Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Public Library vs. Amazon Prime

I was all pumped when I found out that my library now lends out Kindle books for free. The problem is that apparently everyone else is pumped too. I've yet to actually borrow a book as every book I've attempted to borrow has a good number of holds before me (or it's not available at all on the Kindle format yet).

I'd be happy just reading the classics which can be downloaded free but I'm in the midst of my research for 100 Books for Kids Who Love to Read. I've got to weed through the modern fare and find some gems for teens. I finally found (and paid for!) a solution last night.

Amazon has a service called Amazon Prime (click to read about it). For $79 a year you get a number of perks including:
  • Online movie viewing (their selection isn't any worse than Netflix online streaming and about the same price).
  • Free 2-day shipping on any amazon.com purchase with no $$ minimum.
  • Kindle book rental
They have a 30-day free trial so I signed up last night try it out. I borrowed The Hunger Games. I'm already a quarter done with it and can't wait to see if all the hype is true. I'll let you know.

Meanwhile, I'm writing a review of My Antonia (free on Kindle) in between Christmas preparations. I hope to have it posted for you soon.

PS I'm sure as time goes on, my library will obtain more e-books and I'll be able to go back to borrowing on the taxpayers's dime again. For now, this is a good solution.

4 comments:

Renee said...

I borrowed The Help ebook from my public library... took awhile to move up the waiting list and of course it was my turnwhen I was super busy.. so then I didn't even get to finish it in the allotted two weeks.... :(

Unknown said...

You get two months of Prime free with a new Kindle. :) Or, if you make enough qualifying purchases through Amazon Mom you keep Prime all the time!

Dorian Speed said...

I got a Kindle for Christmas, too, and like you - the first book I borrowed was The Hunger Games! I knew I'd have to wait forever to get it from the library and I wasn't sure I wanted to buy it. I ended up buying all three books in the series in Kindle format - I look forward to learning your opinion of the trilogy.

My public library has a pretty good selection of e-books available for checkout. I'm going to attempt to finish the one I've checked out before the deadline. I like that the highlights I make in the book are viewable just like other highlights via kindle.amazon.com. I'm not sure if they'll still be there once I've returned the book, though - I'm thinking they won't.

Anonymous said...

Although I have had Amazon prime foe years, ia om pretty happy with our library's selections. Of course, when I lived in California, the libraries were the worst. Here in Texas eve
In my small suburb, I request any book for free, including interlibary loan. They have a huge supply of e books as well. Sorry If you live in California...I was unhappy there with the hours, books selections, and just overall lack of services.