I can’t say I’m a big fan of Amazon, but I can’t deny that the Kindle e-reader is very good. Despite my feelings about the company, I own a Kindle Paperwhite. However, I don’t buy e-books from Amazon. That’s the line I’m drawing. Thankfully, it’s very easy.
I tried Kobo for a while before purchasing the Kindle Paperwhite. My goal was to make Amazon a completely free reading experience. It was mostly ok, but ultimately I wasn’t all that happy with it. So I decided to buy a Kindle, but not anything on Amazon. It’s been 4 years and it’s running smoothly.
It’s not difficult to have fun if you have a library card.
Thankfully, one of the best reasons to own a Kindle eReader has nothing to do with Amazon. Kindle is very well integrated with Libby, a library app. This is a killer feature that puts the Kindle above Nook eReaders.
If you have a physical or digital library card, it’s super easy to borrow books from your local library through the Libby app on your iPhone, iPad, Android, or computer. This app lets you connect to your Kindle, so when you check out a book, it’s automatically sent to your e-reader.
This is one of the Kindle features I use the most. It’s super easy to browse books on your phone’s Libby app and send them to your Kindle almost instantly. Also, if you tend to take a long time to finish reading a book, there are ways to get around the library’s time limit.
The internet is full of free e-books
Your local library has the best selection of new and popular e-books, but there are many other online resources for free books that you can add to your Kindle. Two worth checking out are Project Gutenberg and Open Culture.
Project Gutenberg is a digital archive of over 70,000 free epub and Kindle ebooks. We focus on older works that are out of US copyright. Titles include Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, Moby Dick, Little Women, and Alice in Wonderland.
Open Culture is a similar concept to Project Gutenberg, but the library is much more limited, with only 800 free e-books. Authors found on Open Culture include Isaac Asimov, Jane Austen, Philip K. Dick, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Neil Gaiman, Ernest Hemingway, and more.
You can purchase e-books from other stores
Maybe you don’t care about spending money on e-books. I just don’t want to give that money to Amazon. In that case, you can purchase it from another e-book store. For obvious reasons, Amazon hasn’t made it clear that you can do this, but it’s absolutely allowed.
Of course, doing this isn’t as easy as clicking the “buy” button in the Kindle Store directly on your e-book reader, but it’s possible. The key to this is Caliber, a computer application that has been used for many years. First, Caliber can transfer e-book files downloaded from . anywhere Kindle e-book reader.
In addition to that, we also have our own shop where you can explore books in our online store. Simply deselect Amazon to easily search for e-books on Calibe, download them directly, and transfer them to your connected Kindle.
Amazon also offers free e-books
Technically, you can use the Kindle Store without paying Amazon for your books. These classic novels whose copyrights have expired are also available for free on Amazon. You can literally search for “free Kindle books” and find it, and we have a top 100 list of free titles.
The second method is a bit far-fetched. I don’t particularly like Amazon, but I reluctantly subscribe to Prime. Nothing beats this convenience. Since you are already subscribed, you can use Prime Reading. There’s a relatively small library of books to choose from, but they’re easy to download on Kindle, and I’m not going to give Amazon any money to read them.
Doesn’t it feel contradictory to use Kindle while avoiding Amazon? Especially as a Prime member? Yes, it is. But we all have to draw the line somewhere. At the end of the day, my first priority is actually reading books. I find it easiest to use a Kindle e-reader, so that’s what I use.
