I ended my Kindle from opening different books till I’ve completed the present one

I really like studying. My house is stuffed filled with books, and so are my eReaders. The downside is that with so many nice books to learn, I discover it onerous to complete the e-book I’m on earlier than I begin the following one. I ended up including a small script to my jailbroken Kindle that stops me from opening every other books till I’ve completed the one I’m studying.

I’ve a horrible behavior of beginning a number of books without delay

My eReaders are affected by half-finished books

I read a lot, and I’ve so many physical books in my dwelling that it is getting onerous to search out house for all of them. There are cabinets of books in each room, and I nonetheless have piles of books on the ground. I commonly purchase a number of books at a time from thrift shops, however the issue then is that I need to learn them .

I typically begin one e-book, then spot one other that I actually need to learn, and begin studying that one, too. I find yourself with 5 – 6 books on the go without delay.

The downside is even worse with my eReaders, since I can match numerous books onto every machine. There are so many unread titles to tempt me that I normally have a number of eBooks at numerous phases of completion.

It signifies that between my physical books and my eBooks, the overall depend of books that I’ve began however not completed can simply hit double figures. The scenario was starting to get slightly bit ridiculous.

I wished to present myself an incentive to complete one e-book at a time

Focusing on a single e-book is a much better expertise

The downside with having so many books on the go at one time is that you just overlook what has occurred from e-book to e-book. If I begin one e-book, then decide up one other, then transfer on to a 3rd, by the point I begin studying the primary e-book once more, I’ve forgotten lots of what’s occurred. I then find yourself skimming the earlier elements to catch up.

This is a far worse expertise than simply studying a e-book from begin to end. Even once I quickly skim the elements I’ve already learn, I can simply miss essential bits of data which are very important for later within the e-book. I additionally lose all the opposite issues that make nice books so good, such because the sense of place or character.

Reading one e-book at a time is a way more immersive expertise, and there are many books that simply aren’t suited to a fast catch-up. Trying to determine who all of the characters in Middlemarch are and the way they relate to 1 one other can take so lengthy that it is virtually faster simply to begin the e-book once more from the start.

I made a decision to attempt to discover a option to curb this horrible behavior. That means, I might give every e-book the eye that it deserved.

I can cease books from opening when utilizing KOReader

I am unable to open a brand new e-book till I end the present one

My plan was to dam different books from opening on my Kindle till I’d completed the one I used to be at present studying. On a typical Kindle, this is not potential; there aren’t any native Amazon options that may cease books from opening.

Thankfully, I’ve jailbroken my Kindle 4, as a result of Amazon dropped support for it. I now have the KOReader reading app working on my Kindle, and it is higher than the usual Kindle software program. Not solely does it give me way more management over how my eBooks look, but it surely additionally permits me so as to add custom scripts that may change how KOReader capabilities.

I created a small script that KOReader runs when it begins. The first time it runs, it checks KOReader’s lastfile setting to find out the final e-book opened and saves that as my “locked” e-book.

When you open a e-book, KOReader usually calls the showReader operate with the e-book’s path. The script replaces this operate with a wrapper that first checks the locked e-book’s KOReader standing. If the studying standing is not Finished, the wrapper stops with out calling the unique showReader operate, so the brand new e-book does not open.

I spotted that this alone won’t be sufficient. I might all the time cheat and mark a e-book as Finished even when I’d solely learn a chapter or two, so I added a second test that appears on the present studying share for the locked e-book. Unless it is at the very least 80%, I am unable to open every other books, even when I’ve marked the e-book as Finished.

I set the cutoff to 80% as a result of some books embody prolonged appendices or preview chapters of later books, which signifies that whenever you attain the tip of the principle e-book, you are still not at 100%. 80% appeared like an inexpensive center floor even when the e-book does not have additional materials on the finish; if I’ve learn 80% of the content material of the principle e-book, the possibilities are that I’m going to complete it.

With my script in place, till I’ve learn at the very least 80% of the e-book and in addition marked it as Finished, no different books will open in KOReader. Instead, a message pops up on the display explaining why I am unable to open a brand new e-book but.

I’m having fun with every e-book far more

It’s nice to make use of tech to avoid wasting me from myself

The script is easy however remarkably efficient. Even if I’m tempted to learn just a few pages of one other e-book earlier than I’ve accomplished the present one, my Kindle will not let me.

If I ever need to restore my Kindle to its typical capabilities, I can simply take away the script, and I’ll have the ability to open whichever books I would like once more. For now, nonetheless, I am unable to see a cause to take away it. It’s actually serving to me to deal with a single e-book at a time, and the studying expertise for every e-book is so significantly better.

KOReader makes virtually something potential

I truthfully want that I’d jailbroken my Kindle sooner, as a result of KOReader means that you can do virtually something you possibly can consider. I’ve added an AI chatbot to my historic Kindle, used it as a smart home dashboard, and even set it up in order that I can flip the pages of my eBook simply by tapping my fingers together.