Kindle cost effective

[RJP01]

Hi. I love reading and the feel of a book. I currently try to buy a lot of my books second hand from online or shops. I was wondering though do others who use kindles think they are more cost effective than buying books. I know you have the initial outlay of buying one but after that I'm wondering if more cost effective. Any thoughts please?

You can often find a Kindle Unlimited offer of a couple of months free, so you can try as many books as you can read in that time, then either continue with a monthly payment or cancel. There are plenty of inexpensive Kindle books, as well as more expensive ones from favourite authors.

Yes, I’ve just had a month’s free Kindle Unlimited trial, which I get offered every so often. And then I remember why I won’t pay for Kindle Unlimited…

I’ve had my Kindle paperweight for 11 years, so it’s definitely worth it for me. I check the Kindle daily deal everyday, then on the first of the month go through the new Kindle offers for my preferred genre. It’s rare for me to pay more than 99p for a book, which is good, because I storm through them.

I like kindle and also Kobo for mainly practical reasons. I like that you can read in low light, plus you can expand the size of the print to make it easier to read, which is becoming more essential as I am getting older. You can't do that with books, unfortunately (and I do still love books too).

There are loads of ‘stuff your kindle’ days with free books which is great!

How do you find out about those?

I find these very much a romance novel thing. I like them as I read this genre.

Or do they also do events for crime/mystery I haven't come across yet?

They have them for loads of genres now. They did cosy mystery recently

Usually on tiktok 🙈

I wouldn’t recommend the app on a phone, tablet or laptop. They work fine, but the advantage of Kindle devices is the way they display the text using e-ink. The lighting on a Kindle is different too - front lit, not back lit. The device is easy on the eyes.

I’ve never had a Kindle that’s failed. I’ve only ever bought a new one when better versions have come out. And that’s only been three purchases in about 15 years.

Like most, I imagine, I still read print books as well. But the Kindle is the main source for me.

Kindles are no good for reference books, travel guides or cookery books.

(My one tip is to buy a model which allows ads to be turned off: I always like to see the front cover of the book when I turn the Kindle on.)

This is what I do and then move back to Prime reading after the KU offer ends
Sadly all books borrowed on KU disappear once KU ends

Unpopular opinion but I love my Kindle app and prefer it to the actual Kindle that I owned. I prefer seeing the images in colour, though I think there may be Kindles that have that option now.

And I love recipe books on it. I have nerve damage and most recipe books are too heavy for me and they take up too much room. I much prefer Kindle for that.

But yes, they’re very cost effective with Kindle book deals.

Oh, sorry, I meant to say that I do think Kindles save money in the long run. Unless you buy books only from charity shops - and they seem increasingly expensive - or are an avid library user, book buying on a Kindle is, so far as I can tell, never more expensive than a print book and usually cheaper.

I never thought I'd be a convert, but I am. I rarely read a "real" book these days. I read loads and a lot of newly published books - which are significantly cheaper on Kindle than on paper.

I would advise looking for a paperwhite - that way you can travel with it, read it anywhere including outside in bright sun. Also check the models - most of the more recent ones (certainly in the last few years) are waterproof, which can be very handy if you are likely to drop it in the bath or the pool! Which I once did with one of the older models. It didn't like it very much!

I just love the convenience of my kindle. I've always got something on it to read. It fits into my handbag easier than a book . You don't need two hands to keep the book open so can read and eat at the same time. I can change the size of the print, When I broke my first one I ordered a new one immediately.

Thanks, am I going to have to finally sign up?😁

Thank you so much everyone

Of course not. There's loads of ways to find out about low price Kindle books without having to resort to Tiktok.

Ereaderiq
Just make a habit of looking at the Kindle daily deal
Keep an eye on your Amazon account for Kindle Unlimited offers
Save books you want in your wishlist then sort by low price first
Camelcamelcamel

Probably loads more.

Just make a habit of looking at the Kindle daily deal

This will be the undoing of me. I read 60+ books a year and always have about two+years worth of books still to read thanks to daily deal!

Another thing to mention for people who aren't aware - I have mentioned this to a few people who didn't know about it. There's something called "First Reads" - a monthly offer on books due to be published. You can get one book per month (there's sometimes a short read as well) at 99p if you have an Amazon account, and for £0 if you have Prime.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/firstreads

On the other hand, I've got three Kindles and the oldest one is more than a decade old and still functioning perfectly well!

I use “Libby” which is an app to borrow from the library. Doesn’t have the latest releases but they, usually, appear a few months later.

Libby doesn't work on a Kindle. It's either a tablet or Kobo reader.

Lucky you! Mine which died after very little use was a paperwhite, so not cheap. It froze and there was nothing that could be done. I bought the same again but then had to pay extra for the benefit of not having adverts on it.

For those interested in finding cheap deals. Look at BookBub. You can select the genres you like to read and it sends you a daily email with deals and a short synopsis of the books. Most of them are free or 99p.

I've had my Kindle for 10 years and it's still perfect. I'd actually quite like a new one but won't until this one dies.... which may be a while with how strong it's going.

I was an early adopter with Kindles and am on my 3rd in about 14 years.

I had an old 'buttons' one which I sold after a couple of years when the first Paperwhite came out. That was used daily until a couple of years ago when I got a newer version that was waterproof when on a really good offer.

I kept the old one as a backup but recently traded it in so I could 'double discount' and get a Scribe for not much more than half price.

So I think most of them do last and if they don't, Amazon can be quite good with discounts on replacements, I've read.

I am another Kobo user. I love being able to borrow library books from the comfort of my sofa! I read quickly so buying books would cost a small fortune. (And my local library isn't actually convenient to get to, unfortunately.)