I was given a paperback of A Cuckoo Calling by Robert Galbraith and recently reviewed it. Although I persevered, the book was too heavy and uncomfortable to hold, and of course, I couldn’t read it in the dark.

It confirmed how much I prefer ebooks and ended up buying a copy from Amazon. At £5.49, it was more than I’d like to pay, but I’d started it and wanted to finish it in a more comfortable way.

I loved it and would like to read the whole series, but it’s a lot to pay out. However, it did give a discount if you bought the boxset or on the next three books.

How about local library?
They do ebooks now.
Could I get them there instead?

I haven’t been a member of a library since the nineties. When I visited to sign up, I’d forgotten how lovely it was to be surrounded by so many of books. What a thrill to browse the shelves knowing I could borrow whatever I liked! They even had comfortable chairs positioned next to windows to sit and read in.

To borrow a book, you download an app called Borrow Box. This online library had thousands of books just waiting to be read. Some were marked On Loan, and gives the date it’s due back with the option to reserve it.

Borrow ebooks and audio books!

Wow, I hadn’t thought about that. Lately, I’ve been switching between reading and listening.

However, there were no Robert Galbraith ebooks, but I found Dark Tide by Simon McCleave. It appealed to me because it was the start of a crime thriller series, and based right here on Anglesey.

It made me think about how, for the last ten years, I’ve relied solely on Amazon. They seemed to have taken over the world. There are so many other places to buy and borrow from too.

It always irked me that an ebook never truly belonged to me after I’d bought it. The only thing I could do with it was read it again. But with plenty to choose from, why would I? I can’t loan it to anyone or pass it on, it will just sit on my kindle forever. It’s why I use Kindle Unlimited. One monthly payment and I can choose from thousands of books.

This year, rather than rely solely on Amazon, I’m going to shop around. I’ll use the library where there is no monthly fee, and as an Apple user, I’ve access to their app Books.

The only problem with the library is there are very few, if any, Indie author books. As I get most of my reads from newsletters or on Facebook, the library wouldn’t work.

You can also find lots of books via our newsletter!

Most authors publish through Draft2Digital who distribute to different retailers. I should be able to get most Indie books through Apple’s Book app. That way I don’t miss out.

I only learnt recently that my sister, who reads on her iPad gets all her books via the Books app. She says she rarely uses Amazon. That was one of the reasons that made me wonder why I did when as an author, they constantly annoyed me..

So this year it’s going to be fun trying different retailers.

I use Amazon affiliate links on my posts, but perhaps I’ll offer a choice depending on where I downloaded the book from.