It’s time! Please, please: tell me what you’ve discovered in your reading subscriptions!
If you’ve got any of the subscription services like Scribd, Kindle Unlimited, or Kobo Plus, I want to know what your latest discovery is.
Especially since the price for KU went up from $9.99 to $11.99 for many people this past weekend – I know folks who are watching their book budgets paused over that increase.
Library folks may also be using Hoopla Digital to access ebooks and audiobooks, and services like Kanopy to watch scripted series and documentaries.
So, what are you watching, reading, or browsing?
I love sitting outside in warmer weather and reading digital magazines. Not only do I borrow or browse using my library’s magazine subscriptions, I also read a lot of magazines through KU. I love cooking magazines, but I also love browsing magazines like Sunset that are all about travel or life by the ocean. One of my favorite things to do is read through a month or more of a magazine I’d typically read during a pedicure – that’s just delicious fun.
I’m also still working my way through the Veronica Speedwell series on audio, via my library catalogs on the Libby app.
What books, magazines, audiobooks, or other romance reading have you discovered recently in your subscription that you’d recommend to others? If you can also tell us what genre the book is, that would help a lot for those who like to CTRL-F their rec threads.
So, please share! What recent treasures have you discovered?
I hope people will comment on this latest installment. I enjoy reading responses even though I don’t really use any of the reading subscription services.
I just discovered that on Libby a whole series of radio play versions of Agatha Christie mysteries. They are 1-2 hours ling and perfect for my commute and short attention span!
Somewhere I heard about author Anzia Yezierska, she was a Russian-Jewish immigrant, in early 20th Century New York, and it turns out a lot of her writing is on Scribd. So far I’ve read a short novella, “How I Found America”, which I really liked.
I’m also reading Light From Uncommon Stars on Scribd, and there are lots and lots of Patricia Wentworth British Golden Age mysteries there too.
I discovered that Alexis Hall’s Billionaire series is now on KU. It’s based on Fifty Shades of Grey but with a M/M couple. I haven’t read FSOG (and don’t plan to), so I can’t compare. But on its own, the first book was pretty good, and Arden is absolutely charming. (Light on the BDSM so far, which is ok by me as it’s not my catnip. Alexis Hall’s characters, on the other hand, totally are.)
I enjoyed Kim Lorraine’s novella in the Pride Not Prejudice anthology, which isn’t on KU but is on Hoopla, and found that some of her other books are available on KU and have been added to my TBR. The PNP anthology also has shorter works by Kerrigan Byrne, Amalie Howard, Erica Ridley, and Jennifer Ashley (plus others).
I loved The Measure of Silence by Elizabeth Langston and I’m also loving Beyond That the Sea by Laura Ash Spence (both historical fiction) in KU
I’ve been reading my way through the Nathan Lowell series that starts with Quarter Share (Half Share, Full Share etc.). Ishmael Wang must find a job soon, or become a Company Slave or get dumped on a less than optimal company planet. His mother died and the Company is adamant about removing excess dependents (they give him a whole month to look, how nice!). There are times I want to beat Ish over the head or hit him with an Elavil dart gun, but he’s good to be around and the only one who can keep Pip out of jail (Pip is his twisty, enterprising friend who should never, ever meet Miles Vorkosigan).
I mainly use my hoopla borrows for comics. Anything from Boombox Studios is fantastic, like The Backstage Boys and of course Lumberjanes. Hex Vet is adorable and perhaps less known than Breaking Cat News and Phoebe and Her Unicorn. Misfit City has a Goonies vibe, The Avant-guards is about female college basketball players with lots of queer rep, and Moonstruck is adorable queer fantasy.
I can sometimes find mystery and romance there that my library doesn’t have in the regular catalog too. I found some extra Jordan Hawk and KL Noone fantasy novels there.
I’ve just finished Adele Buck’s Center Stage series on Kobo Plus, which I really enjoyed, being a former high school theatre kid.
It isn’t precisely a subscription, but I use Patreon to support some writers and creators. Many of them offer exclusive access to some works – short stories, writings that couldn’t be placed, extra scenes from popular works – as well as previews of upcoming works.
Hoopla- I’ve been re-reading some of Jayne Castle’s Ghost Hunter books as audiobooks (note, there’s at least 3 different narrators).
@Kris Bock- thank you for mentioning KL Noone on hoopla! Looks like they recently added more of her titles (search for “K.l. Noone” or search by keyword not author)