You can get thousands of free e-books over the course of 2024 if you know where—and when—to look. All year long, Amazon is offering up free Kindle e-books to readers, with new opportunities popping up every month.
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of Stuff Your Kindle Day, the biggest free e-book event of the year, offering up over a thousand free e-books. But that’s later this year. In May, Prime members can get two free Kindle e-books from Amazon’s First Reads program, one of them being this month’s short read.
What is Amazon’s First Reads?
Amazon First Reads is a program aimed at Prime members that offers early access to new e-books across many genres, as curated by First Reads editors (one of your many Prime Member benefits). Prime members can choose to download one free e-book every month from a rotating list—though some months that number is bumped up to two—and non-members get them for a discounted price. These e-books can be read on any compatible Kindle device or via the free Kindle app.
How to get your free Amazon Kindle e-books in May
Go to the First Reads landing page to see the full list of e-books available this month. Once you find a book that seems interesting, click the “Shop Now” button. Make sure you’re not being redirected to the Kindle mobile application because you won’t see the free book option; instead, use your browser (or just “check out” your free book on your computer).
Make sure you’re not clicking the ”Pre-order for…” button, as that will direct you to pay; instead, click the “Read for Free” button under the First Reads banner. This will send the e-book directly to the Kindle linked to your Amazon account.
You can see what it should look like from the screenshot below.
Credit: Daniel Oropeza
You’ll know you did it right when you see a “Thanks, [your name]!” order summary indicating the e-book is being auto-delivered to the Kindle Cloud Reader.
Free Amazon Kindle e-books available in May 2024
This month, you can choose one from eight Kindle e-books, plus you get the free “bonus short read,” Tiger Chair: A Short Story by Max Brooks, author of World War Z.
Amazon notes the genre for each of the books above the title, offering a quick way to narrow down your options. If you hover over the “See Editor Notes” under the “Shop Now” button, you’ll be able to read a short synopsis from the First Reads editor who picked the book.
Here are your options for May 2024:
Tiger Chair: A Short Story by Max Brooks (Bonus Short Read)
In a Dark Mirror by Kat Davis (Suspense)
The Promise of Tomorrow by Mary Ellen Taylor (Women’s Fiction)
Lake County: A Novel by Lori Roy (Mystery)
Let’s Pretend This Will Work: A Novel by Maddie Dawson (Romance)
Hot Dog Money: Inside the Biggest Scandal in the History of College Sports
by Guy Lawson (Non-Fiction)
Girl, Missing by Dreda Say Mitchell and Ryan Carter (Thriller)
Meet Me On The Bridge by Sarah J. Harris (Book Club Fiction)