As you may know, I decided to try out Kindle Unlimited when I was feeling kind of meh back in March. I read a grand total of 4 books with my two month subscription, one of them with an audiobook.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
This is the book I read with narration added- it really helped keep my mind on track and immersed in the book. In case you missed my review, I loved this book (and I was surprised that I did!).
The Staff and the Blade (Irin Chronicles #4) by Elizabeth Hunter
I've been waiting to read this one since it came out, so it didn't take me long to read it when I realized my Kindle Unlimited subscription was waning. It was a bit of a different read for paranormal romance- a love story in short vignettes, which worked in some ways. The disappointing aspect was you sort of knew some of this story from a previous book in the series, but it couldn't be helped.
The Silent (Irin Chronicles #5) by Elizabeth Hunter
I enjoyed this book in the Irin Chronicles a bit more, as I had admired Kyra in previous books and wanted to read about her happily ever after. Since this wasn't in vignettes, I felt it flowed much better than the previous book, but this story was also much simpler.
The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kiera Cass
I wrote a mini-review on Goodreads for this one, and the gist of it is this is a fun, light read for pre-royal wedding days. Of course, I am not a YA fan usually, so this isn't one of my faves, but I read it in about a day even with my reading slump.
Kindle Unlimited
Pros:
- There is a good selection of books to choose from now!
- Really, lots of books!
- You feel like you want to read twenty after you see all the books they have available!
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| Look at all these books I don't have time to read! |
Cons:
- The subscription rate is rather pricey at $9.99 per month- you could buy quite a few ebooks on sale for that price.
- Although your notes in the ebook are saved, you can't access them.
- Do you really need access to that many books? Do you not have a massive TBR?
I plan to try this at some point. I've got a list of KU available books so I'll be ready lol. But I need to wait until a time when I know I'll have lots of time to read and also when I'm not in a slump because I don't want to waste it. What do you mean by can't access the notes though? You mean you can't go back and read them? Cuz normally you can email your highlights (and I think notes) to yourself from the kindle (or phone app), not sure if you know about that? Also, if you google "kindle highlights" it'll get you to a page where you can see all the highlights (maybe also notes?), and it shows highlights for books I borrowed back when I used to have a Prime subscription. So maybe you could still see them there?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you may not have gotten a ton of reading done, but it sounds like you at least enjoyed the books you did read :-)
I've been considering trying out KU for quite some time, especially since Amazon offers a free month trial. I haven't though since I have entirely way too many books checked out at the library and a stack of books I've purchased to start digging through.
ReplyDeleteFunny observations though, especially the last bit about having a massive TBR because GUILTY AS CHARGED. Amazon is always great for their selection of books but it can definitely be overwhelming. Glad that the books you read were (mostly) enjoyable at least!
Also as a side note, I'm nominating you for The Unique Blogger Award. I'm not sure if Wordpress can pingback to Blogspot, so I'm going to go ahead and drop the link here if that's okay: https://limitless-blue.net/lastpage/the-unique-blogger-award/
The reason I don't frequent my public library (for myself--I do for my daughter's sake) is because I feel guilty with so many books in my own house I have yet to read. I have much the same feelings about Kindle Unlimited. Plus, it is pretty pricey. It sounds like I am not alone in my thoughts on this.
ReplyDeleteI've been so, so tempted to try Kindle Unlimited but one of your cons just hits the nail right on the head: it's so pricey and I'm fortunate enough to have easy access to two libraries, both of which are extremely well-stocked (as well as access to an ebook library) so I didn't really see the need to spend more money. Also, I've recently been hearing some not-so-great things about Amazon's book policy (they buy physical books from publishers at an extremely discounted rate so the publishers don't make money at all) so I'm not sure how much more money I want to give them. Still, I think it's a cool concept for anyone who doesn't have access to boundless physical books!
ReplyDeleteLaura @BlueEyeBooks
I feel like KU tries to tempt people in... but unless you're an *exceptionally* fast reader, the price tag just doesn't seem worth it!
ReplyDelete(Side note: A lot of people - i.e. me - need to watch the pennies so can't go spending that amount - if you paid 12 months subscription, that'd be about $120, or *checks on online currency converter* about £89.)
Yeah, I just don't read that much (at least this year). And I love hoarding books for later, so... :P
ReplyDelete$120 is way too much for me to spend... but I wouldn't mind if someone felt like gifting me a year's subscription. ;)
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Cee Arr!
~Litha Nelle
Yeah, it totally makes me a guilty party if I signed up for it full time- Kindle Unlimited is for readers who live a long way from the library and read tons. I just can't read that much any more! Ugh, Amazon is always an ethical dilemma- I usually always try to buy elsewhere, but sometimes that cheap price just has your number.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting, Laura!
~Litha Nelle
Yes! Exactly that- you feel like a complete book glutton, not just a casual one. I would say Kindle Unlimited is for a select group of people, but definitely not for everyone.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting, Wendy!
~Litha Nelle
I felt so guilty just trying it out too, because 1. I didn't use it near as much as I thought I would and 2. The giant pile of books on my TBR already. Oh well, at least it was a cheap experience for me! And thanks for nominating me for the Unique Blogger award- I will have to check that out after I catch up with the rest of my blogging duties.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and sharing, Jamie!
~Litha Nelle
I haven't tried to dig into my old Kindle Unlimited notes, but somewhere I heard that you may not be able to access them. I will have to test that hearsay out later. I did have some fun reading these Kindle Unlimited titles. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting, Kristen!
~Litha Nelle
Awesome, I look forward to it! Haha yeah those reasons you listed are the main reason I haven't. I have way too many books checked out at the library all the time and wouldn't have the time to actually take advantage of it. Someday though!
ReplyDeleteI doubt I'll ever get Kindle Unlimited. Not only do I have a seemingly summit-less TBR mountain, but I have yet to run out of books to check out from the library. I suppose if I didn't have access to a library then I would consider it; similar to paying for Netflix because it's considerably cheaper than cable and I don't know of any free options that are legal.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that you hadn't read The Hobbit! I'm happy that you liked it. Had you seen the movies? I haven't read it since the first time the summer before my senior year in high school, fourty-four years ago. Heh heh. I am planning a re-read this year. 📚
ReplyDeleteI did the free Unlimited 30- day trial about a year after it first came out and there still weren't that many books I was interested in. Now with my library cyber-card I can get most everything I want as ebook or audio, so it would be stupid for me to pay for basically the same thing. ☺