I went through this migration last year. A few things that helped:

Calibre is the escape hatch. Converts everything to EPUB. Even if you don't use it day-to-day, it's the best tool for getting your library out of Amazon's format.

Public domain catalogs are huge now. Standard Ebooks, Internet Archive, Gutenberg - tens of thousands of well-formatted free EPUBs. Most people don't realize how much is out there.

For actually reading on macOS/iOS, I ended up on BookShelves (https://getbookshelves.app) after trying a few options. Native app, reads EPUB and comics, has Calibre wireless sync, and browses those public domain catalogs directly. Books are just files on your device - no account, no cloud lock-in.

Honestly the hardest part was realizing how much of my library I'd been renting rather than owning.

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MengerSponge 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

If you're even the slightest bit tech savvy you can find a DRM stripping utility for Calibre. Apprentice Alf is long retired, but a fork of that DeDRM still is maintained

	▲	cbdevidal 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Newer Kindle books published in the last few years require more than the Calibre plugin. Amazon is tightening the loop. https://www.reddit.com/r/Calibre/comments/1q1uza4/successful...
	▲	bentley 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Life is too short and my reading backlog too large for me to spend any time, money, or effort whatsoever on DRMed books. There are enough copyright‐expired and copyrighted‐but‐DRM‐free books to keep me fully occupied in perpetuity.

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4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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doctorpangloss 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

AI authored comments are against the rules.

I don't think the process you described makes sense for anyone anyway.

	▲	coldtea 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		What exactly in the process doesn't make sense? Unless the comment has been edited, it does make sense (other than the fact it's intention might just be an ad for BookShelves reader): - Use Calibre to cross-convert books. - Leverage public domain ebook catalogs: Standard Ebooks, Internet Archive, Gutenberg. - For on-device reading BookShelves app might be an option, with no cloud lock-in.