Any hidden gems in Kindle Unlimited?

January 29, 2016 9:47 AM

Hi, I'm a voracious reader in the midst of a 30-day trial for Kindle Unlimited (I'm thinking it probably isn't a keeper). It seems like lots of the books available are from self-published or otherwise obscure authors and don't have many reviews. Has anyone come across an obscure book on Kindle Unlimited that they'd recommend? I'm pretty genre agnostic (I'd rather read a good romance novel than a bad science fiction novel), though I'm not generally interested in urban fantasy.
posted by Area Man to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

I cancelled Kindle Unlimited after a while for just this reason- it's 90% self-published stuff that is not so great. The thing I did find useful was being able to read older books - the back catalog/lesser known works of some authors I hadn't read before or wouldn't normally pay for by themselves. I read a bunch of old scifi classics by PKD and Asimov and Clarke, and then sort of ran out of steam- but looking around at the classics may give you some stuff to read during your trial :)
posted by AaronRaphael at 10:20 AM on January 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

There are so many bad self-published books on there! Fortunately, there are a lot of classics on there too (and many of those are free without having to use Kindle Unlimited). Also, the Harry Potter books, Hunger Games books, and The Princess Bride that the movie was based on are available.
posted by cecic at 10:23 AM on January 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

I haven't checked out Kindle Unlimited, but I'm a voracious reader who is embarrassed that it took me so long to discover that my public library makes it ridiculously easy to borrow all sorts of books by downloading them at no charge via Amazon to my Kindle. If the Kindle Unlimited doesn't work out for you, the library may be an alternative.
posted by layceepee at 10:49 AM on January 29, 2016 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: Yeah, I agree the library is the way to go, but I've got this free trial for another 20 days so if there is something good on Kindle Unlimited I might as well read it now.
posted by Area Man at 10:57 AM on January 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Lindsay Buroker has some of her books in Kindle Unlimited and she's a talented self-published SFF pulp writer. No deep points to her books that I've read, just fun characters and fast-paced plots.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:15 AM on January 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

He's a metafilter favorite so might not count as obscure, but a great deal of Hugh Howey's work is on unlimited and it's excellent to the last word.
posted by ftm at 11:53 AM on January 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm currently enjoying Bound to Last: 30 Writers on their Most Cherished Book which has the audio for free. If you're an audiobook person, filter down to "Whispersync" -- there's a fair bit of good stuff with a free attached audiobook.

(There's not a ton of totally free ones, but I found the secret bargain on Kindle is classic audiobooks- Martin Jarvis' fantastic reading of Great Expectations is 3 or 4 pounds for example. It's WAY more expensive on Audible.)
posted by Erasmouse at 12:06 PM on January 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

I enjoyed the Evan Currie books - On Silver Wings series, although I started with Heirs of Empire.
posted by needlegrrl at 12:07 PM on January 29, 2016

The offerings of Boom Books are available on Kindle: Regency romances by Charisse Howard, light mysteries by CJ Verburg. (Full disclosure: CJ Verburg is a friend of the family.)
posted by SemiSalt at 1:34 PM on January 29, 2016

I don't think it's unlimited per se but I stumbled on Letters of a Woman homesteader on my kindle when I first got it and found it unexpectedly fascinating. Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is pretty good too.
posted by Diablevert at 2:21 PM on January 29, 2016

Beauty and The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley are among my favorite books. They're published by Open Road Media, which publishes a lot of excellent scifi and YA fiction previously released in print by major publishers who presumably don't have the ebook rights.
posted by nicebookrack at 6:04 PM on January 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Searching by publisher is VERY helpful in weeding out the self-published chaff from the wheat, especially for smaller indie publishers. Here are a few more authors worth checking out (mostly fantasy & scifi): Octavia Butler, Kate Elliott, Mary Renault, PatricianWrede, Barbara Hambly, William Sleator, Joan Aiken, Liz Williams.

And The Avion My Uncle Flew is a classic that teaches you French! It starts in English and gradually turns to French as the book goes on.
posted by nicebookrack at 6:28 PM on January 29, 2016 [5 favorites]

I enjoyed Rysa Walker's Chronos Files books. (Link goes to the first of 3 novels, and there were a few shorter novellas as well.)
posted by Pryde at 9:45 PM on January 29, 2016

The books by Scott Meyer - start with this one - are what you're looking for.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 10:42 PM on January 29, 2016