FREE Kindle eBooks
Since I was a young lad, I’ve always enjoyed getting lost in books. Some of my fondest memories growing up were when I was sitting in my fourth-grade classroom with my teacher reading aloud to the class. Some of my favorites were Where the Red Fern Grows, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Summer of the Monkeys, Old Yeller, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and the list goes on…
Over the last 30 years, I really haven’t had the time to read like I used to. I tried Books on Tape, and later Audible, but audiobooks are only effective if you pay attention to them. When I multitask even a little, I find myself missing out on huge chunks of the story. As a result, I just don’t get much out of a story unless I can really focus on it intently. Usually, that means reading it myself, and I really wanted to start enjoying some good books again.
Paperbacks are fine, but they just don’t read well in the dark which is when I like to read most often. Plus they weigh a lot and take up so much space. Certainly not a good option for backpacking or bugging out. Over the last couple of decades or so, I’ve become intrigued by advent ebooks and the options their portability offers. eReaders come in many different shapes and sizes, and can hold thousands of ebooks without adding an ounce to their weight or an inch to their size.
I’ve tried reading on an iPad, but the weight and glare left me rather unsatisfied. I’ve also tried on a few large smartphones with the same result, so I recently picked myself up one of those shiny new Kindle Oasis eReaders and I love it. Sure it was a little expensive, but I found it to be well worth the extra cost. The display is bright and the text is insanely crisp, with no glare or reflection. The battery lasts for weeks between charges, even with reading for an hour or so every night. Most of all, it only weighs 8.2 ounces, complete with the cover and secondary battery.
Part of deciding to go with the Kindle had to do with the backlit display that I could read day or night without having to provide light myself. And all it takes is a few hours plugged into a simple solar charger to keep it running for hours. The other part had everything to do with the weight. At a little over 8 ounces, it is easily light enough to EDC and fits nicely into my bug-out gear.
Amazon has a massive library of ebooks comprised of more than a million titles, many of which Amazon offers for free. I’ve created a few Amazon searches for some of my favorite genres that I hope you might find useful.
Don’t forget to check out the LTS Bookshelf for great book ideas.
Amazon also offers a monthly service called Kindle Unlimited that provides easy access to their entire Kindle and Audible libraries on any device for only $9.99 a month.
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