BookBridge

Listen in the car, read in bed, never lose your place.

What is BookBridge?

BookBridge is an open source project, built and maintained by its developer, that keeps one reading position across the ways you enjoy a book. Listen to a chapter in Audiobookshelf on the drive home, then open the ebook in bed and it is waiting at the same spot. Read a few pages on your KOReader e-reader, and the audiobook picks up from there the next morning.

It works with Audiobookshelf for listening, with Kavita, Calibre-Web Automated, Grimmory, BookOrbit and Storyteller for ebooks, and with KOReader on e-readers.

BookBridge is not a reader and holds no books. Bring the ebook and the audiobook you own; BookBridge lines them up and carries your place between them.

Why run BookBridge on ElfHosted?

• Its own secure address. Your e-reader syncs from anywhere, at home or away, with no ports to open on your router.
• Behind your ElfHosted login. The dashboard opens with the account you already use, and nobody else can reach it.
• Already knows your apps. BookBridge already knows where your hosted Audiobookshelf, Kavita, Calibre-Web Automated, Grimmory, BookOrbit and Storyteller live. Bring your logins, not addresses.
• Books line up on their own. English books are matched as a background job, so you add a book and carry on with your day. A long audiobook takes a while.
• Your e-reader keeps up. It catches up a few minutes after you put it down.
• Kept running and updated, so new BookBridge releases reach you without you lifting a finger.
• Backed up daily, with restores you can run yourself.
• Help when you want it. Sam, our AI helper, and a human team on Discord.

How books line up

To carry your place from what you heard to what you read, BookBridge matches the words in the audiobook with the words in the ebook.

• English books line up on their own, in the background.
• Books already run through a hosted Storyteller line up most accurately, because Storyteller has already done the careful matching.
• Other languages need Storyteller, or a transcription service of your own.

Technical Specifications

• 🛠️ Software: BookBridge, open source, run as its developer publishes it
• 🎧 Listening: Audiobookshelf
• 📖 Reading: Kavita, Calibre-Web Automated, Grimmory, BookOrbit and Storyteller
• 📱 E-readers: KOReader
• 🔗 Address: your own private ElfHosted subdomain with HTTPS
• 🔐 Access: the dashboard sits behind your ElfHosted login
• 🔄 Updates: handled by ElfHosted
• 💾 Backups: daily, with self-service restore

Frequently Asked Questions

Does BookBridge include any books?
No. BookBridge is not a reader and holds no books. Bring the ebook and audiobook you own, in the apps you already use.

Do I have to type in where my apps live?
Not for the apps you host with us. BookBridge already knows where they are, so you only add your logins.

Do I need to open ports for my e-reader?
No. BookBridge has its own secure address, so KOReader syncs from home, from work or from a hotel room.

Why isn't my new audiobook in sync yet?
Matching runs as a background job, and a long audiobook takes a while. Your place starts carrying across once it finishes.

What about books that aren't in English?
Run them through Storyteller first, or connect a transcription service of your own.

Who makes BookBridge?
BookBridge is an open source project by cporcellijr, who builds and maintains it. ElfHosted is not affiliated with the project; we simply run it for you. If it saves your place, their Ko-fi is the place to say thanks.

BookBridge keeps one bookmark across the car, the couch and the e-reader, so the story is always where you left it.

Start your 7-day ElfHosted trial and pick up tonight where you left off this morning.