors,but displayed some images and headings differently than the HTML said it should be handled.

Updated on 11/27/2007:
An OS X build has been contributed, and a few minor updates have been released. Still nosupport for ePub table of contents.

Updated on 5/20/2008:
Version 0.8.17 is now out. There haven't been any ePub related updates since the reviewed version, so I won't do a newreview yet. The updates consist mostly of bug fixes and support for a few more platforms.

Well, I've updated the format support score for FBReader. I don't quite know how to score this one. Most of the other programs either would open a file, or not open a file (some with minor formatting errors, but if it opened it, all the text was there at least.) FBReader will open every file in my test suite. Some of them (my file, and the one from Adobe's site) it displays perfectly. Others (Notably, the one from Web-books), it only displays one chapter from the book, the rest of the book is just not there.
One could argue that only test books that pass epubcheck verification should be tested, but as the standard evolves there will be books based on the older spec out in the world. A reader program should still be able to open these books.

Update: 12/02/2011

At some point along the way, FB Reader has added support for the Table ofContents. I'm not sure when this happened, as the release notes don't mentionit, and I'm pretty sure I didn't just miss the button all along..

Update: 9/18/2012

Several new versions have been released, but nothing major has been added or updated. Mostly bug fixes, minor tweaks, and improved mobile device support.

Ibis

Link: Ibis
ePub Format Support: 8
TOC support: 10
Ease of use: 8
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: No
Over-all Rating:
Version: ??

Pros:

• Online reader - access your books from anywhere
• Mobile device support

Cons:

• Online reader - requires an internet connection (devices that support offline webapps can read books without one)
• books not split into pages

Ibis is an online reader from Threepress consulting.. the same people whomake Bookworm.. so I'm not sure why they make two readers..

Ibis looks like a flashier looking version of Bookworm, and functions aboutthe same, with a few more choices of book feeds. The options to download yourbooks to your device are still there.

It looks a lot like Bookworm, actually, just more red and less yellow.

There's also a 'No distractions' mode that gets rid of all the red,and logos, and most of the menu options, leaving you with a nice white screenand just your book (with a few navigation controls.) It's easy to turn this modeon and off, and it's a nice feature.

Openberg (abandoned)

Link: Openberg
ePub Format Support: 8
TOC support: 0
Ease of use: 5
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: No
Over-all Rating: 5
Version: 5

Pros:

• Available for: anything running Firefox
• Does not require that you download a book to read it
• Open Source

• Does not yet support the ePub Table of Contents
• Requires Firefox
• No bookmark support
• No single key page turning
• No mobile device support

Openberg was able to open all types of files thrown at it. The low score comes from the cons listed above.Since Openberg is a plug-in for Firefox, it brings with it certain advantages and disadvantages. If you're surfinga web site that has a link to a ePub file, the file opens in the browser and you're off and reading. This is a greatthing from a usability standpoint, but there are problems with the approach, as noted above.

Update: 7/7/2010

It looks like the Openberg site is gone now, but it's available as a Firefoxadd-on at the Firefox website. It doesn't look like there's a new version outthough. At this point I would encourage everyone to use EPUBReader instead of Openberg.

EPUBReader

Link: EPUBReader
ePub Format Support: 9
TOC support: 10
Ease of use: 9
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 9
Version: 1.4.0.1

Pros:

• Works anywhere Firefox does
• Bookmarks
• Library management
• Can save files to hard drive
• single key page turning

Cons:

• requires Firefox
• no mobile device support
  

Wow, for being a web app, this program is packed with features. I honestlywasn't expecting this much out of the program when I installed it. The Table ofContents support is better than in some of the dedicated eBook readers.

I want to comment on the con listed above as 'requires Firefox'. Ipersonally don't feel that this is a negative, but there are some strange folksout there who don't like Firefox (And I need something in the con list, right?).Also, this does take away the option to download the book instead of reading itwhen you click a link. (Yes, you can still right-click>>Save As.)

I also want to comment on the the 'No mobile device support' con.By that, I mean that it doesn't support syncing to any dedicated e-readersoftware. According to the webpage, it will however, run on devices that runmobile Firefox.

As a note, this extension installed and ran fine on OS X, but not on Windowsin my virtual machine. I am fully satisfied that this is some weird glitch on mypart though, and not a fault of the program at all.

Koobits

Link: Koobits
ePub Format Support: 9
TOC support: 10
Ease of use: 7
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: No
Over-all Rating: 6
Version: 4.0

Pros:

• Can open a variety of formats (ePub, PDF, XML, HTML, KBJ)
• Library Management
• DropBox support
• integrated bookstore (limited titles)

Cons:

• No Single Key Page Turning
• Only runs on Windows XP and above

KooBits is a nice-looking application with most of the features I want in abook reader, and it opened all but one file from the test suite (yeah, that oldePub 1.0 document that doesn't validate.. most of the readers have problemswith that one..)

KooBits has an excellent library manager where it's not only easy to add yourown books, but to organize them as well. You can also view metadata about thebook from the manager.

The thing I don't like about KooBits is the lack of single-key page turning.I know, it's a big debate, and some people really like to scroll through books(for reasons that I don't understand..). Given the polarized nature of thisargument, one would think that most of the book reader developers would havesomething in settings to either scroll or page through books, but this isn't thecase.

The problem that I have with KooBits implementation of scrolling though, isthat it feels awkward to navigate. When you get to the end of a chapter, youhave to click the next chapter in the TOC pane, it doesn't auto-load the nextchapter.

KooBits also doesn't seem to support book covers in the same way that otherreaders do. I know it supports them somehow, as the books in the store all havecovers, but it didn't load a cover for any of the books in my test suite (notall of them have a cover, but most either have an image on the first page, or animage named 'cover.jpg' on the first page. Most readers display this image asthe cover). Also, it couldn't display the author information for the books thathad it; and the books that have it, have it in the metadata as per the ePubspecs. There were also some issues with displaying headers that are centered inthe CSS, but not displayed centered in the reader.

Overall, I'd really recommend KooBits IF you like to scroll thoughbooks.

Lucidor

Link: Lucidor
ePub Format Support: 7
TOC support: 8
Ease of use: 3
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 4
Version: 0.9.3

Pros:

• Supports Windows, OS X, and Linux
• Error checks files on opening

Cons:

• Windows/Linux versions require Firefox
• OS X version requires XULRunner
• No Single Key page turning

Lucidor didn't have the best ePub support of the readers tested, but not theworst either. Lucidor does an error check of ePub files when it opens, and thefiles it chocked on are all older ones that were either slightly non-compliantin the first place, or ones that were compliant until changes were made to thelatest version of the specification. (Someday I should update the books here onmy site to be fully compliant..)

Other than that, it does a good job, just missing features compared toothers. The biggest one is single key page turning. I REALLY like to turn a pageby pushing a single key when reading a novel, scrolling just detracts from thebook too much for me. Lucidor does have a 'Next' button at the bottomof the screen, but this brings you to the next section. If each chapter is in a differentfile in the container (which is the recommended practice) then you have toscroll through that chapter, then press the next button to get to the nextchapter.

Update: 9/18/2012

Lucidor's website appears to have disappeared. The link above now goes to a 404 error, and if you go to the web root, you get a blank page.

The reviewed version is still available athttp://download.cnet.com/Lucidor/3000-2125_4-75567501.html

Mobipocket

Link: Mobipocket
ePub Format Support: 6
TOC support: 1
Ease of use: 8
Adobe DRM Support: ??
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 7
Version: 6.2

Pros:

• Available for Windows and many hand-held reading devices
• Library management functions
• Supports multiple Bookmarks
• Singe Key Page Turning
• Sort and Filter Book listings
• Search Books
• Desktop version supports displaying one or two pages at a time

Epub Reader 10.4 Full

• 'Content' menu does not fully support ePub Table of Contents
• Will only import one ePub book at a time

As far as software goes, this is hands down the best one of the bunch. The interface, number of features, ease of use,and platform support FAR out-classes anything else in this review.

Update 12/02/2011:
Most of the readers at this point have almost caught up with Mobipocket in this area. Mobipocket still has a slight edge in looks,but then it has a few problems with ePub files..

Update for 5/20/2008:
Version 6.2 is out, and I've just downloaded it and put it through it's paces. I've imported a handful of ePub books with this versionand haven't had a single error. I've been able to import multiple books in a row, and all of them imported without any errors.All the books made it into the library, and I was able to open all of them. All CSS and images and such appear to displayproperly.
The only real problem I have with Mobipocket now is that the ePub table of contents does not display properly. In all of the booksI imported, none of them displays the table of contents. The 'Content' button only displays 'First Page' for all ePub books. This probably isn't a big deal for fiction, but could get irritating for other types of literature.
I also have a very small pet peeve for version 6.2: You can only import one book at a time. This wouldn't be such a big deal indaily use, as I don't usually download that many new books at once, but when I have 190 ePub files to import, it gets to be irritatingfairly quickly.

Updated on 9/17/2012:

No new version out yet..

I have heard that Mobipocket can import multiple ePub's at the same time. Youhave to select them in Windows Explorer, and drag them onto the Mobipocketwindow.

Nook

Link: Nook
ePub Format Support: 9
TOC support: 10
Ease of use: 5
Adobe DRM Support: Yes
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 6
Version: ??

Epub Reader 10.4 Windows 10

Pros:

• Supports Windows and OS X
• Supports Nook, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and Android
• Syncs where you left off reading across all devices
• Supports Adobe DRM

Cons:

• Can only import one file at a time
• Lack of features

The Nook software is about what I expected. It reads ePub files.

The PC app feels almost like an after-thought, like they designed the Nookdevice and said 'Hey, we need a PC application to sync with'. Don'tget me wrong, the Nook PC app opened every file, there's bookmarking support,TOC support, and single key page turning, it's just not polished. I will say theiPhone Nook app is much better as far as features and reading experience go, butit's still not any better as far as loading your own content.

For example: In most of the readers reviewed here, all your books are stored inthe library. In the Nook, the books you import are kept strictly segregated fromthe book you buy from the Nook store. That could really irritate me if Iimported all the books I already have, and bought several hundred more, then hadto try to remember where I got a certain title I was looking for from.

Other examples of the little things that bug me: Two pages of your books getdisplayed at the same time on the screen, and there's no way to get it to only show one page. Lack of astandard menu means you have to hunt for commands.. and some of them arehidden. The option to import your own books, for example is right at the topwhere a menu or tool bar would be.. but only if you have the 'MyStuff' tab selected, other options show up in that space if you're onanother tab. You get used to it, but it's strange. Also, there are no notetaking capabilities. And finally, where have my cover images gone? The bottomtwo books in the screen-shot both have cover images as the only thing on thefirst page of the book, yet, nothing.

Perhaps a version or two later I could really like this program though. Ilike the idea of seamless reading no matter what device you're on. Start a bookon your computer, read more on your Nook, and finish on your iPhone. As of rightnow, Nook supports more devices than anything other than FBReader or Kindle, andKindle doesn't support ePub.

dotReader (Abandoned)

Link: dotReader
ePub Format Support: 3
TOC support: 0
Ease of use: 7
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 4
Version: 0.11.3

Pros:

• Available for Windows and Linux
• Library management functions
• Supports multiple Bookmarks
• Sort and Filter Book listings
• Search Books

• Bad ePub format support
• Does not support ePub table of contents

This program had trouble with almost all the ePub files I tried to open. It will open some, butwon't open the ones from Adobe's website or Feedbooks.com. It will open some hand-created files, but not others.
I think the reason for this that Digital Editions uses an .xpgt file for handling layouts that isn't in the spec,and I think dotReader is choking on it. What should happen, is if the software sees something that it can't interpret, it should ignore it. All the other readers in this review do that and open the files fine.
It also had problems displaying some images and headings as the HTML said they should be handled.

Update: 7/7/2010

The dotReader website appears to gone away, but you can still find a copyfloating around on the web if you search for dotReader.

SonyReader Library

Link: Sony
ePub Format Support: 9
TOC support: 10
Ease of use: 9
Adobe DRM Support: Yes
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 9
Version: 3.3.00.07130

Pros:

• Syncs with the Sony Reader
• Windows and OS X support
• Single-key page turning
• Bookmarks and notes support
• Library management features

Cons:

• No Linux version

This is another program I wasn't expecting much out of, as the first fewversions of it did little more than sync with the Sony Reader and weren't worthreviewing.

The current version has a full feature set, and it's not a bad experiencereading a book in it. The interface is just a little weird. By that, I mean thatthe left column where you would normally find the Table of Contents is taken upby a combination Library Management/Syncing/Bookstore pane, and the TOC isaccessed from a button along the bottom toolbar. It'd be nicer from a'reading on the computer' perspective to reverse those. On the otherhand, if you have a Sony Reader, you'll most likely be doing most of yourreading on that anyway. Speaking of the toolbar, I'd prefer it along the top,and there isn't a way to move it.

I want to take a moment to talk DRM here. I don't like to do this for most ofthe reviews, as this part of the website is dedicated to the ePub format itself,but I feel I have to mention it with this one. One of the big battles at thetime this review is being written is which dedicated eBook reader device isgoing to win. At the time, Kindle has a big lead with a lower price point andAmazon's muscle behind it. Kindle can't read ePub though. Sony Reader can. Theshort point of this long paragraph is to point out that yes, you can load yourown non-DRM'd eBooks that you got from anywhere you want and read them on yourSony Reader. You can also read any book that uses Adobe DRM no matter where yougot it. I feel that this will become important later on once eReading getsbigger.

Update: 9/17/2012

New version is out, but I haven't reviewed it as about the only thing that's changed is cloud sync has been added. This keeps your same position in your book on all your Windows PC's and Sony Readers. Near as I can tell, it only works with books purchased from Sony.

Stanza(abandoned)

Link: Stanza
ePub Format Support: 9
TOC support:: 10
Ease of use: 10
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 10
Version: 2.1.1
Reviewed on: 7/7/2010

Pros:

• Multiple Column display
• Supports multiple Bookmarks
• Search inside Books
• Singe Key Page Turning
• Support for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad
• Supports Table of Contents

• iPone/iPod Touch/iPad only (see the note below)

If you have an iPhone (or an iPod touch with the latest software update), you can download Stanza reader for it.
The interface is very nice. Library management is built in; you can display books by: Title, Author, Latest Read, or Latest Downloads. You can also create custom categories and put any loaded books into them. Page turning works by swiping your finger left or right (or tapping the edge of the screen). There is a small (1 to 2 second) delay when changing files inside a book (in most ePub books, different chapters are in different files inside the ePub container), but none when changing pages in the same chapter.
ePub support is excellent. Stanza opens anything I throw at it, it supportsthe TOC, and they've added bookmarks since I've first reviewed it.

Stanza loads books onto your iPod/iPhone, and you can read them off-line. If you want public domain books, it couldn't be simpler to load them. Go to 'Online Catalog' then 'Feedbooks' (or any of theother free or paid catalogs) and start browsing. The book is downloaded when you click it's title. Loading titles from your computer is almost as simple.

Update: 7/7/2010

Bad news, the desktop version of Stanza has disappeared completely. I'm bummed about this. I loved the app for uploading books to my iPod, and creating ePub books. It was a good desktop reader as well. I do wish they wouldn't have had it time limited so I could still use my beta copy.

The good news is the iPhone/iPod Touch version is better than ever. Nothing else I've tried (that means anything free) for the iPod has even come close to being as nice and versatile of a reader as Stanza. Every feature has been improved.

Update: 8/30/2010

I've had many readers (thanks to all of you!) point out that you can still get the desktop versions of Stanza, but it does appear that development has ceased (bummer!) Download the old versions here:

Update: 12/02/2011

I just want to cry. Amazon bought Lexcycle, and, surprise, surprise, Stanza is now dead. It has been updated to run on iOS 5, but the developers have said this is the last time it will be updated.

Bookworm

Link: Bookworm
ePub Format Support: 9
TOC support: 10
Ease of use: 9
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: No
Over-all Rating: 9
Version: ???

Pros:

• Supports any OS with an Internet connection
• Has library management features
• Open Source (BSD license)
• Supports all the HTML and CSS that your browser does
• Mobile device support (via CSS that re-arranges the layout for smaller screens) (Confirmed to work very nicely on the iPod Touch)
• Opens to last read chapter (can turn on or off)
• Supports the ePub table of contents

• Requires an internet connection
• Books are not split into 'Pages'
• No menus

Bookworm is an online ePub reader. You upload your own files, and are then able to access them from anywhere with an internet connection. Bookworm also does not share your library, so you can upload non-public domain files that you own without breaking the copyright.
(A version number/description isn't listed anywhere on the site, so I can't list the version reviewed.)
And yes, it works in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. It most likely works in any other browsers too, but those are the one's I've personally confirmed.

Uploading books:
When I first reviewed Bookworm, I had trouble uploading and reading some books that did not perfectly meet the ePub specification. Bookworm has since been updated to better handle non-perfect ePub files. It now opens almost everything without errors. Some books that epubcheck returns a list of errors on still won't open, but that's hardly Bookworm's fault.

Bookworm loads books one file at a time, so if each chapter is a separate file within the container, each chapter will be loaded one at a time and give a link to the next chapter. If the chapters are all within one file inside the container, they all get loaded at once. It should be noted that the 'Remember what chapter I'm on' feature doesn't work correctly in this case.
Note: This has been fixed since I first reviewed Bookworm. It now properly splits out these books into their chapters, and remembers where you left off reading.
The ePub TOC is displayed in a column along the left hand side of the book for easy access at any time, and highlights the chapter that you're currently reading.
Bookworm has basic library management features, in that you can sort by title, author, or date added; though you can't search for a book. (I have been informed that search features are coming soon.)

I like the idea here, you can upload your books, and get to them anywhere you go without having to bring anything with you. Also, the implementation is very well done, the interface is nicer than some of the desktop readers I've reviewed.
Bookworm's greatest strength however, is also it's greatest weakness. If you don't have an internet connection, you can't get to your books. This is, however, the perfect tool for taking your own book collection anywhere that has an internet connection.
I'd also like to point out another advantage to Bookworm. Almost every one of the readers I review fixes at least one bug that drives me crazy with every new release, but you have to download and install the newest version first. Since Bookworm is a web application, you get the newest version every time you visit the site. (And I'll add that all of the show-stopping problems I found with Bookworm were fixed within a day or so of my posting this review; I'm impressed.)

Update: 8/30/2010

Bookworm is probably one of the most consistently updated readers I'vereviewed. Every time I log back in there are new features. Since the lastreview, they've added search functions, and an option to download books thatyou've previously uploaded (very handy if your computer died and you want tore-download them for off-line reading.)

Another note, I've heard from a visually impaired reader that Bookworm worksthe best for screen reading programs, if you click the link that says'toggle reading mode'.

MagicScroll.net

Link: Magic Scroll
ePub Format Support: 8
TOC support: 10
Ease of use: 9
Adobe DRM Support: No
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 9
Version: ???

Pros:

• single-key page turning
• on-line backup of your books
• Opens to last read chapter (can turn on or off)
• Supports the ePub table of contents
• automatic scrolling through the book
• Chrome extension available

Cons:

• need an internet connection

I just got an e-mail asking me to review magicscroll.net, so here goes. Myfirst thought, before even checking it out, was, 'I wonder how this isgoing to be similar and/or different from Bookworm?' The comparison is apt,since both are on-line ePub readers. There are a number of feature differencesthough. One of the things I really like about Magic Scroll is that it works moresimilar to desktop readers, in that the book is loaded as a single page that youpress a key or click a button to turn the page, as opposed to one long page youhave to scroll through.

Magic Scroll lets you load books from your hard drive, or another web site,and it lets you re-download them to your computer at any time. There are anumber of different settings and viewing options. One of the more unique thingsabout Magic Scroll is, as the name implies, it can automatically scroll throughthe book for you. This isn't a feature I particularly need, or would use, butit's nice to have there for those who do like it. It works well, and you canturn it on or off as desired.

There are only two things I don't like about Magic Scroll. One of them is aminor irritation, and the other isn't even it's fault. First, it choked loadinga few books, but to be fair, they were some of the older ePubs that won'tvalidate (I keep them around just to torture reading programs), so I can'treally count that against it. As I've said before, a book should validate, butthat doesn't mean that every readers books will, or that every reader will knowhow to fix their books that don't validate. There was only one one book that itcouldn't read at all, most of the others it loaded, but didn't display the'Home' or 'Contents' buttons. It couldn't read the contentsbecause those books didn't have a TOC.ncx file (It's recommended in the ePub2.01 spec, but not required.) I'm not quite sure why the home button went awayas well, but I could still read the book fine.

The other thing I didn't like is also a thing I do like. Let me explain.. Ilike the concept, just not how it works. The feature I'm talking about is'Online Syncing'. There's a button in the upper right-hand corner labeled'Enable Online Syncing'. When clicked, it asks for your e-mail, andsends you a code. This is how you 'login' to the site. It remembersyour session, but if you clear your cache, history, cookies, etc, or login fromanother device, you have to enter your e-mail, check it, and get and enter thecode to get to your books again. It works, but it's a little different. Once youget this figured out though, you can get to your books from anything with a webbrowser and access to your e-mail. Oh, did I mention it syncs where you left offreading? Because that's really cool.

I did have some pagination problems on my iPod Touch (I could go back pages,but not forward..) I'm not sure what the problem was, but I'm guessing it'sbecause I'm on an old first gen iPod Touch that's a few web browser versionsbehind. (I should be getting an IPad 2 in a while, if all goes well, I'll checkthis again.)

Overall, Magic Scroll is a very nice program that beats Bookworm in everyarea except how you login, and it won't load really messed up, verynon-compliant ePub files (You should fix them anyway! ;) )

uread

Link: uread
ePub Format Support: 8.5
TOC support: 9
Ease of use: 7
Supports Adobe DRM: No
Single-key page turning: Yes
Over-all Rating: 8
Version: ???

Pros:

• full feature set

Cons:

• English implementation is buggy

uread opened every one of the sample files, but displayed some odd squarecharacter between every sentence in the book from Munseys (I don't think it's aproblem with the book, as none of the other readers choked on it, yet ureaddidn't have this problem with any other book in the sample set.)

uread has a lot of features, such as downloading books from the web, text to speech,and some editing capabilities. (See the screenshot)

Probably the biggest problem is that it's developed in Chinese, so the Englishimplementation has some display oddities (the squares in the screenshot). Still,they write English better than I do Chinese, so I can't fault them for it.

Summary:

My opinion as to the best ePub reader:

For Windows: Digital Editions for it's management functions and excellent ePub format support.(Sony Reader is a good choice as well.)
OS X: Digital Editions, Azardi, Calibre, or Bookworm
first gen iPhone/iPod Touch:Stanza or Bluefire Neither of these work anymore, as the apps have been updated. Stanza will still install, but crashes upon opening.
iPad/current iPhone/iPod Touch: iBooks
Android: Aldiko/Bluefire/CoolReader
Linux: CoolReader/Azardi/Bookworm

Best ePub editor:
For converting from one eBook formatto another: Calibre
For converting raw source documentsto ePub: Atlantis
For making nit-pickingly clean ePubbooks that look just how you want them to look: eCub/Sigil
For editing existing ePub books:Sigil

Epub Reader 10.4 Free

What I use to edit ePubs:

Okay, I've said what's best based on features and point scores, but what do I use to edit my ePub documents? At first, I was using Notepad and XP's built-in zip support. Ever since doing these reviews, I've been using Sigil to edit ePubs. If I have a source document that's not already in ePub format, I've been using Atlantis to do a rough convert into ePub, then Sigil to tweak it to look the way I want it to look. (A Sigil tutorial is available here.)

I want to give a special mention to Bookworm here. Over-all, it was narrowly beat out by the above programs by the smallest margin, but if you're anywhere with an internet connection (a friend's house, the library, or other public internet terminal) Bookworm will still let you get to your books.

In the future, I could easily see Mobipocket, CoolReader, or Azardi become my top choice with a few minor improvements.

I want to make it clear that all of the programs I've found so far are very nicely done. If some of them would add TOCsupport and improve support for CSS I could wholeheartedly recommend any of them.

Note for Linux reader software: I replaced the power-supply in my linuxcomputer, but I haven't yet re-loaded linux onto it yet.

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