Most Amazon Prime members are well acquainted with the bevy of streaming options included with their membership, but many may not know about one super cool book benefit: Amazon Prime Reading. This feature gives bookworms access to about 1,000 books and magazines that can be read on any Kindle, computer, or smartphone. Amazon describes its Prime Reading collection as a “private library that lets Prime members read free.” Available titles include everything from genre fiction to nonfiction to guilty-pleasure beach reads and literary classics.
Let’s take a closer look at what Prime Reading brings to the table.
How Does Prime Reading Work?
If you’re an Amazon Prime member in the US, you have access to the entire Prime Reading catalog and can download (or “borrow”) up to ten titles to your device at one time. You can also read these titles across multiple devices associated with the same Amazon account. If you’ve maxed out all ten but want to read something new, you just have to remove one of the titles from your device–just like returning a book to the library. Select titles are available in both Kindle and audio formats.
Not an Amazon prime member, not to worry. There’s always the collection of 50,000+ free books on Kindle that you can download and never have to worry about hitting your limit.
What Titles Come Free with Prime Reading?
Prime Reading has approximately 1,000 titles at any given time, and different offerings are rotated in and out each month. Titles available on Prime Reading at the time of this writing include The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, and My Spiritual Journey by the Dalai Lama.
Want to know what is currently on offer in Prime Reading? You can browse the books and magazines here on Amazon: Prime Reading Eligible.
How to borrow books and magazines from Prime Reading
Here’s how to borrow books from Prime Reading:
- Go to the Prime Reading Storefront or the Full list of Prime Reading titles.
- Find a title that you want to borrow, then click on it to go to that book’s detail page.
- Select the option to borrow the title for free with Prime Reading, and then choose one of your supported devices.
You can also borrow the title directly from the Kindle Store on any Kindle e-reader, Fire tablet, or the Kindle reading app on your phone.
If a title is removed from Prime Reading before you’ve finished it, you can take as long as you want to read it provided that it is downloaded to your device. Unlike e-books purchased on Amazon, Prime Reading titles cannot be loaned to friends or family with other Amazon accounts.
Browse Amazon Prime Reading Selection
You can browse Amazon’s Prime Reading books by genre using the links below:
Arts & Photography
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Money
Children’s eBooks
Comics, Manga & Graphic Novels
Computers & Technology
Cookbooks, Food & Wine
Education & Teaching
Engineering & Transportation
Foreign Languages
Health, Fitness & Dieting
History
Humor & Entertainment
Law
LGBTQ+ eBooks
Literature & Fiction
Medical eBooks
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Nonfiction
Parenting & Relationships
Politics & Social Sciences
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science & Math
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Self-Help
Sports & Outdoors
Teen & Young Adult
Travel
What Do Amazon Users Think About Prime Reading?
Since its launch in October 2016, Prime Reading has received generally favorable reviews from Amazon customers and the book-reading community. Although options are limited in comparison to the approximately 2 million e-books Amazon has available for purchase, the selection is large and varied enough that most readers should be able to find a few titles that pique their interest. Some users have reported that the Kindle app doesn’t work well for magazines (too much pinching and zooming), but the bulk of the available titles aren’t affected by that issue. Overall, if you love to read, Amazon’s Prime Reading is like a tiny library where you don’t have to be quiet (and no “overdue” books means no library fees to pay).
What’s the downside? No. Currently, Prime Reading can be only used by US customers. Also, if you’re not a prime member, you’re going to have to fork over $120 per year for this perk?
What happened to Kindle Owners Lending Library (KOLL)
Kindle Owner’s Lending Library was included in Amazon Prime membership. It allowed device owners of Kindle Fire or Kindle eReaders to borrow one book per month. The Kindle Owner’s Lending Library program was retired in 2020.
Looking for free Kindle books? Visit JustKindleBooks.com to browse all the free books Amazon Kindle has to offer.
