Error message 'Ebook corrupt' when trying to add to Books app (Catalina)

I just can't thank you enough for this fix! I have had tons of problems with Books and syncing to my various devices the past couple of days, and I think this will go a long way to helping with that. Definitely one of the most helpful posts I have seen in the communities.

I would also like to add my thanks for your solution. I followed your instructions, and it worked for me, but I hope Apple will fix this bug very soon because this is a royal pain to edit every new ebook I upload to iBooks. 1 DEC 2019

It seems the Books app in Catalina is quite particular when it comes to the naming scheme used for the html files within the epub package. While we wait for Apple to remedy this in a coming release, a quick fix is:

1) Download and install the latest Calibre https://calibre-ebook.com

2) Right-click on the epub file that gives the "ebook corrupt" error in Books and choose Open With ebook-edit

3) This will launch the Calibre file editor. In the leftmost column, called "File Browser", select all html files in the Text section and right-click.

4) Choose "Bulk rename the selected files"

5) In the pop-up window, change Prefix to index_. and starting number to 1 - then press OK

6) From the menu bar choose File - Save. You can now exit the book editor app.

The ebook will now open in Books on your desktop without any problems... except of course that you will have to redo all of the above for every single ebook that shows you this error.

It seems the current desktop Books version simply crashes when it encounters certain html naming schemes, and simply renaming all the files to index_0001, index_0002, ... etc. fixes the problem.

Hopefully Apple will take note of it and fix this glitch in the next OS update.

HI - maybe I am missing something, but why don't you just airdrop them?

• on your iPhone go Settings - General - Airdrop and then choose Everyone
• on your Mac right-click the ebook file, choose Share - Airdrop , then click on the iPhone icon in the pop-up windows
• accept the incoming airdrop on your iPhone, then choose Books as the app to open the file with

Hey Brancaleone!!!

Thanks for the tip!! Works like a charm. Was about to lose my mind, but this sorted things quite nicely.

Much appreciated!!!

Thank you so much, issue resolved.

Thanks a lot Brancaleone! Issue solved!

I would also like to add my thanks for your solution. I followed your instructions, and it worked for me, but I hope Apple will fix this bug very soon because this is a royal pain to edit every new ebook I upload to iBooks. 1 DEC 2019

At long last, it seems Catalina 10.15.2 takes care of the issue. After updating, Books no longer acts up when the naming scheme of the html/xhtml files inside the package is nonstandard.

Interestingly, this fix is not mentioned at all in the release notes for 10.15.2, but they must have done something none the less.

All is well that ends well.

Any chance you know how to add these books manually to the iPhone? I used to do it through iTunes but now I'm unable to...

Genius. Thanks so much.