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Reading list management using org-mode. A sample list lives on my wiki [[https://lepisma.xyz/wiki/readings/reading-list][here]].
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** Quickstart ~org-books~ is available on melpa.
;; Set path to the reading list org file (setq org-books-file "~/my-list.org")
;; A basic template file can be generated using the function `org-books-create-file'.
To add books manually, use ~org-books-add-book~ function. To add from urls, call ~org-books-add-url~ (or use ~org-books-cliplink~ if url is in clipboard).
To give ratings, go to the entry and call ~org-books-rate-book~.
While filing a book, ~org-books-file-depth~ tells which headings are to be considered as a category (like fiction or something).
~org-books-add-to-top~ (default ~t~) tells whether to add the book at the top or bottom under the selected heading.
** Adding new source A /source/ for books provide a /details function/ that takes certain input (like a url in case of amazon) and returns a list of ~title~, ~author~ and ~props~. ~props~ is an alist which gets added to the entry as org properties. Here is the output from amazon's:
(print (org-books-get-details-amazon "https://www.amazon.in/Algebra-Chapter-Graduate-Studies-Mathematics/dp/0821847813/"))
: ("Algebra: Chapter 0 (Graduate Studies in Mathematics)" "Paolo Aluffi" (("AMAZON" . "https://www.amazon.in/Algebra-Chapter-Graduate-Studies-Mathematics/dp/0821847813/")))
With the details function defined, you need to write the url pattern it accepts and add it to the variable =org-books-url-pattern-dispatches=. Check variable's docstring for more details.
As of now there are the following sources:
** Using org-capture For a more flexible setup, you might just want to use ~org-capture~, possibly with a little help from functions present in this package. Directly using capture gives you much more flexibility over the structure and organization of entries. Here we describe a few capture /templates/ that can be used:
*** Manual entry
(setq org-capture-templates '(("b" "Book" entry (file "some-file.org") "* %^{TITLE}\n:PROPERTIES:\n:ADDED: %<[%Y-%02m-%02d]>\n:END:%^{AUTHOR}p\n%?" :empty-lines 1)))
*** Using url from clipboard
(setq org-capture-templates '(("b" "Book" entry (file "some-file.org") "%(let* ((url (substring-no-properties (current-kill 0))) (details (org-books-get-details url))) (when details (apply #'org-books-format 1 details)))")))
** Capturing reading logs While reading, I keep a timestamped log under the book connected via org capture template. Here is how it looks like:
,*** READING Book name
:PROPERTIES:
:AUTHOR: Author
:ADDED: [2020-03-29]
:AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/...
:END:
,**** Log
+ [2021-04-09 Fri 00:32] ...
+ [2021-04-08 Thu 23:59] This book is very ...Org capture template looks like the following, using the function ~org-books-visit-book-log~ from this package:
(setq org-capture-templates '(("b" "Book log" item (function org-books-visit-book-log) "- %U %?" :prepend t)))