Kindle Owner's Lending Library - Any gems?

January 13, 2013 3:21 PM

Kindle owners: Amongst all the bodice-rippers and self-published junk, have you found any gems within the Kindle Owner's Lending Library?

The KOLL is difficult to search and browse in (perhaps intentionally so), and is mostly filled with self-help and romance titles - really the only two genres I won't read. What actual good books have you found within its digital shelves?

posted by schrodycat to media & arts (12 answers total)

harry potter and the hunger games are both on it last I checked.
posted by royalsong at 3:22 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]

The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo trilogy is there.
posted by bibbit at 3:27 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]

I've seen at least one good book by Tim Eagan ("The Worst Hard Time" is currently free) and several by Michael Lewis ("The Big Short," "Liar's Poker," "Moneyball").

Yesterday, while perusing the politics category, "Charlie Wilson's War" was the first non-survivalist book I was able to dig up.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 4:12 PM on January 13

A few others: "The Zookeeper's Wife," "Water for Elephants," "The Blind Side" (which I hadn't realized was also a Michael Lewis book).
posted by croutonsupafreak at 4:14 PM on January 13

Not the answer you're looking for, probably, but check if your local library loans ebooks through Overdrive. I've been checking out some good books that way.
posted by SillyShepherd at 4:37 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]

A Mosque among the Stars, which was mentioned in the FPP the other day, is there. I've been finding the stories a bit uneven (as in any anthology) but generally enjoying it.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:40 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]

Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss and Philip Roth's Indignation are on there.

You can search by author here. This is a page of all the Kindle books that are eligible for the lending library.
posted by bluefly at 5:26 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]

I've found only two so far there that I really enjoyed: Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there, by Richard Wiseman, and a kid's book, The Curious Adventures of Max the Maggot, by Laura Erickson. (I wish the latter were illustrated.) I learned about both from other sources and was then happy to find that I could read them for free; it's hard to find something there by browsing, as you've found.

Here's a better-sorted list for searching than what I started out looking at. At least you can look at it by popularity or by category.
posted by Ery at 5:28 PM on January 13 [3 favorites]

"The Finkler Question" won a major prize (the Man Booker?) a few years back and is available on there.
posted by matildatakesovertheworld at 10:05 PM on January 13

My wife quite enjoyed Spider Mouth by Mark Yarwood.

(And choose wisely: they don't make it very clear on the Amazon site, but you can only take out one book per month.)
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:43 PM on January 14

I first read "Man of Wax" through the Lending Library, although it doesn't appear to be there anymore. It's a pretty insane thriller and not for the squeamish, but I was pleasantly surprised.

And "The Lost Ark" was an okay Indiana Jones-lite about a man searching for Noah's ark.

Other than that (and the aforementioned Harry Potter and Hunger Games books) - it all seems to be rubbish.
posted by tacodave at 3:28 PM on January 14

Some books I've read over the last year and really enjoyed:

Wool by Hugh Howey (dystopian fiction)
No Good Deed / March Into Hell by M.P. McDonald
Brainrush / Brainrush II by Richard Bard
The Lion the Lamb the Hunted by Andrew Kaufman
The Dummy Line by Bobby Cole

These are all quick/easy thrillers with the exception of Wool. I may not have paid money for any of them (except Wool), but I didn't feel cheated out of my monthly book with them.
posted by thisisnotkatrina at 11:05 AM on January 15