# Reading in Obsidian

> Open a book from its note, turn pages, and come back to where you stopped.

Open a book note and choose **This book: Read** (or select **Read** in the Library panel, or right-click the note). The book opens in a tab. EPUB, AZW3 and MOBI books are read directly, with no conversion.

![A book open in a tab, with page arrows, a Contents menu and the percentage read](img/reader.png)

Use the arrows or your keyboard to turn pages, and **Contents** to jump to a chapter. The percentage is how far through the book you are.

Your place is saved in the note's `reading_position` property as you read, and the book opens there next time. **Reading: Continue reading** reopens the book you read last. Reading a book that is not read or set aside sets its status to *reading* and stamps `started`.

## What it needs

- Some provider must be able to open the book: Calibre with an EPUB, AZW3, MOBI or PDF of it (the note needs a `calibre_id`, and the Content Server or library folder supplies the file), or another provider with a link, such as Audible (the note needs an `audible_asin`).
- A PDF opens too, one page at a time (see below).

## PDFs

A PDF opens in the same tab, one page at a time, drawn at the width of the pane. **Contents** lists the pages, and your page is remembered like a place in an EPUB. If a PDF is shorter than when you left it, it opens at the last page.

![A PDF page in the reader](img/reader-pdf.png)

## Books from other providers

Reading goes through your providers. Each one says how a book can be opened, and **Read** uses the best way: a readable file first (EPUB, then AZW3, MOBI, then PDF), and otherwise a link.

- A book in Calibre opens its file.
- A book only Audible holds is an audiobook with no file to read, so **Read** opens its Audible page in your browser.
- A book held by both opens the Calibre file, and **This book: Open with…** lists every way to open it, so you can choose the Audible page instead.

A provider that is off, or can't be reached, is left out; the others still work.

Select text and choose **Highlight** to keep a passage: see [Highlights](highlights.md).

## If your place is lost

A place is a position inside a particular file. If the book in Calibre is replaced by another edition, the reader says it could not return to your place and opens at the start.

## A note about safety

An ebook is a small web page, and some contain scripts. Library Hub removes every script and tells the page not to run any before it is shown, so a book cannot reach your vault or Obsidian. The reader uses [foliate-js](https://github.com/johnfactotum/foliate-js) (MIT).