Discussion: Subscription Services

Hi, readers!

For those of you who don't know, I've surveyed some readers on Facebook to see what they'd like to talk about. Kayla, our own audiobook reviewer, suggested talking about the various paid book subscription services that are available. I feel like this is a great idea, so let's hop to it!

Kindle Unlimited

If you've read my blog, you probably know I'm a huge lover of Kindle Unlimited. It's $9.99 a month, and there are a ton of books to choose from. I really like that it allows users to check out up to 10 books at a time, and as far as I know, there is no time limit you have to return them within. More often than not this is my go to source to find something to read. A lot of times I just go with one of the suggestions that pop up on Kindle Unlimited. I've found a little bit of everything on here, some really amazing books, some not so great, and a little of everything in between. I think it has something for everyone, honestly. Audiobook lovers can find books with narration. There are over 1 million books available on Kindle Unlimited. I was going to say that a big drawback for me is that there aren't a lot of big named titles in this library, but that would be a lie. You can read the Harry Potter series on it as well as the Hunger Game series. For the most part, it seems like it's lesser known authors, however.

Prime Reading

Prime reading is a newer and also from Amazon. I tried it for a bit because I already have prime, but so far I'm not that impressed with it. There are only about 1,000 books listed on it. I'm hoping that it will grow and gain a much larger selection. From what I can tell if it's available on Prime it's also available on KU, but please correct me if I'm wrong. There are a couple hundred books or so that are available with audio narration. As of right now, I think it's just too new for me to have great feelings about it, especially since Amazon already has Kindle Unlimited. Granted, this means I'm currently paying for Kindle Unlimited and Prime. I hope in the future the two become somewhat more integrated. 

Audible

I'm not really into audiobooks, so I haven't tried Audible. I'm just going off of what I see on the website. So they are connected with Amazon as well, and it's $14.95 a month, which you can try for free for one month. They've got over 180,000 titles, so a decent selection. It likes that $15 just gets you one book a month, however, so if you listen to a lot of books it may not be the best option for you.  It does look like you get to keep the books, though, so it's not like you're essentially renting them like with KU or Prime Reading.  I think you also get a 30% discount off of additional books. 

Just The Right Book

So, I just actually heard of this one. I was googling subscription services to see what's out there and found it. Apparently, you can sign up for one of their subscriptions. It looks like you can choose paperback or hardback and monthly or over the course of the year. They will then send you books their people have handpicked for you, and you can change your preferences as you go along. It sounds pretty neat, I'm not sure how expensive it is, though.

There's also a ton of other book box subscriptions. I'm contemplating trying one just to see what it sends me, and of course to let you readers know about it!  I would love to know your thoughts on Subscription Services! What do you use, how do you like it, would you recommend it to others?