Key Takeaways
- Amazon Prime includes free e-books via Prime Reading.
- It has a small, rotating selection however, and you’re unlikely to get new bestsellers.
- For better reading, you may need to buy books individually or subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.
You could say that Amazon Prime was one of the first omnisubscriptions, preceding the likes of Apple One and Google One. While Prime is ultimately about shopping, you get a lot more for your money than free shipping, such as Prime Video and Amazon Music. The idea is that you’ll be so attached to these perks that taking your cash elsewhere is unthinkable.
An obvious question for Kindle fans is whether you get any free e-books with a Prime subscription. You can probably guess the answer to that, but we’ll explain some of the details below.
Does Amazon Prime include free Kindle books?
Technically, yes, through Prime Reading
Yes it does, in many if not most countries where Prime is available. The bonus comes in the form of Prime Reading, a curated collection of “over a thousand” books, comics, magazines, and other titles. That sounds vague, and it is — you can’t assume something you want to read will be available. The catalog is rotating, and unlikely to offer major new releases. The closest it gets is a free pre-release book every month from a narrow selection of editors’ picks.
Amazon does make a point of spanning multiple genres, thankfully, such as children’s books and non-fiction. Some titles also offer Audible Narration, so you can switch between reading and listening to an audiobook without losing progress. Naturally, access to audio will depend on the device you’re using, but you can read on any Kindle or Fire tablet as well as the Kindle apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
Is Prime Reading worth using?
Selection isn’t as vast as you may think
That’s a subjective question, but you’ll at least have access to a number of classic novels, as well as some famous comics. If you haven’t read Transmetropolitan, The Sandman, or Crime and Punishment before, you might as well dip in while your Prime subscription is active.
You’ll at least have access to a number of classic novels, as well as some famous comics.
Beyond that, you could be disappointed. There aren’t many magazines for free, and in the US at least, the selection is similar to what you’d find at a grocery checkout counter: Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, Runner’s World, Car and Driver, even Woman’s Weekly. It’s not going to sell you on Prime, especially if your interests are more niche than fashion and health.
There aren’t many magazines for free, and in the US at least, the selection is similar to what you’d find at a grocery checkout counter.
You may enjoy some of the newer fiction and non-fiction books, although there seems to be a strong emphasis on romance, mystery, and thriller titles. Don’t expect to find Bob Woodward’s latest book on Trump, or catch up on George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series.
What if I want more Kindle books?
You’ll have to buy them individually, sideload them using other apps and services, or subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. The last is similar to Prime Reading, just with a better selection, including bestsellers by well-known authors like Stephen King and Walter Isaacson.
There are some catches, of course, the biggest being that beyond a 30-day trial period, the service is $12 per month. You’re also limited to downloading 10 titles at a time, and you still don’t get access to the complete Kindle library — only things marked with the Unlimited stamp. If you’re a curious and voracious reader, it could be worth it, but probably not if you normally read a handful of books every year.
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