thank you for sharing. this forced me to google what happens to my audible purchases after I cancel, and I'm pleased to see any books I purchased will still be available for me to listen to.
YES! You will lose any credits if you have a subscription, but can keep the books and keep using the app (should you want to purchase a title that's an exclusive for example)
One cool thing to know about Libby app is that you can add partner libraries, in addition to your home library. There’s a way to search on the app or you can ask your local librarian for a list. I have 12 libraries I can borrow from so my wait times are seriously reduced.
Love using the Libby app. There are long waits for popular reads but I just use that time to read actual books shared between friends, or a purchased book from my local book store. One important point: Canadian users of Libby may not be able to download the books to read offline (at least I can’t in Ontario), I require a WiFi connection to read or listen.
Great list! I have so many books on my beloved Kindle going back 14 or 15 years, but I have been moving away from reflexively buying books to put on it. instead, I’ve been leaning on Libby a lot more to check them out through my local library. I would love to be able to buy e-books on bookshop.org and somehow read them on my actual Kindle, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet…I very much prefer reading on an E ink device and don’t want to read on an app.
My kindle is really old and hardly holds a charge, so last year I was just about to replace it with another, but decided to do a bit of research first. I ended up buying a Kobo e-reader instead. Mostly to break away from Amazon, but another reason is that here in Australia, we can't put library books on the kindle. It's not supported. But I can use Overdrive on my Kobo, so that was a no-brainer. I still have hundreds of books in my kindle app, and my kindle is still limping along, and also I can get them in the kindle app on my phone, but I'm loving my new Kobo. I buy books directly from Rakutan/Kobo and there are deals similar to Amazon daily deals, and I can get library books through Overdrive. Oh, and for any of your other readers who are outside the US, BorrowBox, through the library, is awesome for audiobooks. I quit my Audible sub years ago, but get audiobooks from the library through Libby or BorrowBox. I've found BorrowBox often has more availability that Libby.
I appreciate the alternatives in audible books, I have ended my subscription to Audible anyway because it’s just too expensive. However, I did look into not using or buying Kindle, and found out that Bezos actually makes no money on the books offered via Kindle and there’s no cost to me for continuing to use Kindle / Amazon doesn’t make any money on it I believe. I have ended my prime membership and the thing that made me decide that I’m gonna continue to buy Kindle books is that many of the ones I buy are only like $2.99, and they’re by up-and-coming authors who may or may not be selling in other venues. And the authors make the money, so I want to support these authors.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I’ve been meaning to research this, and have not gotten around to it. I feel like everyone I know has just canceled or is on the verge of it. I will pass this information along!
My brain is not braining ... will Calibre read Kindle files or convert other files to read on a Kindle? I have about 500 Kindle book files (I buy a lot for under $5) and am really annoyed that we can't download *purchased* Kindle books anymore! So I want to buy them elsewhere but be able to read my old ones maybe not on the Kindle. I will check out bookshop.org for new books!
This is what I can find about converting Kindle files to PDFs that seems legit (cross-referencing with some reddit posts and geek forums) https://itsfoss.com/calibre-remove-drm-kindle/
thank you for sharing. this forced me to google what happens to my audible purchases after I cancel, and I'm pleased to see any books I purchased will still be available for me to listen to.
YES! You will lose any credits if you have a subscription, but can keep the books and keep using the app (should you want to purchase a title that's an exclusive for example)
One cool thing to know about Libby app is that you can add partner libraries, in addition to your home library. There’s a way to search on the app or you can ask your local librarian for a list. I have 12 libraries I can borrow from so my wait times are seriously reduced.
That is fantastic, thank you!
Also - thank you, Liz. These are all great options!
Spotify is now also offering audio books. I haven’t tried it yet and I’m not sure how the selection is. But it’s another option.
Thank you for the shoutout to The Society of Shame! You are beloved to me! :-D
❤️📚❤️
Love using the Libby app. There are long waits for popular reads but I just use that time to read actual books shared between friends, or a purchased book from my local book store. One important point: Canadian users of Libby may not be able to download the books to read offline (at least I can’t in Ontario), I require a WiFi connection to read or listen.
Good tip! And welcome Canadian friends, we love you! 🇨🇦
Great list! I have so many books on my beloved Kindle going back 14 or 15 years, but I have been moving away from reflexively buying books to put on it. instead, I’ve been leaning on Libby a lot more to check them out through my local library. I would love to be able to buy e-books on bookshop.org and somehow read them on my actual Kindle, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet…I very much prefer reading on an E ink device and don’t want to read on an app.
but it sounds like with Calibre I can send to the app and then still have it show up in my kindle library/reader?
Yes! Or use the Amazon URL for Send to my Kindle (pops right up in search)
My kindle is really old and hardly holds a charge, so last year I was just about to replace it with another, but decided to do a bit of research first. I ended up buying a Kobo e-reader instead. Mostly to break away from Amazon, but another reason is that here in Australia, we can't put library books on the kindle. It's not supported. But I can use Overdrive on my Kobo, so that was a no-brainer. I still have hundreds of books in my kindle app, and my kindle is still limping along, and also I can get them in the kindle app on my phone, but I'm loving my new Kobo. I buy books directly from Rakutan/Kobo and there are deals similar to Amazon daily deals, and I can get library books through Overdrive. Oh, and for any of your other readers who are outside the US, BorrowBox, through the library, is awesome for audiobooks. I quit my Audible sub years ago, but get audiobooks from the library through Libby or BorrowBox. I've found BorrowBox often has more availability that Libby.
Excellent tips! And I know Kobo is BELOVED - beautiful interface from a cool indie Canadian company.
I appreciate the alternatives in audible books, I have ended my subscription to Audible anyway because it’s just too expensive. However, I did look into not using or buying Kindle, and found out that Bezos actually makes no money on the books offered via Kindle and there’s no cost to me for continuing to use Kindle / Amazon doesn’t make any money on it I believe. I have ended my prime membership and the thing that made me decide that I’m gonna continue to buy Kindle books is that many of the ones I buy are only like $2.99, and they’re by up-and-coming authors who may or may not be selling in other venues. And the authors make the money, so I want to support these authors.
I think that’s great info to have, thanks for sharing it.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I’ve been meaning to research this, and have not gotten around to it. I feel like everyone I know has just canceled or is on the verge of it. I will pass this information along!
So happy to help!
My brain is not braining ... will Calibre read Kindle files or convert other files to read on a Kindle? I have about 500 Kindle book files (I buy a lot for under $5) and am really annoyed that we can't download *purchased* Kindle books anymore! So I want to buy them elsewhere but be able to read my old ones maybe not on the Kindle. I will check out bookshop.org for new books!
This is what I can find about converting Kindle files to PDFs that seems legit (cross-referencing with some reddit posts and geek forums) https://itsfoss.com/calibre-remove-drm-kindle/
Appreciate this great list!
I'm glad!
Thanks for all of the options. You listed some that I had never heard of. I will be checking those out! 😊
I like the idea of not supporting billionaires, but that might require living complete off the grid, which isn't necessarily a bad thing either.
I’m a realist but again, you do you!