You Didn't Buy That Book. You Bought a License.

We close out this season welcoming Morgan back who was in Vegas for the AKA Boule and is deep in a reading slump. Sloane's been covering for half her office and DNF'd her latest read. And LaCie finally finished The Huntsman by Naima Simone
Then we got into it.

A federal judge is letting a lawsuit against Audible move forward because when you click "Buy Now," you may not actually be buying that book. You're buying a license that can potentially be revoked. We talk about what that means for your Kindle library, why PlayStation's move to all-digital is part of the same conversation, and how publishers have quietly updated books readers already purchased. Pretty Little Liars now references TikTok...even though TikTok didn't exist when the book was originally published. We also discuss DRM-free books, why Kobo Plus and Libro.fm deserve a look, how piracy hurts Kindle Unlimited authors, and the growing number of BookTok creators posting paid promotions without clearly disclosing them.

Books mentioned:

• The Huntsman and Ember: A Mafia Romance by Naima Simone
• Call Me Mrs. Taylor and Mr. & Mrs. Taylor
• Our Vicious Oaths by N.E. Davenport
• Count on Me by Leigh Carron
• I Love You Too Much by Jessica N. Watkins
• The Parlour Wife
• King's Gambit
• Santa's Little Pleasers by Ladii Nesha
• Wish Upon a Star and Last Christmas in NOLA by Cion Lee
• The Dillinger series and Where Secrets Find Solace by Kimberly Brown
• Crescent City Connections by Donald Charles

We're taking August off, but we'll be back in September. If you're in the Atlanta area, don't miss the Shop the Bookworms Festival, September 18-20. It's free!

Until then, tell us what you're reading...and please give Morgan something that'll finally get her out of this reading slump.