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AIBU?

To think the free books on Kindle Unlimited are a bit shit?

78 replies

Orangeanddemons · 09/08/2015 17:24

Lots of horror, crime (usually against women and children), bonk busters, chic shit or stories of tortured childhoods.

But nothing much I really want to read, despite the fact I love love reading and can get through 3books a day. It seems I'm paying 7:99 a month for dross. Is this right?

OP posts:

Report

ImperialBlether · 09/08/2015 23:33

Thanks for that, fireflygirl!!!

DisconcertedAndRetired · 10/08/2015 08:19

It's great for old classics though.

You don't have to pay anything to read old classics though. I have an old Sony Reader (nowhere near as nice as a modern Kindle) and I have over a hundred classics downloaded off the web stored on it, didn't go anywhere near Amazon. I'm sure you can do the same with a Kindle.

Orangeanddemons · 10/08/2015 09:36

I assumed I was paying 7:99 for the equivalent of a lending library, not for what is on there. That is what makes me annoyed. But I agree about the cost of ebooks, even with VAT.

I've cancelled my subscription, but I think for e books to take off in a huge way, there will have to be a way of borrowing good books at a lower or free rate, like a library. I can currently buy best selling authors second hand for a quid

OP posts:

Orangeanddemons · 10/08/2015 09:36

In my local charity shop. Can you buy second hand ebooks?

OP posts:

ImperialBlether · 10/08/2015 12:35

You can get e-books through your library, if you have the right e-reader. My neighbour has a Kobo (?) and he can do it but I have a Kindle Paperwhite and I can't.

No, you can't buy secondhand e-books. The only thing you can do is share with someone - I know a woman at work used to lend her mum e-books and vice versa. I think it means having access to the other person's account, though.

CoogerAndDark · 10/08/2015 12:43

Overdrive is the main platform thingy that libraries use, but not compatible with Kindle. If it's an Internet enabled Kindle (tablet type) then I think there is a way to access library e books, but you need a live connection to do it.

RabbitsarenotHares · 10/08/2015 13:45

Imperial and Harriet - don't suppose you could pm me links please?

ImperialBlether · 10/08/2015 15:06

Check your post, Rabbits

HarrietVane99 · 10/08/2015 17:43

Have pm'ed you, Rabbits.

I use Overdrive on my Kindle Fire. It depends on a) a book being available in that format and b) the library actually buying it in that format.

Incidentally, I discovered recently that anyone can join the City of London libraries and have access to their e-resources; it's not necessary to live or work in the City. You can join online and just need to visit a City library once with some ID to have your membership validated.

Ratbagcatbag · 10/08/2015 18:05

Imperial and Harriet can you pm me too. Have run out of books and was going to hunt some down tonight.

HarrietVane99 · 10/08/2015 18:19

Done.

SillyStuffBiting · 10/08/2015 18:51

Imperial I think I might have read your 2 books, Harriet and an aging rocker?

Loved them!

I'm on unlimited and manage to find some good books.

ImperialBlether · 11/08/2015 00:16

No that's Fiona Jane Collins, SillyStuff! They are funny, aren't they? Will PM you mine as you can get them free on that Amazon deal.

Will PM you too, RatBag - sorry, didn't see this earlier.

fionajaneblushes · 11/08/2015 11:23

Thanks, sillystuff, yes that one's mine!

Thanks for the mention, Imperial. I'm currently enjoying a mild hangover by a Spanish pool...

BertieBotts · 11/08/2015 11:25

They are really terrible. I'm making a list of everything I come across which I might want to read which is on the list and when it gets full enough I'll get the one month trial and read as many of them as I can, then cancel!

There do seem to be a lot of children's books on there though, though I'm not sure if they are rubbish, might be worth doing if you share an account with a book-loving DC?

slightlyeggstained · 11/08/2015 21:07

Daft question, but do you keep whatever you've downloaded after the free trial?

laffymeal · 11/08/2015 21:10

Yes you do keep them..but you wouldn't want to

Loula117 · 11/08/2015 21:15

If you want classics - Austen, Brontes, Hardy and other authors of that ilk out of copyright - then go to Project Gutenberg website, you can download them for free to your computer and then move them to your kindle.

ImperialBlether · 11/08/2015 21:19

You can only do that with a Kindle Fire, can't you, Loula? I love the Paperwhite but it's frustrating not being able to use anyone else but Amazon.

ouryve · 11/08/2015 21:29

I was reading some pretty good Icelandic crime novels full of Icelandic history and social commentary and had just two books to go, by that author, when the lending library ceased and kindle unlimited started. I get so little time to read, uninterrupted, so it ended up cheaper for me to just buy the last book for a whole £4 after my "free trial" expired.

And the same books that end up available on kindle unlimited often end up in the 99p sales, so unless you plough through more than a couple of books a week, the monthly fee just isn't worth it.

Loula117 · 11/08/2015 22:08

Mine's just a regular oldskool kindle Imperial. The early type with a letter keys at the bottom. Nothing as fancy as a KindleFire. Download to your documents, plug your kindle in and drag and drop.

What we need is someone to work out the technology to borrow regular published authors' works on kindle, so they disappear off your device after a fortnight or whatever and the author gets a lending fee royalty, same as they do with printed library books. That's what I initially thought they were offering and I'd absolutely go for that. I read voraciously and am probably in my local library twice a week, but I can't be doing with trawling through self-published and unedited dross for the odd gem (which I'm sure exists, but I want the good stuff quickly and easily!)

ImperialBlether · 12/08/2015 11:31

The thing is that regular published authors sell their books for £3-8 on Kindle and the lending fee would be very small. It's just not worth being involved in it, from their point of view.

It might be cheaper in the long run to buy a Kobo or something and borrow free books from the library. Ask the library which e-readers they support.

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CoogerAndDark · 12/08/2015 16:58

I tried the Harriet Truscott sample but the two sentence paragraphs and all the gaps......aaaaaaaaaargh!

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 12/08/2015 17:25

You can read stuff on a Paperwhite that you didn't get from Amazon! It has to be a
Mobi file but you can download Calibre for free to convert things, then email them to your Kindle email address. Not sure if everything is convertible, but when I read drafts for writer friends I do it that way.

WitchofScots · 12/08/2015 18:25

Countess I do that on my Kindle Touch.

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