What Is Amazon Prime Reading? Everything You Need to Know

Book lovers are stuck in a neverending quest to find more material. You could subscribe to a service like Kindle Unlimited—but it might be unnecessary, especially for casual readers.

Instead, why not check out Amazon Prime Reading? It has lots of benefits compared to other rival services.

But what exactly is Amazon Prime Reading? Who can use the service? Which books are available? And how much does Prime Reading cost? Keep reading to find out everything you need to know.

What Is Amazon Prime Reading?

Prime Reading is an online digital library from Amazon. It was created in October 2016 and provides access to a curated list of literature.

Users can “rent” up to 10 books at a time. If you hit the limit, you will need to return one book before you can download any more. Returning a book is as simple as clicking an on-screen button.

Unlike a regular library, you can keep a book for as long as you want; there’s no deadline and no late fees.

What Content Is Available on Prime Reading?

At any given time, there are about 1,000 titles available on Amazon Prime Reading.

But even if you’re a fast reader, you don’t need to worry about running out of stuff to enjoy. The library is highly dynamic; Amazon’s editors are constantly updating the content available. New titles arrive every month.

Within the library itself, you will find a mix of books (both fiction and non-fiction), magazines, comics, children’s literature, and audiobooks.

The books aren’t all new releases or obscure titles. You will find a healthy mix of literary classics and modern bestsellers. The magazine catalog is extensive and provides many current issues across a range of topics.

How to Download Books From Prime Reading

Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to own a Kindle device to use Amazon Prime Reading.

You can download and read the books using the Kindle app for Android and iOS. There’s also a Windows app. And if you have an Amazon Fire tablet, Prime Reading is already integrated with the operating system.

You can browse the Prime Reading library from any Kindle app or device, and also from the web. To see what is available, head to amazon.com/primereading and check it out.

Who Can Use Amazon Prime Reading?

I've been reading books (about 1 per night) on prime reading.

And I'm enjoying getting to read things i wouldn't normally. Like Still Surviving.

It follows Wes and his dog Raider in the aftermath of a solar flare and so far it's really good.

— April Spectrum? (@AprilSpectrum) February 6, 2019

Prime Reading is not yet available worldwide. At the time of writing, it is available in nine countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Australia, China, France, Italy, and Japan.

You also need to be an Amazon Prime subscriber to gain access. The cost of Amazon Prime varies between countries, but you can typically expect to pay the equivalent of about $10/month.

Prime Reading is available as an Amazon Household benefit; you can share your plan with parents, siblings, and offspring. Each household member can download their own books individually from each other. To share Prime Reading with a member of your Household, go to Your Account > Account Settings > Manage Your Household >  Add an Adult.

If you like music, books, TV series, movies, or shopping, Amazon Prime is a no-brainer. For the monthly subscription, you get access to an amount of content that’s unrivaled elsewhere. Check out our list of all of Amazon’s features and services if you would like to learn more.

Integration With Audiobooks

Amazon is investing an increasing amount of its resources into audiobooks; in recent years, the sector has grown considerably.

About 30 percent of the books in the Prime Reading library have Audible narration included. As with the rest of the library, they change on a monthly basis.

Better still, you can seamlessly jump between the audio and text, with the service capable of remembering your progress between sessions.

All the latest generations of the Kindle ereaders support audiobooks, as do the smartphone apps.

Amazon Prime Reading vs. Kindle Unlimited

People naturally make comparisons between Prime Reading and Amazon’s other big literary offering, Kindle Unlimited. The comparison is not necessarily a fair one.

Kindle Unlimited is an entirely separate subscription-based service. It costs $10/month in the United States; you do not need to have a Prime membership to take advantage.

The Unlimited service has more than one million books to choose from, as well as thousands of audiobooks. Unlike Prime Reading, there is no limit on the number of books you can download and read in any given month.

You can access Kindle Unlimited on any of your Kindle devices and the Kindle smartphone apps.

But before you run away and sign up for Kindle Unlimited, you need to be aware that the service does have some downsides. To learn more about the negatives, read up on why Kindle Unlimited might not be worth the money.

Amazon Prime Reading vs. Kindle Owners’ Lending Library

Prime Reading also differs from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is another service that’s available through your Amazon Prime subscription. If you have a Kindle eBook reader, Fire tablet, or Fire phone, you can download one book per month from the library. You cannot download books onto the smartphone or desktop Kindle apps.

Obviously, the one-book-per-month limit isn’t ideal for people who read a lot. However, on the flipside, the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library has a much more extensive selection of content than Prime Reading. There are more than 100 New York Times bestsellers and several thousand books in total. The books you borrow have no due date.

Is Amazon Prime Reading Right for You?

The question of suitability is a hard one to answer. If you’re a bookworm who doesn’t currently subscribe to Prime, you might see more value for money if you sign up to Kindle Unlimited.

On the other hand, for casual readers who digest a book or two every month, Prime Reading is a fantastic solution, especially when you consider the other benefits included in your Amazon Prime plan as standard.

Don’t have Amazon Prime yet? Use this link to start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime and get a taste to see if it’s right for you!

If you would like to learn more about Amazon Prime, check out our article asking whether Amazon Prime is worth the money. And remember, you can always download ebooks for free too.

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