Things to know about Amazon Prime Reading in a form of single-minded questions and answers.
Prime Reading, a part of the Amazon Prime multi-benefit subscription, is addressed to subscribers who enjoy reading.
Introduced in October 2016, Amazon Prime Reading gives unlimited access to a selection of hot Kindle ebooks, popular magazines, children’s books, comics, and short reads.
You can choose from over 1,000 Prime Reading titles. They are carefully selected by Amazon editors. The list is being frequently updated with current issues of magazines and hot new Kindle ebooks.
At launch, Prime Reading included such titles as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Hobbit, The Complete Peanuts Vol. 1, or issues of People Magazine and Sports Illustrated.
Below, you’ll find most common questions about Prime Reading – answered in a simplest possible way. You can also see Prime Reading compared to Kindle Unlimited, as well as Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
As soon as more facts are revealed, we’ll be adding them to the list. Let’s stay in touch!
If you’ve got a question that has not been answered yet, please leave it in the comments below. Our readers and we will try our best to answer them.
Things to know about Amazon Prime Reading
What is Amazon Prime Reading?
Prime Reading is a part of Amazon’s multi-benefit subscription program called Prime.
Prime Reading gives unlimited access to a rotating list of top Kindle books, popular magazines, and comics.
How much is Prime Reading?
Prime Reading is a part of Amazon Prime, so you’ll have to pay for the entire subscription that costs $99/year or $10.99/month.
The price you pay for Amazon Prime includes, besides Prime Reading, over 20 other features, such as free two-day shipping, unlimited streaming of movies and music, free access to Audible Channels, and much more.
You can read more about Amazon Prime here. The list of key benefits is presented below.
Amazon Prime – main features
- Free Two-Day Shipping – on eligible items to addresses in the contiguous U.S.,
- Free Same-Day Delivery – in certain areas,
- Kindle Owners’ Lending Library – you can borrow one book each calendar month; the catalog includes over 1,000,000 ebooks,
- Kindle First – early access to download a new book for free every month from the Kindle First picks,
- Audible Channels – free access to original audio editions of standout articles and news from top sources,
- Prime Reading – free access to over 1,000 top Kindle books, magazines, and comics,
- Prime Instant Video – unlimited streaming of movies and TV episodes,
- Prime Music – unlimited, ad-free access to hundreds of Prime playlists and more than a million songs,
- Prime Photos – secure unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive,
- Prime Pantry – members can purchase low priced grocery, household, and pet care items for a flat delivery fee of $5.99,
- Amazon Elements – access to Amazon’s line of everyday essentials,
- Prime Early Access – 30-minute early access to select Lightning Deals and new events on MyHabit.com,
- Membership sharing – Prime members may share the account with up to four eligible household members living at the same address.
What do I get in Prime Reading?
Prime Reading lets you read books, magazines, and comics from a list of over 1,000 titles.
The number of Prime Reading eligible items is not impressive, especially compared to the 3.5 million books in the Kindle Store. However, the list, curated by Amazon editors, is being refreshed every month.
In Amazon Prime Reading you’ll find current Kindle bestsellers (fiction, non-fiction, Kindle Singles) and new issues of popular magazines, including National Geographic, People, or Sports Illustrated.
What books and magazines are on the Prime Reading list?
If you want to check out the list of Prime Reading titles before signing up to Prime, you can explore it on Amazon: Prime Reading Eligible.
The list includes around 1,000 Kindle books in several categories. Some 300 come with Audible narration. That means you will be able to switch seamlessly between reading and listening back and forth.
A particular worthy subset contains Kindle Singles – premium short-form reading exclusive to Kindle Store, from short stories, to essays, to memoirs.
How can I subscribe to Prime Reading?
Prime Reading is a part of Amazon Prime, so to access it, you’ll need to buy the whole membership.
Here is a Amazon Prime sign up page.
Can I try Prime Reading free?
Yes. After signing up to Amazon Prime, you will enjoy 30-day free trial period
If you unsubscribe during that period, your account won’t be charged. It’s enough time to explore the list of Prime Reading titles and find out whether this is the offer that meets your needs.
How can I borrow a book from Prime Reading?
The easiest way is to do that on a computer. In a web browser go to Kindle Store or directly to Kindle Store’s list of Prime Reading eligible titles.
Find the book you want to get and click to view the product detail page.
Select the option to borrow the book for free with Prime Reading. You can also choose the device or app you want the book to be delivered first.
How do I cancel Prime Reading?
Prime Reading is a part of Amazon Prime. Even if you don’t use Prime Reading, you can still benefit from other features offered to Prime members.
In other words, ending Prime Reading is ending the entire Amazon Prime subscription.
To cancel Amazon Prime, go to your account on Amazon website and find “Manage Prime Membership.”
If you cancel a paid Amazon Prime membership, click “End membership.”
If you cancel Amazon Prime during a free trial, click “Do not continue.”
What device do I need to read Prime Reading titles?
Unlike Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, you don’t need a Kindle e-reader or Fire tablet.
You can read Prime Reading titles on a Kindle application for iOS (iPad, iPhone) or Android. You can get free Kindle apps here.
What is the difference between Prime Reading and KOLL?
Both Prime Reading and Kindle Owner’s Lending Library (KOLL) are included in Amazon Prime multi-benefit subscription. You can use them both within your membership.
There are two areas where these two services are different:
- eligible devices,
- the number of books.
To read books from KOLL, you need to have a Kindle or Fire. To read Prime Reading titles, you don’t need an Amazon device – you can use a Kindle app for iOS (iPhone, iPad) or Android.
KOLL lets you access a catalog of 1.4 million titles but you can only borrow one book per month. Prime Reading lets you access 1,000 titles, and there is no such limit.
Amazon doesn’t provide information how many Prime Reading titles can be downloaded at the same time to a single device, but we can assume this number is no higher than for Kindle Unlimited, that is 10.
Prime Reading vs. Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
| Prime Reading | KOLL | |
|---|---|---|
| What is it | Part of Amazon Prime multi-benefit subscription | Part of Amazon Prime multi-benefit subscription |
| What you get | Access to 1,000 Kindle books, popular magazines, and comics | Access to 1.4 million Kindle books |
| Eligible devices | Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets | Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets |
| Eligible applications | Kindle for iOS, Kindle for Android | – |
What’s the difference between Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited?
Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited are two different services from Amazon.
Prime Reading is a part of Amazon Prime multi-benefit subscription and offers unlimited access to 1,000 Kindle books, magazines, and comic books.
Kindle Unlimited is a standalone subscription that offers unlimited access to over 1.4 million Kindle books and magazines. It’s about one-fourth of the Kindle Store offer.
Almost all books included in Prime Reading are also included in Kindle Unlimited. The catalogs of Kindle Unlimited and KOLL are very similar.
If you are looking for access to a wider selection of titles than this from Prime Reading, you can first of all make use of Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which is a part of the same Amazon Prime membeship.
However, if you read a lot of books, and one book per month is not enough for you, you can consider getting Kindle Unlimited on top of Amazon Prime.
Amazon Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited are compared in a table below.
Prime Reading vs. Kindle Unlimited
| Prime Reading | Kindle Unlimited | |
|---|---|---|
| What is it | Part of Amazon Prime multi-benefit subscription | Standalone digital subscription |
| What you get | Access to 1,000 Kindle books, magazines, and comics | Access to 1.4 million Kindle books and magazines |
| Eligible devices | Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets | Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets |
| Eligible applications | Kindle for iOS, Kindle for Android | Kindle for iOS, Kindle for Android |
| Price | $10.99/month or $99/year | $9.99/month |
Is Prime Reading available for international customers?
No. Currently, Amazon Prime Reading can be only used by customers with a U.S. country of residence.
What are other benefits of Amazon Prime for book lovers?
Prime Reading is not the only feature of Prime membership that is addressed to people who like to read.
All benefits for book lovers are:
- Kindle Owners’ Lending Library – borrow one Kindle book per month from over 1 million Prime eligible titles,
- Kindle First – pick for free one of four Kindle ebooks per month available in advance of their official release dates,
- Audible Channels – enjoy an unlimited access to a curated selection of programs and news from top sources,
- Prime Reading – get a free access to over 1,000 Kindle books, magazines, short-form reading, and comic books.
Amazon Prime Reading – useful links
Below you’ll find useful links that will let you better understand benefits and limitations of Prime Reading and Amazon Prime.
- Amazon Prime help pages – help pages: overview, managing ownership, eligible items,
- Terms and Conditions: Amazon Prime – conditions of use, membership cancelation, fees and renewal, limitations,
- About Amazon Prime – a list of all Prime benefits with short descriptions,
- Amazon Prime referral program – terms to get a Prime referral credit,
- Amazon Prime sign-up page – if you decide to join Prime, you can sign up here,
- how to borrow titles from Amazon Prime Reading – here is a short guide about how to borrow and return books and magazines via Prime Reading.
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