There is literally no shortage of content on Chalamet’s1 internet about how to minimize, de-clutter, ‘de-influence’ —(I’m still figuring out exactly what that one means.) This is not that list and I am not that girl. The stacks of books in this joint are a little concerning some would say (we don’t really listen to what ‘they’ say though.) These days years however, I am primarily an e-book gal. I get 100% those people who prefer the real deal in their hand and I’ll be the first to admit that it can cut down on distractions and what not. I still buy and read physical books literally ALL the time (just bought 4 from a thrift and local bookshop this weekend) but the convenience of an e-reader is too hard for me to pass up.
I get to read in bed at night without waking up my partner and without fiddling with a book light ( I have never—read me, never—found one that worked well for me. They’re either too heavy or too wiggly. The one that goes around the neck? You may as well pull your car up and use your headlights.)
Top that off with the ability to highlight, take notes, and—my absolute personal favorite—look up words, it’s a win-win for me. And it helps save trees and stuff.2
So yeah, e-books are my jam and for literal years I bought 90% of them from the place that rhymes with Shamazon for my ‘Lindle’. This is mostly because they were first in this ‘world’ and yes, super convenient.
But earlier this year, Amazon decided that purchases could no longer be downloaded and transferred on any other e-reader or format than their own. 3 This did not set well with me. But, I’m almost glad they did this.
I don’t know if it sparked a mass exodus, probably not, but maybe enough to let them know. But for me it did. It ended up opening my eyes not only to the greed there, but how much better it would be to support local libraries, bookshops etc. (Obviously I’d been aware of the problems—but this was the last straw.) Supporting libraries is always top priority but sometimes, the wait can be loooong for the book you want, so I’m including other options as well. So if you’re like me and a mood reader and you can manage by miracle in this economy to set aside a bit of your budget—at least let your money go to help out library and small business. The best thing about this list to me is you can buy the physical copies if you like and either keep them or pay them foward if you want—or you can dive deeper into the e-book options.
If you’re already bored to tears, hopefully I’ll see you next time.
But If this interests you, here’s how I did it.
Firstly, (yes, a real word) if you are one who did not make it in time to download your e-books from Amazon, here is a resource that some have found helpful. ( I am never going to be an advocate for pirating content, but I feel like this work around is fair game since Amazon used to let their users download and save their content. It goes without saying that this should be for your own personal use and not for gain.)
If you want to use an actual e-reader, this is the next step I would recommend.
The next step that helped me was finally embracing Calibre. Calibre is this amazing free-to-use user-supported e-book management software that helps to organize your books. It’s easy to install and use. Once I had all of my e-books downloaded to my PC, moving them to Calibre for organization was insanely easy. There is a demo and a help feature for anyone who needs it. You can find the download here: Calibre E-Book Management
Here’s a snapshot of what it looks like installed:
There are so many great features, and if you need extra help there are a ton of resources online to help you that are only a ‘Google’ away.
If you are someone who wants an e-reader that allows you to “side-load” (load from your PC) —I am not an e-reader expert but I did do a ton of research and I landed on the Kobo Libra Colour. So far, absolutely no regrets regerts. Do some good research and review and see what would work best for you. Kobo does also integrate with Overdrive, the older software that allows e-book rentals via your local library (library card required.)
If that’s not for you and you just want to be able to access an app on your phone, I hear you.
Here are some great alternatives to Kindle App:
Libby —An app that allows you to rent e-books through your local library. (Does require library card/account.)
Pros— Totally Free. Usually a good bit of variety. Most popular and new releases.
Cons—There can be a wait time for more popular titles. However, the wait listing option is nice and notifies you when it’s available. It also has a feature where if you change your mind, are not ready to read it when it’s your turn, etc.—you can forward the rental on to next in line.
Hoopla—Another app alternative that allows e-book rental via local library as well. I honestly don’t know the difference between them.
Pros—Totally Free. No wait listing! If it’s showing, it’s available.
Cons—Little less variety that Libby. Titles don’t seem to last as long as on Libby.
Bookshop.org—E-books, but not just e-books. All of the books, at a reasonable price. The best thing about Bookstore.org is that you get to choose which local indie bookstore you would like to support and a large portion of the sale goes to that local bookstore.
Pros—See above. I mean, you get to support local bookstores. They also have frequent sales (I’m talking like, $1) on some really good titles.
Cons—For e-books, you can only read them in their app that you have to download to your device. It’s pretty good, but a work in process. There are a few glitches (particularly dealing with highlighting.)
But wait! There’s more! Let’s not leave off Audiobooks….
Libro.Fm is a fantastic little app that lets you purchase audiobooks and like bookstore.org, lets you choose which local/indie bookstore you’d like to support via your purchase.
Spotify—-whaaat? You didn’t know that Spotify has audiobooks? Well, now you do. If you already pay for a subscription by chance, you’re automatically given around 15 hours of audiobook listening time. You can top off those hours if you ever need, and those extra hours carry over to be a buffer for you until they’ve ran out.
Annnnd, Bob’s your uncle. There are, I am sure, many other resources out there so dig around and see what works for you.
Sorry Beyonce. You’re great and all, but it’s been Timothee’s internet since Greta’s Little Women.
I am aware that there are cons to e-readers and e-books as well, for example, rumored work conditions for certain factories. But we do the best we can and make day to day choices in this world to try and be a light and good thing when and where we can without going insane.
Read all about it here: https://lithub.com/next-week-amazon-is-stripping-away-your-ability-to-download-your-ebooks/
This somehow struck me as incredibly funny, Amanda -->'The one that goes around the neck? You may as well pull your car up and use your headlights.'
I do have one of those and what you're saying is absolutely true! Although, somehow my husband stay asleep even while those headlights are on full blast. Works for me.