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Amazon has given more benefits to Prime members — Prime Reading and Audible Channels. Now members of Amazon Prime in the US can get Prime Reading, to read unlimited free Kindle ebooks and digital versions of magazines, and Audible Channels, to listen to original content.
Prime Reading
You don’t need to own a Kindle to get Prime Reading books and magazines. These can be read on the Kindle app on iOS (iPhone/iPad) and Android, as well as on Kindle ereaders and Fire tablets.
[tip] Don’t miss ⇒ How to Read a Kindle Book Without a Kindle [/tip]
Not all Kindle books are available in Prime Reading, but the benefit does include over 1000 books, magazines, comic books, Kindle singles and more. Many different kinds of books are available, such as fiction, non-fiction, children’s, young adult, and best sellers. Titles include:
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- The Hobbit
- The Millionaire Next Door
- The Essential Calvin and Hobbes
- The Einstein Prophecy
- CyberStorm
Magazine selections include:
- People
- Sports Illustrated
- National Geographic Traveler
- Popular Mechanics
- Entertainment Weekly
- GQ
- Vogue
The number of books and magazines you can download is unlimited, so you don’t have to choose which one you want to read the most. You can send as many Prime Reading books and magazines to your devices as you care to read.
[tip] Download free Prime Reading books and magazines to your device to have them ready to read any time, anywhere. [/tip]
How to Get Prime Reading Books
To start using this new benefit, head to the Amazon.com Prime Reading page and browse through the available titles. Or, when you’re shopping for books, look for this Read for Free with Prime Reading button at checkout to get the Kindle version for free.
Prime Reading vs. Kindle Owners’ Lending Library vs. Kindle Unlimited
Prime Reading joins other Kindle book programs from Amazon. This new benefit is different from Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which lets you borrow one book free per month if you own a Kindle, and from Kindle Unlimited, which lets you read unlimited books for a monthly fee.
[note]Learn more at Kindle Owners’ Lending Library – Free Kindle Books! [/note]
This chart shows the differences between Amazon’s Kindle book programs:
What Else You Need to Know About Prime Reading
Prime Reading is free for Amazon Prime members in the US. The cost of Amazon Prime is $99/year or $10.99/month and includes other benefits such as free two-day shipping, Amazon Prime video and music streaming, unlimited photo storage and more.
Find out more about the benefits of Prime membership at Amazon Prime membership benefits page.
Audible Channels
Amazon added another benefit to Prime members — Audible Channels. These short audio programs have original content on topics such as news, politics, zombies, science, business, comedy, language, etc.
Introduced by Audible earlier this year, Audible Channels is now a free benefit to Prime members.
Previously, Audible Channels were only available to Audible members or to non-members for $5/month. Now, Audible Channels are available for free to Prime members as well as to Audible members.
[note]Find out more about Audible Channels at Audible Channels – A New Way to Discover Short Listens. [/note]
Your Thoughts
Are you excited to check out Prime Reading and Audible Channels? Will you download free Prime Reading books and magazines? Have you tried Audible Channels?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Hey Carolyn,
Amazon has brought an amazing thing to its users. People search for many books on Amazon. But they want it for free.
Maybe Amazon prime can help them. It’s good to know more about it.
Thanks for sharing with us.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi, Yes, getting stuff for free is great and this benefit is a wonderful addition for Prime members. I like that you don’t have to have a Kindle ereader or Fire tablet to get these benefits. How cool will it be the first time you look for a book and find out that you can get it for free?
Amazing post, and I must say this is unbelievable that amazing prime is practically letting its users to try out the e-books and read them free of cost, that is something which I was wishing from many days, I’m an avid book reader and this is great news for me, initially I thought this is only for kindle users but now I’m very happy that everyone can try this out. Thank you for the post,
Keep writing great stuff.
Hello Rajkumar, Yes, this is a very exciting new benefit for Amazon Prime members in the US. You’re right, it is fantastic that you don’t need to own a Kindle ereader or Fire tablet to take advantage of this benefit.
I hope you find many new favorite books with Prime Reading, Rajkumar!
How long can one keep a book from Kindle Prime Reading? Are they due back like books from the library?
Thanks
Sally W
Hi Sally, Great question. The only limit to how long you can keep a Prime Reading book is how long you are a Prime member. You can load up your devices with Kindle books and keep them while you are a Prime member.
Wonderful write-up, in addition to I must claim it is fantastic of which wonderful primary is usually pretty much making it is end users to use this e-books in addition to understand these individuals absolutely free,
Hello Alifaakter, Yes, this benefit, giving free ebooks, magazines and audio programs to Prime members is a fantastic addition to the membership. I hope people are able to find plenty of enjoyable free content with Prime reading.
that is something which I was wishing from many days, I’m an avid book reader and this is great news for me, initially I thought this is only for kindle users but now I’m very happy that everyone can try this out. Thank you for the post,
Hi Helmy, Good point. If you’ve ever wanted to try out a book but weren’t sure that you’d like it, Prime Reading is a fantastic benefit.
Let’s say you’ve always wanted to try out a Harry Potter book, but you had a long wait for the book at the library. Plus you didn’t think you could finish it before the book was due back. You didn’t want to invest in buying the book in case you didn’t like it.
With Prime Reading you can download the Harry Potter Kindle book and have it with you wherever you go. You don’t have to lug a heavy book around or worry about when it’s due back at the library. How great is that?
I am currently doing some research on Amazon Prime to see if it is already worth it to subscribe coming from outside the US. Thanks for this post, very timely for me. 🙂
I wish though that they could have extended their audio music streaming to be free (instead of a discounted rate) to premium members as well – maybe too much to ask. Amazon Prime would become a steal by then!
Hi Jen, Great news! Amazon does have Prime Music, with over 2 million songs Prime members can stream ad-free. The song selection on Prime Music isn’t as extensive as Amazon Music Unlimited, which has “10s of millions of songs,” but you may be able to find enough music you like on Prime Music.
You may want to try Amazon Prime with their free trial to see whether the benefits are worthwhile for you.
Hi, it is always amazing how hard it is to get precise information to specific Prime benefits. Since the Prime Reading library apparently changes over time, what happens to my downloaded book when Amazon takes it off the Prime Reading list?
Hi Chris, Excellent question. Details on how Prime Reading works weren’t plentiful. That’s a great question for Amazon. With Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, the number of books available has increased tremendously, so I hope Prime Reading increases its selection as well.