Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Go. With these apps, I’m rarely at a lost for something to entertain me during slow times or when the dozens of channels cable offers has nothing that sparks my interest. These are also the reasons I’m prepared to let go of cable TV.
For bibliophiles, Oyster is the Netflix for book lovers. The moniker Oyster takes inspiration from the famous literary line, ‘the world’s mine oyster’. The idea is to have access to ebooks no matter where you are. At the suggestion of the people hawking iced coffee, cookies, whoopie pies, and free bags during my trip to Book Expo America, I immediately downloaded the app for my one month free trial.
The app is currently only available for the iPhone and iPad now and one account can be accessed on up to six devices. I found the app to be a nice compliment to the other ways I can read on my mobile device, with the lack of access to my Kindle Fire annoying but not a deal breaker.
There are over 50,000 books available on the app and I was assured that new titles are added weekly.
Perusing the available books, I was able to cue Rosemary’s Baby and Rosemary’s son,
two books that I have had to order physical copies from the local library to read. I also was able to download books from Erin Hunter’s Warrior series
My dislikes about the app. Getting used to the interface. I’ve spent the last two years tapping the corner of my Kindle to advance when I’m reading. The same with reading on my Apple devices. With this app, I had to sweep up to advance to the next page. I was not used to this gesture. The app also crashed when I played around with different reading backgrounds and fonts. Last, children’s picture books did not transfer as well. Reading the original Curious George, I saw that the text and pictures did not match up. This would not be fun for reading to a child who would be captivated by the pictures.
By clicking the link in my tweet below, you can get a credit of $15.00 once you sign up for the service. The fee is $9.95 a month and you can cancel anytime.
Check out @Oyster—endless ebooks for your iPad and iPhone! Join via my invite link and get $15 towards reading: http://t.co/0WZOL214zA— AndStarringAsHerself (@mrsrkfj) June 2, 2014
As an added incentive, if you give a gift of Oyster, you’re also supporting children’s literacy across America. A portion of all gift sales are going to Reading is Fundamental, the national literacy program whose mission is to motivate young children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life.
It’s a win/win all around!
***This post contains affiliate links.
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