In regards to the tablet, I’m thinking about buying an Amazon Fire HD 8 though I’m open to any and all recommendations.
As for the distro, I’m fine with Ubuntu or Linux Mint (or for that matter anything that you may recommend).
For the ebook reading software, I’m leaning towards using Foliate since it supports kindle, epub, and pdf formats, not to mention that the UI is great and intuitive.
Honestly, an actual ereader might work out better for you if that’s all you plan to do.
Can you recommend me one?
Any kobo products, second hand kobos are great as they’re really reliable.
Onyx is much nicer, essentially a tablet with an e ink display. Look at the onyx book 2 refurbished
I bought a used Kobo Aura in 2014 and used it until summer 2022. Then I bought a Kobo Libra 2 and my mother got the Aura and it still works flawlessly to this day. Kobos do last a long time.
I pulled out my 2015 kobo glo HD, hasn’t been used since 2017… still had a charge and worked perfectly.
Also, KOReader adds a bunch of extra features and functionality.
I agree with the Kobo recommendation. They’re great devices. However, OP specifically mentioned azw3, which is Amazon’s format, right? You’re not going to be reading eBooks from Amazon on a Kobo. Your choices are DRM-free ebooks, or books from Kobo’s serviceable, but kind of crappy, store. Also, in most cases, pdfs are going to be practically unreadable on any Kobo; you need something more in the format of a reMarkable to get usable pdf on an e-ink device. PDF was another requirement.
Kobos will read azw3 and it’s easier to put on a kobo than it is a linux image. Also Calibre does a great job of converting azw3 to epub format.
I really like my boox nova air with koreader installed on it. It’s a pretty nice ~8in eink device all around.
Pocketbook eReaders are very high quality and run Linux out of the box.
I hope I just had bad experience, but I have the aqua with backlight. About 2 years in, the display got terrible; hardly any contrast, especially in the edges. About 3 years in, the rubber buttons just crumbled away; so no more waterproof.
Can’t read anyways anymore, the contrast by now is like egg white on snow white. Didn’t mistreat, it was always stored dry and in no direct sunlight.
You have a few options.
If you want to save money, a Kobo or Kindle is a good starting point. Obviously tracking and logging pre-installed so keep that in mind. But there are ways around the DRM locks, and Kobo can be moodified to run KOReader.
If you don’t want the slow and laggy e-reader experience, any Android tablet will do so long as its not those “cheap” ones you find at Walmart. With the exception of the Fire Tablets (they are subsidies), you’ll probably want to spend about $150+ on it. A used tablet with Android 8 or newer should work too. KOReader again is available and is the most compatible e-reader app, with Moon Reader as my fallback.
But if Money is no Object, you might as well get an iPad, the pre-installed Book app from Apple is amazing, easy to use, and if you disable iCloud for it (unless that’s what you want) versatile. The best bit is, you can even use an iPad Air 1 and it works well. Sure transferring books is a pain, but it can be done with iTunes.
However if you want eInk, then you only option is an Android e-reader. Onyx Boox, Pocket Book, Bouye, etc. The problem with these devices is that they are not cheap, and they will get dropped before an update becomes available. I have experience with Boyue and Onyx Boox. My two Likebooks, are stuck on androids 4.4 and 5, and never had an update since I got them. While my Onyx Boox has surprised me and had an update this week for the baked in apps though the OS version is still 10.
In my view I think you need to get a good but cheap device, old iPad, kindle, etc. Use it and break it. Find what you do and don’t like about it, then spend good money for the box that fixes it. I started with my Android tablet and hated the battery life, my Kobo sucked because it has no color. I got a Nova 3 Color and I’ve been quite happy, but I do miss the MicroSD card.