# Kindle unlimited - any experiences?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 24, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876 "2016-11-24T05:21:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Port\_Royal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Port_Royal)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/1 "2016-11-24T05:21:26Z")
Hi all. š Just wondering if anyone has taken up Amazonās offer of the Kindle Unlimited
The bumpf states you get unlimited books for $13+ a month. Some months I would spend way more than that, others not so much. It would probably work out monetarily for me.
My understanding is that one does not keep those books for ever.
I am interested if anyone has any thoughts pro or can?
My first con thought is I donāt really like signing up to open ended things. Some of them can be quite hard to get out of.
---
### Author:  [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2016, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/2 "2016-11-24T06:07:46Z")
Tried it when it came out. There were a few big āloss leaderā things like the Harry Potter and Jack Reacher series, but nearly all of the books available for āunlimitedā were self-published crap. By the second month couldnāt find anything of quality to read and cancelled.
It might be better now, but before paying, Iād check the last dozen or so books you read and see how many of them are available on unlimited. Thatās going to be a pretty good indicator of your odds going forward.
---
### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2016, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/3 "2016-11-24T08:03:41Z")
I do agree with Timewinder; I was ready to drop it until I discovered the foreign language section. 382 titles as Gaeilge? This is going to take a while! š
Somehow I had also missed out on the fact that they have periodicals. So far Saveur is the only one I really like, but there are new ones every month.
---
### Author:  [@Port\_Royal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Port_Royal)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2016, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/4 "2016-11-24T10:46:48Z")
Thanks very much Timewinder and Trucelt. I had missed that the āunlimitedā part only relates to numbers, but that the types of books are actually limited.
I think I might just pass. š
---
### Author:  [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/5 "2016-11-24T13:58:48Z")
I do it periodically. Sometimes Iāll go through an entire series of books, and when the books are $5 each (and are one included in the Unlimited), itāll pay to do a month of Unlimited. And yes, you can do it for a month, then cancel it and pick it up again at any time.
---
### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/6 "2016-11-24T15:17:05Z")
Kindle Unlimited is easy proof of Sturgeonās Law. Thereās some reasonably good stuff on there. Thereās also a ton of dross, and the way itās arranged makes it very hard at times to find something that looks interesting to try. That said, it only takes a couple books a month to justify the price.
---
### Author:  [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/7 "2016-11-24T16:55:16Z")
A few good titles, the rest dreck. I read non-fiction, maybe it wasnāt so bad in other categories. Scribd is better, but now they have stopped their unlimited books offering. Still a fair amount of free-anytime titles.
---
### Author:  [@Port\_Royal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Port_Royal)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2016, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/8 "2016-11-25T09:46:05Z")
Thanks for the continuing replies. š
phall0106 - the option of in and out had not occurred to me. Are they good about stopping the charge immediately? I have had other occasions where it has taken some time.
Asterion, that is what I was wondering, if I only get say three books a month with it, it has paid for itself.
seal\_cleaner - thanks I will have a look at Scribd.
Thanks all! š
---
### Author:  [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/9 "2016-11-25T14:06:04Z")
I did a free trial just for ONE book I wanted to read and, like everyone else, then had trouble finding something else worth reading.
but it was just as easy to cancel as to sign up, so thereās that.
---
### Author:  [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/10 "2016-11-25T17:04:40Z")
I had no trouble canceling. Most of the stuff is bad, and sells for a couple of dollars. Itās been about a year since I looked at the selection, so maybe itās improved. Once you cancel, your unlimited books are removed from your kindle.
---
### Author:  [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/11 "2016-11-25T20:43:05Z")
I tried the free membership fairly recently.
Itās still almost impossible (in my experience) to find any Gold amongst the Dross.
Iād hold out until the next time you want to read a book and itās actually on Unlimited, then just get your free trial to read that, and see if you can find anything else afterwards.
As others have said itās trivially easy to cancel.
---
### Author:  [@vedicgyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vedicgyan)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2016, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/12 "2016-11-26T05:58:02Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#):
>
> I tried the free membership fairly recently.
>
> Itās still almost impossible (in my experience) to find any Gold amongst the Dross.
>
> Iād hold out until the next time you want to read a book and itās actually on Unlimited, then just get your free trial to read that, and see if you can find anything else afterwards.
>
> As others have said itās trivially easy to cancel.
I take the membership on an On-Off basis. So before I decide to get in for a month, i already have a list of about 7-10 books I want to check out. Of course, I ensure that each of these are available on Kindle Unlimited. It is easy to run those checks as you can find the KU button on the Book detail pages.
Tbh, I have never read more than 3 books in a month but the reason I have a list of 7-10 books is because I donāt want to find myself out of options if I hate a few of them once I get started.
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/13 "2016-11-28T21:32:55Z")
Throwing my hat in to agree with everyone elseātoo much chaff and not enough wheat. Itās easy enough to cancel so if you see two or three books on there that you want to read in the next month sign up. You can cancel when you run out, easy peasy.
---
### Author:  [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/14 "2016-11-29T15:57:47Z")
I imagine they have the same books as the plan where you can borrow one free book a month if you own a Kindle and have Prime.
Iāve borrowed a grand total of 2 books that way. Nothing else I want is available.
---
### Author:  [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/15 "2016-11-29T16:51:16Z")
Iāve been using Kindle Unlimited for about a year. For me, itās worth the money since I read WAY more than most people (usually 200-300 books a year). But for virtually anyone else, the extremely limited selection would, IMHO, be a deal-killer.
---
### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/16 "2016-11-29T19:08:51Z")
On the nights I need to turn my brain off (as in, not get entrenched in something literary and gripping), I read really stupid trivia and ātrue ghost storyā books. I def. get my moneyās worth from Unlimited, as I can go through 10-15 dumbass books a month (and spend about $250 a month on good books).
Many of these books are, to put it kindly, are indifferently edited š
And, yes, it works like a lending library. You can have so many at a time and have to return a title to get a new request.
---
### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/17 "2016-11-29T19:15:41Z")
> [@Port\_Royal](#):
>
> Hi all. š Just wondering if anyone has taken up Amazonās offer of the Kindle Unlimited
>
> The bumpf states you get unlimited books for $13+ a month. Some months I would spend way more than that, others not so much. It would probably work out monetarily for me.
You would be better off subscribing to something like [bookbub.com](http://bookbub.com) or [freebooksy.com](http://freebooksy.com). You give them your genres and they find free or very low-priced books and send you a daily email with them. I know I have 500+ books on the cloud since I got my first Kindle. Iāve probably paid for less than 10% of them, and those were because the free book that I read interested me enough to buy other books from that author.
---
### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/18 "2016-11-30T13:36:49Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#):
>
> I imagine they have the same books as the plan where you can borrow one free book a month if you own a Kindle and have Prime.
>
> Iāve borrowed a grand total of 2 books that way. Nothing else I want is available.
Prime book-a-month and Unlimited have some overlap, but not total. There are books out there that are Prime only. There might be some that are Unlimited only, but I doubt it.
---
### Author:  [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/19 "2016-11-30T14:36:07Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#):
>
> I For me, itās worth the money since I read WAY more than most people (usually 200-300 books a year). But for virtually anyone else, the extremely limited selection would, IMHO, be a deal-killer.
I must say, Iām having a hard time reconciling those two statements. Wouldnāt the very poor selection be _worse_ for someone who reads a lot?
---
### Author:  [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876/20 "2016-11-30T17:45:53Z")
I tried some of the other free book companies but did not like the interface (page scrolls down, very easy to overshoot the next page, Kindle Unlimited books scroll like a book does and moves with just a touch) I like Kindle Unlimited, I have found books I have liked that I would not have paid to read. I also pay for some books if it something I really want to read.
I did find the Kindle books not easy for things like travel books that I like to flip around in and of course there is no easy way (yet) to go to a table of contents and then jump to that section.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-unlimited-any-experiences/772876.md?page=2)