Giving epub a 2nd chance

kwjones · 12-30-2009, 02:40 PM

So I decided to give the epub format a 2nd chance by downloading and reading Already Dead by Charlie Huston, which is currently free from Sony.

The spaces between paragraphs and lack of quotation marks in dialog is annoying, but it might just be this book. The "page" numbering might take a little getting used to as well.

Given the choice, I'd still download lrf over epub because I think it looks nicer, but I'm not going to let the file format prevent me from reading content.

grooks · 12-30-2009, 02:44 PM

The lack of quotation marks is the authors style and has nothing to do with ePub. I have the ePub and LRX version of this book and both show quotes the same way.

I agree the page numbering takes a little getting used to.

daffy4u · 12-30-2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwjones

So I decided to give the epub format a 2nd chance by downloading and reading Already Dead by Charlie Huston, which is currently free from Sony.

The spaces between paragraphs and lack of quotation marks in dialog is annoying, but it might just be this book. The "page" numbering might take a little getting used to as well.

Uh oh. This does not bode well for my Grand Experiment.

kwjones · 12-30-2009, 03:14 PM

I think I need to look at more than one or two epubs. Like grooks said, the quotation marks are probably just this author's style. The spaces between paragraphs could just be the formating on this particular book.

The page numbering may not be as big of an issue as I am stating. I rarely look to see what "page" I'm on. Usually it's only when I turn the device on or off to make a mental note of how much I have left to read and to figure out what I'm going to read next.

I really haven't noticed the little numbers on the right margin that much. It's small and faint, but just enough of a distraction to catch my eye, long enough for me to remember it's not part of the text. I'm sure my brain will ignore it entirely after a few hours. After all, it did take me a few days just to get used to reading anything on the device itself. Now I don't even think about it.

grooks · 12-30-2009, 03:15 PM

For anyone who wants to read Already Dead by Charlie Huston.

Instead of using quotes, the author starts each line with a -- This signifies that a person is speaking. Also this particular book does not have chapters. The book is one long chapter with no real continuity breaks. The author also uses first person story-telling exclusively.

kwjones · 12-30-2009, 03:18 PM

The story is great so far. I can see myself reading the entire series.

daffy4u · 12-30-2009, 03:27 PM

Now I recall this author. I read The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death, which was also a freebie. The story was good and it did take me a while to deal with his special format style. Sometimes I would get confused as to who was speaking but i still enjoyed the story.

grooks · 12-30-2009, 03:31 PM

I'm almost done and like his writing. I had previously read his Hank Thompson series: Caught Stealing, Six Bad Things and A Dangerous Man. I will probably read the rest of this series (5 books in total).

stabile007 · 12-31-2009, 09:30 AM

yeah the page numbering is wierd for me and I feel like ePub books use up more of the screen if that makes sense. Taking some getting used to. I just wish the page numbers would line up right but I guess that is more of a publishers issue then a sony reader issue.

tyche · 12-31-2009, 10:00 AM

I've built a number of epubs and, except for the lack of text justification (Sony issue), they look identical to the same lrf formatted file I made. It's all down to how its authored. That little page number on the right is wholly unnecessary and I hope they drop it though.

I like epub's nested table of contents. I've started using that more now for collections. I do find that epubs at least on the Sony spread formatting time over the course of the ebook (due to it being broken into pieces). So things like font size changes are very fast but jumping across file splits causes a delay.

Overall I'm more happy with lrf but I concede that to be more future proof and less time rebuilding books for another eReader I may buy, epub is an acceptable format for me.

kwjones · 12-31-2009, 10:16 AM

Ok. A few questions. The epub I read was "176 pages". Around "page" 100, it started formating every time I clicked to the next page and I don't know why. Is this normal or is it just this book having problems? By the time I click forward and bring my eyes up to the top of the screen, I'm still waiting close to 2 seconds for the page to finish formating.

pepak · 12-31-2009, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyche

I've built a number of epubs and, except for the lack of text justification (Sony issue), they look identical to the same lrf formatted file I made. It's all down to how its authored.

Not all. EPUB implementation supports a lot of features that are not present and at best simulated in LRF - e.g. underline, italics, bold, borders...

tyche · 12-31-2009, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepak

Not all. EPUB implementation supports a lot of features that are not present and at best simulated in LRF - e.g. underline, italics, bold, borders...

I'm talking about lrf->epub. In this regard, I'm learning to accept epub since I can pretty well make it look the same. However, you're right that epub has a lot more it can offer and I've just started using some of these features.

That's epubs real hook for me. Eventually, I will be good enough to make an epub look better than what I can do in lrf.

JSWolf · 12-31-2009, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepak

Not all. EPUB implementation supports a lot of features that are not present and at best simulated in LRF - e.g. underline, italics, bold, borders...

Actually, using the default ADE fonts, bold & italic are simulated. It's fixed if you embed a full font family.

6charlong · 12-31-2009, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stabile007

yeah the page numbering is wierd for me and I feel like ePub books use up more of the screen if that makes sense. Taking some getting used to. I just wish the page numbers would line up right but I guess that is more of a publishers issue then a sony reader issue.

The ePub standard calls for a "marker" every 1000 words or so. It was done like that to avoid the problems created by different screen sizes and our ability to change font sizes. User changes like that make the book reader reformat the same text for every person. They wanted some way for everyone to be able to reference the same spot in the text.

12-30-2009, 02:40 PM	#1
kwjones Groupie Posts: 178 Karma: 1546 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Rising Sun, MD Device: Sony PRS-505; Motorola Droid	Giving epub a 2nd chance So I decided to give the epub format a 2nd chance by downloading and reading Already Dead by Charlie Huston, which is currently free from Sony. The spaces between paragraphs and lack of quotation marks in dialog is annoying, but it might just be this book. The "page" numbering might take a little getting used to as well. Given the choice, I'd still download lrf over epub because I think it looks nicer, but I'm not going to let the file format prevent me from reading content.

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12-30-2009, 02:44 PM	#2
grooks Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 30250 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Fort Myers, FL Device: Pocketbook Era, Kobo Forma	The lack of quotation marks is the authors style and has nothing to do with ePub. I have the ePub and LRX version of this book and both show quotes the same way. I agree the page numbering takes a little getting used to.

12-30-2009, 03:14 PM	#4
kwjones Groupie Posts: 178 Karma: 1546 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Rising Sun, MD Device: Sony PRS-505; Motorola Droid	I think I need to look at more than one or two epubs. Like grooks said, the quotation marks are probably just this author's style. The spaces between paragraphs could just be the formating on this particular book. The page numbering may not be as big of an issue as I am stating. I rarely look to see what "page" I'm on. Usually it's only when I turn the device on or off to make a mental note of how much I have left to read and to figure out what I'm going to read next. I really haven't noticed the little numbers on the right margin that much. It's small and faint, but just enough of a distraction to catch my eye, long enough for me to remember it's not part of the text. I'm sure my brain will ignore it entirely after a few hours. After all, it did take me a few days just to get used to reading anything on the device itself. Now I don't even think about it.

12-30-2009, 03:15 PM	#5
grooks Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 30250 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Fort Myers, FL Device: Pocketbook Era, Kobo Forma	For anyone who wants to read Already Dead by Charlie Huston. Instead of using quotes, the author starts each line with a -- This signifies that a person is speaking. Also this particular book does not have chapters. The book is one long chapter with no real continuity breaks. The author also uses first person story-telling exclusively.

12-30-2009, 03:18 PM	#6
kwjones Groupie Posts: 178 Karma: 1546 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Rising Sun, MD Device: Sony PRS-505; Motorola Droid	The story is great so far. I can see myself reading the entire series.

12-30-2009, 03:27 PM	#7
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	Now I recall this author. I read The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death, which was also a freebie. The story was good and it did take me a while to deal with his special format style. Sometimes I would get confused as to who was speaking but i still enjoyed the story.

12-30-2009, 03:31 PM	#8
grooks Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 30250 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Fort Myers, FL Device: Pocketbook Era, Kobo Forma	I'm almost done and like his writing. I had previously read his Hank Thompson series: Caught Stealing, Six Bad Things and A Dangerous Man. I will probably read the rest of this series (5 books in total).

12-31-2009, 09:30 AM	#9
stabile007 Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Philadelphia Device: PRS-505, Kindle 3	yeah the page numbering is wierd for me and I feel like ePub books use up more of the screen if that makes sense. Taking some getting used to. I just wish the page numbers would line up right but I guess that is more of a publishers issue then a sony reader issue.

12-31-2009, 10:00 AM	#10
tyche Addict Posts: 227 Karma: 2530 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: PRS-505, iPad	I've built a number of epubs and, except for the lack of text justification (Sony issue), they look identical to the same lrf formatted file I made. It's all down to how its authored. That little page number on the right is wholly unnecessary and I hope they drop it though. I like epub's nested table of contents. I've started using that more now for collections. I do find that epubs at least on the Sony spread formatting time over the course of the ebook (due to it being broken into pieces). So things like font size changes are very fast but jumping across file splits causes a delay. Overall I'm more happy with lrf but I concede that to be more future proof and less time rebuilding books for another eReader I may buy, epub is an acceptable format for me.

12-31-2009, 10:16 AM	#11
kwjones Groupie Posts: 178 Karma: 1546 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Rising Sun, MD Device: Sony PRS-505; Motorola Droid	Ok. A few questions. The epub I read was "176 pages". Around "page" 100, it started formating every time I clicked to the next page and I don't know why. Is this normal or is it just this book having problems? By the time I click forward and bring my eyes up to the top of the screen, I'm still waiting close to 2 seconds for the page to finish formating.

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