Just lately & out of desperate need I found an app that is very useful IMO.
The motivation behind this doscovery came when 1 of my eyes just sort of went on strike, which meant that with binocular vision what it created was a black zone until I could get an eye patch.
Sudden & quite shocking given that I'd has no eye troubles before.
Many unhappy changes...bumping into things unseen - no driving - typing went from poor to ACK - and reading ??
Fuggedaboudit.
That is where I drew the line as a life-long reader of scifi for pleasure.
In the ~decade since getting an ebook reader that became even more enjoyable - but suddenly had to stop.
No. NOT happening that way, so...
Slowly & painfully I searched for some way to get some form of TTS (text-to-speech) for ebooks.
Finally I found a little known gem:
Librera PRO: Book reader.
My ressponse to this (besides utter delight) is=>
ONLY $3.49 - really ?!?
I stuck it into an unactivated, older 'toy' phone, fiddled around a bit to learn its foibles after copying in some ebooks files -
AND=>
YIPPEE !!! Problem solved.
I am back into daily 'reading' now via BT earbuds & very relieved indeed.
The TTS voice is robotic - but overall I give it a 9/10 rating.
There are a few other goals which I must fulfill for the duration of this 'unsightly' situation...
TTS & speech to text for my (Linux) PC and for Android, a working VNC server app as well as some decent sounding TTS (100% minus google).
That is all from me, for now...phew.
If any kind person here has any pointers aimed towards the goals I listed above, please share ??
Sounds like a most useful app. What is the typical source for your ebooks? And what ereader do you normally use?
Is there a chance the strike will end? I had a disturbing incident that also resulted in a black veil over one eye, but it was temporary, and diagnosed as an "eye migraine". Scary.
I resisted ereaders, despite using them occasionally-- I like the feel of a paper book, and rely on libraries. Until the pandemic-- and I rapidly adjusted to ebooks, as no physical visit to the (closed) library was needed.
Reading & typing are still quite strugglesome, so please pardon any goofy typos that I may miss & fail to correct here...
The app I posted about - is for me - right now - a sanity saver !!
As to the sources of of the books that I usually read=>
I was very fortunate maybe a decade ago to have come across somebody who was sharing a huge scifi ebook library.
Since I really prefer stuff that was written in the era of Robert Heinlein & Doc Smith, such older works satisfy me very well.
I was also lucky back then to have stumbled across a private group that was sharing an awful lpt of stuff
And last but not least is the mobileread forum that has usually got ebooks from authors just starting out.
As to which ebook reader I've been using...
For a long time now it has been Aztak EZ Reader, 6 inch - which unfortunately is no longer made or sold.
Before that I had 1 that was the lcd type and in between those l tried the Kobo & the Kindle (second hand) & found those to be too severely lacking.
Thanks for the info about the migraine headache thing.
It could be that since this illness suddenly came along with the headache from hell that maybe just maybe this experience is related with that idea.
I resisted ereaders as well BTW.
My resistance to the book meters was also because of great enjoyment for the paper books...but:
At the time that this adventure started I really was having trouble holding a book with 2 hands to read, something I could do with just 1 hand with the ebook reader.
Of course I like the feel of paper books too, and for much of this lifetime visiting libraries was a great happiness for me, BUT here is how I view these things now=>
Hardcover books are HEAVY vs. the mere several ounces of the reader;
Adjustable font sizes are a blessing;
Reading single-handed is more restful;
500 (or more) ebooks weigh...nothing & occupy zero physical space !!
I definitely understand the the space thing! I've been forbidden, for several years, to even set foot in a used bookstore. We simply don't have room for another bookshelf, and we've winnowed everything we can bear to part with.
Would that collection have been the Baen Free Library? Pretty amazing project!