PineNote (Pine 64) or reMarkable (Pro if you have budget, 2 or even 1 otherwise)

Both work on Linux proper, the reMarkable comes with Linux out of the box whereas PineNote comes with Android but one can install Linux on it.

They are mostly to sketch but it is also good to read. You can pretty much use whatever you want on them, including developing your own software. I don't know if they have Calibre clients because whats I do is... just scp my ePubs or PDFs on there.

Here are my tinkering notes on both https://fabien.benetou.fr/Tools/Eink but feel free to ask any clarification.

PS: the Bookeen Diva also does not require any software, namely you can plug it on Linux, it gets detected as a filesystem and you can copy DRM-free content on it. It's a totally different form factor (much smaller so IMHO not great for comics) and I don't think there is the same open-source community as the other 2.

I've had an e-ink device, and read ebooks on a number of devices. Some notes:

• If it's a casual read and I can get the book in epub or mobi format, I might just have it on my phone and use Librera.

• I did not like e-ink displays at all. The text itself doesn't appear easier on the eyes to me, and if anything the jarring refreshes on each page turn make the overall experience even more straining. For this reason regular Android tablets have become my preferred way to read books.

• For tablets I suggest one that is at least 10 inches. A lot of ebooks are still only available in pdf format, and I've found that anything smaller than a 10 inch display makes for bad pdf reading.

• Following from all that, I would suggest the Pixel Tablet, because from a privacy perspective, you have the option to install GrapheneOS on it. From there you can get F-Droid, install any of those ebook apps, and now you have a reasonably secure and private ebook reader - and the best part is, because it's a general purpose tablet, you're not accumulating unnecessary single-purpose devices. You never know if the tablet might have other important uses down the line.

I have a Boox Go Color, but most Boox ereaders are good devices. You can have a Calibre library self-hosted and use the Android app "Calibre sync" to access it on your ereader.

I bought an old Sony ereader on eBay a couple years ago but the battery is shot and apparently replacing it requires soldering?! I had been thinking about bringing it to a phone repair shop to get it fixed but now I think that is probably a no-go. Yesterday I researched how repairable the Kobo ereaders are and based on iFixit they seem pretty horrendous, even the newer Clara BW that has an OEM repair guide and official OEM parts available on iFixit (although it is marginally better than the old Aura HD). Now I am thinking I may just forego ereaders altogether. The repair situation with laptops, tablets and phones is bad enough nowadays. I don't want anything to do with something even worse than that. I would get the PineNote but I am too poor to pay $400 for an ereader.

I have just been using my old iPad (with the low contrast feature enabled for bedtime reading) but obviously that is not great for privacy so I would have to use another device for some books. I could use an old OnePlus that I have but it has an AMOLED display so it's not great for reading but maybe I can mitigate that with the right software and configuration.

I would just buy paper books but unfortunately that has its privacy issues as well, at least in my case. If one is in a shared living situation it can hard be to keep private what you are reading if other people are nosy. And even just buying paper books anonymously can be impossible if you cannot buy what you want to read with cash at a brick and mortar store. I have no idea how you anonymously order books online (and I am not talking about some dark web marketplace that accepts Monero and has 10 books). It is probably possible if you have enough money to throw at the problem, which I don't.

I have a Kobo sage and its pretty good. Just avoid the color ones.

I use a Lenovo M9 tablet and Readera as an e-reader and Smart Audiobook player and am very happy with it. Both apps are free without ads but also have a paid version with a couple extra features. I hop on wifi and connect to calbre-web download all the books I want and then turn wifi off for maximum privacy

I don't have experience with any readers until recently. Did some research and went with. Kobo colour. It has met expectations and I'm using it with no issue.

I wanted physical buttons.

I didn't want an Amazon device.

I have a Remarkable Paper Pro that I love for graphic novels, aside of its hand-writting capabilities. It's also good for reading books, but the size is a bit too big to carry it without a bag or when out and about. Ideally, I'd like something like the Boox Palma 2, but not sure if I can justify the price + Pen having already another eNotebook.

On Android I use FBReader. I paid for the Premium version.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fbreader

The Miyoo Mini Plus. It's a Gameboy Linux Emulator device. Besides being able to run most games up to ps1, you can also put ebooks as pdf or epub on it.