Kindle Unlimited. Worth subscribing?

C

codelad

Explorer
Am a long-time Kindle user and usually buy from the Kindle store as well as obtain from... err... other sources. I'm now considering subscribing to the Kindle Unlimited service.

On the face of it, the service appears quite good. Are there any gotchas I should worry about? Would I be able to share the subscription between the two Kindles that I use? Are the books that I download time-limited in any way? Hesitant to sign up for their trial, before getting these out of the way.

Also, could I expect discounts on the fee during their sales?

Thank you.
 
I had Kindle Unlimited for a while. I had gotten a good three month deal during sales. You may get it during the Puja/Festival times. Regarding content, it varies. For fiction you will not find much. History yes. Like the "Captivating History" series. Or you will get books which have moved to public domain. Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austen types. I found it pretty useless in terms of content after paying 2 more months and stopped. Give it a try for a month. Else stop. If you are on errrrm...sources, Kindle Unlimited is useless.
 
If you are used to "other sources", Kindle Unlimited is not so useful. But I believe they offer a trial period, so why not make use of that and see if you like it. Personally, I prefer the "other sources" and if I like a book enough to complete it, then I put it on my Amazon wish list, and my SO can buy me a gift as hardcover when available. Or when there is a good sale, I buy myself hardcovers. Works out really well for me as I like collecting physical books and also reading on Kindle.
 
Yea, basically Kindle Unlimited will not cater to your needs of finding a book to read. But it can add to the richness / goodness of reading. Depends how much of an avid reader you are. The passion.
 
asingh said:
... Regarding content, it varies. For fiction you will not find much. History yes. Like the "Captivating History" series. Or you will get books which have moved to public domain. Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austen types. I found it pretty useless in terms of content after paying 2 more months and stopped. Give it a try for a month. Else stop. If you are on errrrm...sources, Kindle Unlimited is useless.
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This was actually one of my concerns - that I would end up getting a huge pool of worthless or public domain material.

A far bigger concern was not of the books I would get (since basically everything in their catalogue is available "elsewhere"), but if I would end up with a crippled service that would restrict my user experience in any way (like, if they could pull off titles at their own whim or limit me to a certain number of devices, etc.).
buzz88 said:
If you are used to "other sources", Kindle Unlimited is not so useful. But I believe they offer a trial period, so why not make use of that and see if you like it. Personally, I prefer the "other sources" and if I like a book enough to complete it, then I put it on my Amazon wish list, and my SO can buy me a gift as hardcover when available. Or when there is a good sale, I buy myself hardcovers. Works out really well for me as I like collecting physical books and also reading on Kindle.
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asingh said:
Yea, basically Kindle Unlimited will not cater to your needs of finding a book to read. But it can add to the richness / goodness of reading. Depends how much of an avid reader you are. The passion.
Click to expand...
No longer consider myself a voracious reader, though I certainly used to be. And haven't bought too many physical books since I started reading on the Kindle. Love the hardware and the form factor, but dislike everything else - in particular, how some of my books sometimes disappear and require a sync to bring them back.

The overall consensus appears to be that the service is not worth it, and the reasons certainly makes sense. Thank you.
 
There are a few titles that are worth it, but for most part, I find Kindle Unlimited utter garbage. Not to diss on the writers, but most books there are the ones you would never read and after a few months, paying even a rupee for that stuff seems a waste.

As for the reading part, I just got back to being a voracious reader the past couple of years (on by 70th book of the year). If you want to get books, I find buying DRM books a lot better (Kobo and Publishers' stores) rather than buying on Kindle and going through the pain of converting them into epub.

I personally hate the Kindle app (even for the few times I read on one of the many excellent tablets I own). I love my Tab S7+'s large screen for reading, but mostly default to iPad (one of the few things I like about the iPad is the books app), and the more towards the Tab S6. While travelling, or riding (bikes) I use by 8 year old kindle which still serves the purpose fine.

One of these days, if I am still alive and reading, I will plonk down cash for the 8 or 10 inch e-readers that seem to be hitting the market these days. The prices seem to be a little exorbitant though. Also waiting on the Colour E-ink rage to catch on and become cheaper.
 
jiith77 said:
Do you find better deals at publishers store or kobo than Amazon
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Sometimes yes. But mostly it is a matter of convenience. Even if it is slightly more expensive, I feel the ease of using them on any device is worth the asking price.

But for most part, there's little difference in price.

jiith77 said:
70 books!!! Hope I achieve that someday.
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Not too difficult actually. If you like me, have no TV, no Netflix, you will make it very easily.
 
soulweaver said:
Sometimes yes. But mostly it is a matter of convenience. Even if it is slightly more expensive, I feel the ease of using them on any device is worth the asking price.

But for most part, there's little difference in price.


Not too difficult actually. If you like me, have no TV, no Netflix, you will make it very easily.
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Thanks to covid I got back to reading. Did 50 books last year. Going pretty slow this year since I had added academic type books also to the reading list.
 
jiith77 said:
Thanks to covid I got back to reading. Did 50 books last year. Going pretty slow this year since I had added academic type books also to the reading list.
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This was probably the first year for me where I read quite a few non fiction books (30 percent), and also, 50 is not too far from 70. :D
 
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