Gransnet forums

Books/book club

Kindle Unlimited - worthwhile?

(43 Posts)
Orangebottom Mon 24-Aug-26 16:18:56

Hi all, am a novice kindler and assumed it would be cost effective to subscribed to Amazon's Kindle Unlimited. Only I can't see anything in there I would like to read. Before I assume I just need to get a he books I actually want, rather than because they are in offer on unlimited, thought I'd see how others have got one. I tried searching by author eg Ann Patchett and genre, neither seemed to either be available or flat my boat. Thoughts,?

yellowcanary Wed 26-Aug-26 13:33:10

If you are an Amazon Prime member you also get a free book (sometimes two) every month out of a choice of about 9/10 and a bonus book as well.

The email comes at the start of every month and is headed First Reads.

There's usually a varied selection for different tastes, and as they are free you can try different genres.

Stillness Wed 26-Aug-26 15:37:33

Personally I think it’s worthwhile. I’m an avid reader but don’t want to buy actual books all the time. I find there’s loads on KU. when I search the kindle store, I filter it to show KU only and find a huge choice. I also like that you can just return the book, if it isn’t your thing and look for something else. After a bit, it does keep prioritising books of a similar genre so you do have to actively widen your search. I also get daily bookbub emails which include KU. You may not always get access to the latest bestsellers but that doesn’t bother me. I would look some authors up and see if they’re included and then you can work out if it’d work for you.

Hithere Wed 26-Aug-26 17:07:13

BTW, you are aware Amazon offers First Reads the first day of every month, right?

1 or 2 books every month with your membership.

Hithere Wed 26-Aug-26 17:09:16

for free

www.amazon.com/firstreads?tag=gransnetforum-21

Floradora9 Wed 26-Aug-26 21:43:06

yellowcanary

If you are an Amazon Prime member you also get a free book (sometimes two) every month out of a choice of about 9/10 and a bonus book as well.

The email comes at the start of every month and is headed First Reads.

There's usually a varied selection for different tastes, and as they are free you can try different genres.

I find they are so based on American taste I seldom bother to claim any.

Love59 Thu 27-Aug-26 13:14:30

Am I going to make myself really unpopular if I say that you can’t beat a real book, whether borrowed from the library or purchased from a charity shop?

Love59 Thu 27-Aug-26 13:16:19

Of course I understand that for those with poor eyesight, Kindle is a godsend…

Willow11 Thu 27-Aug-26 15:07:55

I love using KU. Very poor eyesight. I'm a crime/thriller reader.
I narrow the search down to crime and yesterday there were over 60k books to choose from. I try new authors to me and have read some great books.
One of the things I do is keep a record of books I'd like to read and check this every other month and occasionally they are on the free list.
There is also borrow box from the library. But the ones on there are a few years old.

DeeAitch56 Sun 30-Aug-26 14:01:10

UK
I have a kindle that I use weekly if not daily, but I no longer have Unlimited, mainly because I don’t think I read enough books to justify it, that said I can still access a wide range of books that are free and/or very cheap. I also follow Joffe books who give one book a week free
Whilst I can’t read them on my basic kindle I can also borrow library e-books for free and read them in my tablet

Graunty7 Sun 30-Aug-26 14:04:14

Borrow box is the library version . Free as long as you belong to a library. It down loads to phone to read or audio book .

Floradora9 Sun 30-Aug-26 21:59:20

do not forget that if you have an Alexa enabled gadget she will read any book you have in your kindle library . I listen to her every night when I go to sleep, if I cannot sleep in the night and if I waken too early to get up . You can set a sleep timer to stop it playing after as long as you want. I find her voice nicer to listen to then some books I have bought on Audible some are so American .

Floradora9 Sun 30-Aug-26 22:00:02

Remember too you get lots of magazines to read with KU.

Mollygo Mon 31-Aug-26 10:08:24

Thanks for the reminder about using Alexa to read Kindle books. Saves a lot of money instead of using apps like Speechify or Peech.

EmilyHarburn Mon 31-Aug-26 15:14:48

My free books come on the county library borrow box. Sometimes I buy books on Kindle at less that £5 usually 99p

Pinkrinse Tue 01-Sept-26 18:59:42

Get in touch with your local library, mine does a free online lending service. Amazing!

BatistaSpinola Mon 07-Sept-26 02:54:20

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

grandMattie Mon 07-Sept-26 05:17:53

Pinkrinse

Get in touch with your local library, mine does a free online lending service. Amazing!

I was just about to mention that. Most libraries offer ebooks. If you don’t know how to do it, take your device with you to your branch or ask a grandchild.