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A local-first eBook reader with a journal for each book you read

A local-first eBook reader with a journal for each book you read

by forgatmachine·Jun 29, 2026·4 points·2 comments
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AI Analysis

●●SolidCozyNiche Gem

Per-book journaling with offline TTS when Kindle and Moon+ already dominate.

Strengths
  • •Journal entries stored as plain text and exportable — no vendor lock-in for notes.
  • •RSVP reading mode for focus rather than speed, with adjustable WPM for concentration.
  • •64MB sherpa-onnx model enables full offline TTS without cloud API dependencies.
Weaknesses
  • •Alpha build with acknowledged bugs and rough TTS tokenization — not production-ready.
  • •Pixel art UI is charming but may not appeal to readers wanting minimalist design.
Category
Productivity
Target Audience

Readers who want integrated note-taking and offline text-to-speech

Similar To

Kindle · Moon+ Reader · Foliate

Post Description

I made this eBook reader because I was looking for something (especially, after I got a foldable phone) that would allow me to effectively:

1. have a journal for every book I read. Taking notes is easier when I can mark up the book + insert my own pages as needed

2. have an RSVP (Rapid serial visual presentation) reading mode, not for the speed reading perspective, but for the focus

3. have all my data be stored locally on Windows or Android and be exportable as plain text whenever I wanted

This was deeply personal, and I've been using Ms. Penrose to read more. There's a bunch of bugs, it is still an alpha build (for example, the TTS tokenization is rough right now and reads aloud awkwardly).

The stack, for those curious:

Flutter + Flame

foliate‑js (MIT)

pdfium for PDF

sherpa‑onnx (offline Piper TTS) for read‑aloud

If you try it out and have any features/feedback in mind, please share!

Thank you!

Similar Projects

Productivity●●Solid

Speed Reader – Chrome extension for RSVP speed reading

RSVP + ORP highlighting paired with automatic article parsing is the extension's real selling point — one click strips clutter and centers the word for faster scanning. The privacy-first promise (no ads, no data collection) is a nice touch, but installs and reviews are tiny and the feature set is firmly iterative: useful if you want an in-browser RSVP reader, not a breakthrough in reading tech.

Niche GemSolve My Problem
GlebShalimov
114mo ago