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A small book hurls a weapon at a large book whose cover is embossed with the Amazon logo

E-books and audiobooks can be great holiday gifts — or a treat for yourself.

Amazon, which owns Kindle and Audible, is by far the most popular retailer of e-books and audiobooks, but there are great options if you prefer smaller digital-book sellers. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Book industry insiders and avid readers told me their favorite alternatives to Amazon for e-books and audiobooks. Some of these options let you support a favorite local bookstore or cost zilch.

Read to the end for recommendations of books that shine in digital formats.

Amazon said it offers the “widest possible reading and listening selection; options for our customers to consume books how they want, when they want; and a variety of affordable ways to read and listen.”

Lori Fazio, president and chief operating officer of <a href="https://www.rjjulia.com/" target=_blank>RJ Julia Booksellers</a> in Connecticut, echoed many raves I heard about <a href="http://libro.fm/" target=_blank>Libro.fm</a>, which has an audiobooks store and listening app similar to Audible’s.

One big selling point is that you can select an independent bookstore that receives a portion of your Libro.fm audiobook purchases.

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Tech Friend writer Shira Ovide gives you advice and context to make technology work for you. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/the-tech-friend/?method=SURL&location=ART&initiative=CONTEXT" target=_blank>Sign up for the free Tech Friend newsletter</a>.

Fazio said many of her customers use Libro.fm, and the staff promote and help people use it. Libro.fm’s founder replies personally to her questions by email, too.

“They want the independent book world to do well, and it shows,” Fazio said.

Prices on Libro.fm are about the same as Audible’s, Fazio said. She’s a devoted Libro.fm user, with 775 (!) unread audiobooks in the app.

On Libro.fm’s <a href="https://blog.libro.fm/how-to-gift-an-audiobook/" target=_blank>website</a>, you can buy gifts of individual audiobooks or credits that the recipient can use to download the audiobooks of their choice. (The company is running a sale on many bestsellers.)

Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of <a href="https://greenapplebooks.com/" target=_blank>Green Apple Books</a> in San Francisco, said Libro.fm and <a href="https://bookshop.org/" target=_blank>Bookshop.org</a>, an online seller of print books that also gives a cut of purchases to independent bookstores, don’t provide “game-changing” money, but “every little commission helps add up toward sustainability, and these companies do it right for consumers.”

Kendra Keeter-Gray, who posts about books on TikTok as <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@kendra.reads?lang=en" target=_blank>KendraReads</a>, said many of her friends who weren’t regular readers have gotten into audiobooks through Spotify.

Spotify last year <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/06/spotify-audiobooks-cant-buy-app/?itid=lk_inline_manual_25" target=_blank>added audiobooks</a> as a perk for subscribers to its digital music service. Paid subscribers can download 15 hours of audiobooks each month at no additional cost.

You can buy gift cards for Spotify subscriptions at most major retail stores. Spotify also recently started <a href="https://newsroom.spotify.com/2024-03-01/spotifys-new-audiobooks-access-tier-gives-booklovers-more-listening-options/" target="_blank">an audiobooks-based subscription</a>.

Audiobook sales have been booming for years, and Spotify probably helped boost sales even more this year, said Brenna Connor, a book industry specialist with the market research firm Circana.

In a surprise, e-book sales have also increased this year after about a decade of relatively consistent declines.

Connor said the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/01/20/colleen-hoover-tiktok/" target=_blank>online book-enthusiast community known as BookTok</a> has stoked more people to read, as has the interest in genres such as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/02/11/romantasy-explainer-maas-yarros/" target=_blank>“romantasy”</a> that are popular in digital formats. (No one will judge your smutty book if they can’t see the cover.)

<a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en" target=_blank>Kobo</a> makes several <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/4/24158251/kobo-libra-clara-colour-e-reader-review" target=_blank>well-reviewed</a> e-reader <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23769068/best-ebook-readers" target=_blank>devices</a> and sells e-books. Kobo, owned by the Japanese digital media company Rakuten, also has an app to read e-books on your phone or other devices.

The novelist <a href="https://www.jaroslavkalfar.com/about" target=_blank>Jaroslav Kalfar</a> said he’s tried both Kindle and Kobo, and prefers Kobo’s e-readers and its e-book store. He likes the store’s look and feel, and it highlights lesser-known books that Kalfar wouldn’t have found otherwise. Kalfar is also a fan of <a href="https://www.apple.com/apple-books/" target=_blank>Apple’s digital book store.</a>

Scott Steinhardt, who works in the technology industry in New York, likes that Kobo has fewer restrictions than Kindle e-readers, including letting you read digital files and other materials.

Fazio said Kobo’s technology is a bit clunky and hasn’t caught on widely with her bookstores’ customers.

Kobo chief executive Michael Tamblyn said the company is proud of what he said are affordable e-readers and a digital store run by people who love books. It “seems to resonate with people who don’t want a single company dominating their shopping lives and their reading lives,” Tamblyn said.

Several executives involved in bookselling said they’re excited about a <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/trade-shows-events/article/93069-fall-regionals-2023-bookshop-org-expands-its-reach.html#:~:text=Bookshop.org%20will%20begin%20beta,producing%20an%20ink%20e%2Dreader" target=_blank>rumored e-book store</a> coming soon from Bookshop.org. The book retailer declined to comment.

<a href="https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby" target=_blank>Libby</a> is the app that many public library systems use to let you borrow e-books and audiobooks with your library card. It’s fantastic, and it’s free.

“The perfect gift you can give a reader this year is making sure they have a library card and have Libby downloaded on their device,” Keeter-Gray said.

You can read or listen to Libby on many types of computers, smartphones and tablets.

Kalfar said <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/" target=_blank>Project Gutenberg</a> is also a great, free e-book option for classics.

If you prefer buying print books for gifts

<a href="https://bookshop.org/info/about-us" target=_blank>Bookshop.org</a> ships to anywhere in the United States. Many independent bookstores will help you pick books for gifts and mail them for you.

Now let’s talk about what to read as an e-book or audiobook, as suggested by book sellers and book worms.

The Post doesn’t make money if you buy these titles.

<a href="https://madelinemiller.com/circe/" target=_blank>Circe</a> by Madeline Miller: Kalfar said it’s a “sumptuous, epic retelling of Greek myths, and the narrator’s voice takes you to those faraway places.” (Kalfar said it’s “particularly delightful” when someone says they’ve listened to his books.)

<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/760803/a-kid-from-marlboro-road-by-burns-edward/" target=_blank>A Kid from Marlboro Road</a> by Edward Burns. “I didn’t want it to end,” said Fazio, who loved listening to the audiobook version that’s narrated by Burns, the actor.

<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/734476/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar/" target=_blank>Martyr!</a> by Kaveh Akbar. Mulvihill listened to the audiobook on a long drive and said it’s “funny and fizzy and moving.”

<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/588860/my-sister-the-serial-killer-by-oyinkan-braithwaite/" target=_blank>My Sister, the Serial Killer</a> by Oyinkan Braithwaite: “It’s a bloody good time,” Kalfar said, and it was originally released as an e-book.

<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Ive-Tried-Being-Nice/Ann-Leary/9781982120344" target="_blank">I’ve Tried Being Nice</a> by Ann Leary: Fazio said this book of essays is “a great escape.”

<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/770511/be-ready-when-the-luck-happens-by-ina-garten/" target=_blank>Be Ready When the Luck Happens</a> by Ina Garten: Connor praised the audiobook version of the memoir read by the author and beloved cook. “If you like Ina, you can’t go wrong,” Connor said.

<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720515/ready-or-not-by-cara-bastone/" target=_blank>Ready or Not</a> by Cara Bastone: Keeter-Gray said this romantic comedy is a favorite read for 2024 and is “fantastic on audio.”

<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250899576/theweddingpeople/" target=_blank>The Wedding People</a> by Alison Espach: This is another favorite of Keeter-Gray that shines as an audiobook.

Want more recommendations? Check out The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/11/22/10-best-books/" target="_blank">Post’s 10 best books of 2024</a> and the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/11/20/best-audiobooks-2024/" target="_blank">10 best audiobooks</a> of the year. Get <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/11/21/holiday-gift-books-guide/" target="_blank">tips on buying the perfect gift for a book lover</a> or find the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/01/22/book-tracking-apps-review-goodreads-alternative/" target="_blank">best alternatives to Amazon’s Goodreads</a>.

Haverford College

Columbia Journalism School

Shira Ovide writes The Washington Post's The Tech Friend, a newsletter about making your technology into a force for good. She has been a technology journalist for more than a decade and wrote a tech newsletter at the New York Times. 

Shira Ovide

The best alternatives to Amazon, Audible for e-book and audiobook gifts

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