Kobo

Kobo is an online e-Book store. It offers dedicated e-ink readers and apps for major computer and mobile platforms. You can connect your Kobo account to Facebook to share what you read with other Kobo users without registering for a separate social reading site. Of all the apps I’ve tried, the Android version of the Kobo app provides the easiest interface for importing third-party ePUB books.

You can register for a Kobo account online at www.kobobooks.com. You do not need to provide credit card information to download free books. The Kobo app’s I’m Reading library uses a Bookshelf metaphor view to display your books, as shown in Figure 17–18. You can change this to a List view by using the Menu button on the bottom of the screen.

Figure 17–18 The Kobo app’s Bookshelf view

Unlike the Kindle and Nook apps, the Kobo app does not separate items by their type of publication (e.g., book vs. magazine vs. newspaper). The Discover and Browse buttons both go to the Kobo bookstore and allow you to find and purchase apps using your Kobo account.

Reading Life

The Kobo reader includes both social and gaming aspects. As you read, you’ll occasionally be awarded badges, such as the Fanatic badge for owning five books by the same author. If you tap the Reading Life button from your Library view, you’ll first see your notifications, and then you’ll see the badges you’ve been awarded thus far (see Figure 17–19). Badges you’ve yet to earn are gray.

Figure 17–19 Reading Life badges

Tap the STATS button to see your reading progress; you’ll see how long you’ve spent reading and how many pages you’ve read.

Note that your stats will only apply to the book you’ve opened most recently.

Tap a book in your library to start reading it. Like the Kindle app, the Kobo reader doesn’t offer a two-page view of books when you hold the tablet horizontally. And like the Nook app, the Kobo app sends you back to the Library view when you press the Back button on the bottom-left corner of the screen.

To adjust the settings of the Kobo app, tap the Menu button on the bottom-left corner of the screen, as shown in Figure 17–20.

Figure 17–20. Adjusting settings in the Kobo app

Highlighting Text and Adding Notes

Unfortunately, the Kobo reader has a more convoluted procedure for adding notes or highlighting text. On the other hand, it also has one of the better ways to view the notes you’ve taken:

1. Tap the Menu button on the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap Select Text.
3. The screen will turn yellow, and you’ll see a selection area. Expand this area to include your text. Tap either Highlight or Add Note.
4. Finally, tap Share if you want to post your note to Facebook.

Once you take a note, your selected text will be highlighted, and you’ll see a Note icon on the bottom right of the screen on the page where you took the note. Tap the icon and you’ll see your note. You can also tap Share to share your note to Facebook.

Importing Books

If you have third-party ePUB books you want to read, all you have to do is save them to your tablet. Someone could email them to you, or you could download them from a website in your Browser app. It doesn’t matter, as long as you have the books on your tablet. Follow these steps to import ePub books into your Kobo reader (see Figure 17–21):

1. Start at the Library view and tap the Menu button on the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap Import Content.
3. A dialog box will appear. Tap Start to begin.
4. The Kobo app will search your memory card for ePUB books.
5. You’ll see a list of all new books that were found. Place a mark in the checkbox next to each book in the list you want to import; similarly, make sure books you do not want to import do not have a mark in the checkbox.
6. Tap Import Selected.
7. Decide whether you want to leave a copy of the books in their old location or delete them in order to save space.

Figure 17–21. Importing books into the Kobo reader