My Kindle Workflow

Finding a good book

In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many you can get through, but how many can get through to you.

— Mortimer J. Adler

Honestly, it's not easy. One day you're scrolling social media, you see someone you follow recommend a book, you start it — and then realise it's an obscure slog, lose interest, and drift back to your phone.

I choose books based on my interests, my current knowledge level, and recommendations from people whose taste I trust. Interest gives me the motivation to finish. If my background is too thin, I get overwhelmed no matter how curious I am. And recommendations from like-minded people are a simple but effective recommendation algorithm.

Finding the right eBook version

After deciding what to read, I look for a clean version.

Sources for eBooks

The Amazon Kindle store is the most direct option. A few public e-libraries are good alternatives too:

• z-Library
• Anna's Archive

I always prefer the EPUB format because it lets me customise the typeface.

Say goodbye to the abridged version

Due to censorship, many Simplified Chinese editions are abridged. When that happens, reach for the Traditional Chinese version or the original-language edition instead.

Translating an eBook (optional)

If the book isn't in a language you read comfortably, you can translate it:

1. Import the book into Calibre
2. Install the Ebook Translator plugin
3. Translate the book

Besides the free engines, you can point it at your own LLM API. If that's not an option and the free engines disappoint, switch to DeepLX. Its author also hosts a free DeepLX API.

Here's the translator config I use:

{
  "name": "DeepLX Translator",
  "source_lang": "<source>",
  "target_lang": "<target>",
  "request": {
    "url": "https://deeplx.missuo.ru/translate?key=<API KEY>",
    "method": "POST",
    "headers": { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
    "data": {
      "source_lang": "<source>",
      "target_lang": "<target>",
      "text": "<text>"
    }
  },
  "response": "response['data']"
}

Transferring files

Once you have the file, Send to Kindle handles the rest. The whole loop — from discovering a book to reading it on the device — takes only a few minutes.