If you want to do more reading in 2019, I’ve got just the solution for you to provide you with a pretty endless source of books you can read and listen to — without having to wait for them to be available from your library!
Through January 11, 2019, if you’re an Amazon Prime member you can get Kindle Unlimited for three months for just $0.99. It’s typically $9.99 per month, so this is a big savings!
I just signed up today and have been checking it out to see if it would help me be able to fit in more reading in the new year.
If you’re unfamiliar with Kindle Unlimited, it’s a service offered by Amazon that gives you access to over 700,000 ebooks and thousands of audiobooks.
My Honest Thoughts
I will be super honest and tell you that I was disappointed at first when I looked at the selection of books. A number of them are cheap and cheesy looking.
However, they did have some really great titles hidden amongst all the not-so-great titles. Here were a few I saw:
- The Magnolia Story — I read this and loved it.
- Beneath a Scarlet Sky — This is on my list to read in 2019!
- a number of John Ortberg titles — I’ve loved all of his books that I’ve read.
- Manage Your Day-to-Day — This one had some great inspiration in it.
- The One Thing — This is a great read for the beginning of the year.
- How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind — This one has been highly recommended to me.
- The Miracle Morning — A good title if you struggle with mornings.
Here’s how it works:
- Sign up for a 3-month subscription to Kindle Unlimited for just $0.99.
- Click on the Kindle Unlimited tab in your Amazon bar to search for available titles (you can search individually or sort by genre).
- Add up to 10 titles to your Kindle Unlimited account. (You can check out up to 10 at a time.)
- When you are finished reading a title, you can return it and borrow another.
- You can read or listen to the titles on any device with the free Kindle app.
- Be sure to cancel your subscription before your 3 month subscription is up, otherwise, you’ll be charged $9.99 per month.
For the record, I don’t think this service is worth paying $9.99 per month (the usual rate) for, but I think it’s every bit worth signing up for three months for just $0.99 — even if you only read 2-3 books from it, that’s still a really, really great deal!
Go here to sign up for a 3-month subscription to Kindle Unlimited for just $0.99 total!
Have you tried out Kindle Unlimited before? If so, I’d love to hear your honest thoughts on it!
Note: This deal is valid for new Kindle Unlimited customers only. If you no longer wish to continue with Kindle Unlimited after your first three months, be sure to cancel your subscription before it renews at the full price of $9.99 per month. Valid through January 11, 2019.
Hi Crystal! I’m wondering if you will be doing a book recommendation list this year? In the past, I’ve made my personal list based on recommendations from you and your followers comments on that post. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and life with us!
I don’t subscribe to KU, because my Kindle and bookshelves are overflowing with books. However, I know of many talented authors who have their books on KU. I realize there are countless low quality and poorly written and edited books on Amazon, but I think it’s a shame that so many fine authors are overlooked because readers won’t take a chance on them. For dozens of reasons, some authors choose to indie publish, and KU is often most profitable for them. Or they will offer debut books/series on KU to establish an audience. Sorry this is so long, but I just wanted to put in a good word for these authors. Here are some of my favorites: Jaycee Weaver, Sarah Monzon, Tammy L. Gray, Amy Matayo, Kara Isaac, Elizabeth Maddrey, and Liz Johnson.
Thank you so much for sharing these authors! So helpful! And I have never heard of any of them!!
Signed up, added some books, and now I am listening to Magnolia. I may going to drop after three months, but already so smitten with the sweetness of this book. So worth .99 cents. Thanks a bunch.
Oh yay! This makes me so happy!
Guess I’m missing something I was able to add Magnolia but just the book, they want me to pay 12.99 to listen. It only let me listen to the preview of it. What am I doing wrong? any help please. Thanks
My Kindle has a text to speech option. It is a Kindle fire.
I’m confused I thought these books were available with audio too but it wants me to pay extra for audio is this normal or am I doing something wrong.
Only some of the books have free audio with them. 🙁
I have Kindle Unlimited and to help find the best books for me, I also use BookBub. If you’re not familiar, BoobBub is a service/website (totally free) in which you select the types of books you like to read and then you receive a daily email with popular and new releases in that genre. There’s almost always a few books they email that are available for free on Kindle Unlimited, I always have a list of books to read through KU that way!
Thanks so much for sharing!!
I loved Beneath a Scarlet Sky.
I’m excited to read it!
Canon Press has a ton of great titles on there. You Who is a brand new title from them and it’s on there. That Dana White book you mentioned is really great, too. I think all the Harry Potter books are on there, so those are fun. I also saw the newest one by Christina Fox is on there- Idols of a Mother’s Heart.
Thanks so much for sharing!
I consider “Beneath a Scarlet Sky” my top read in 2018. An inspiring story of courage, honor, and perseverance confronting the face of evil.
I’ve tried Kindle Unlimited, but won’t be using it in 2018. Reworking our budget and it’s not a necessity.
I’m so looking forward to reading it in 2019!
I just checked the ONE Thing and it was included for free with prime membership?! I have been wanting to read this one for a while, so I’m excited. Did anyone else see this?
YAY! Thanks for letting us know!
You will SAVOR “How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind.” Some of it is common sense, and it’s generally for messy people. BUT! It has some little gems in it like: “House cleaning is not a project. It’s ongoing.” It’s a quick, quick read with a lot of return on it!
Thanks so much for recommending it!
Rachel Hauck, Jaime Jo Wright, Liz Johnson, Sarah Monzón, Susan May Warren, and Lisa Harris are all Christian fiction authors with at least one book available on Kindle Unlimited! And I recommend all of them.
Also, Jennifer Peel doesn’t write Christian fiction, but her books are clean with just an occasional curse word and almost all of her books are Kindle Unlimited and I have read them all! She is one of my new favorites!
I have it, keep it and I love it. You have to begin with the understanding that major authors and major publishing companies probably wont be there. You wont find Danielle Steele or James Patterson. And yes, you have to kiss some frogs. But what you will find are early books of current authors so you can see that you like them, and in between all the cheesy stuff there are some good new authors. One of my favorite mystery authors, James Grippando, began with KU. Most importantly through it is great for non fiction, especially crafts and cooking. Right now I have a book on body butters, a thick (kindle wise) on essential oil recipes, a book on farmhouse soups, and one on team fleece ideas that I use for things I sell.
Thanks SO much for sharing your honest thoughts! These were super insightful!
I had been debating the Kindle unlimited deal and I appreciated your review. In looking at some of the books, I noted that some are available in Prime Reading for free! I am now reading The Magnolia Story and I will be adding Beneath A Scarlet Sky, which is another one available. I’m not going to bother now with the Kindle deal as I had never really explored Prime Reading until now. I think it’s a great option if you are a Prime member!
Thank you so much for mentioning that! Woohoo!!
I agree that it doesn’t normally seem worth the price per month. But I decided to give it a try in November when this deal was offered, and have found quite a few worthwhile books to read after some digging.
It seems like some more widely known authors with traditional publishing have a few select works on KU. (Like Sheila Walsh and Ravi Zacharias, and as you mentioned John Ortberg and others here.)
There are also more independent authors on KU, and if you dig some have great non-cheesy works. Chautona Havig is a favorite for me. But for kids the Green Ember series and Growly books are all available.
My last tip is that I started searching through a couple very specific non-fiction subjects, and came up with quite a few helpful looking titles that I might not have found otherwise. So if anyone has specific areas of interest or personal growth for the new year, this might be a great way to find some supplemental books for really cheap.
I haven’t tried canceling yet, so I hope that process goes smoothly.
Thank you so much for sharing this specific tips! Super helpful!
I’m a big fan of Scribd. $8.99/month. Decent book selection, but a huge audiobook selection. Most of the bestsellers are available as audiobooks.
Thanks so much for sharing! I’ve heard so many great things about Scribd.
I found The Happy Christian and The Gospel Centered Woman that looked interesting and for $.99, can’t complain, right?
Happy New Year!
Oh yay! Thank you for mentioning those two titles, as well! And happy new year to you, too!