I’ve read 30 books in the last 30 days. Not sure if that makes me smarter but it’s definitely left me feeling more informed. I’m more knowledgeable about Brexit, Reddit, the history of dating and the language of the Internet (LOL!). And it costs a grand total of $99.99 annually which is $8.33 per month.

Just in case you haven’t figured it out, I love Blinkist!

Interestingly, most of the reviews about Blinkist are negative. Basically, calling it the end of civilization and other such nonsense before going on to bemoan the fact that book reviewers in the mainstream media are being laid off.

“We need to let a book devour us, demand something of us, teach us what it can. Blinkist is instead a service that reframes books for people who don’t, in fact, want to read.”

David Ulin, Ex-Book Critic, Los Angeles Times

Back in September, when I first wrote about being in a reading funk, I had no idea how much of a gamechanger Blinkist would be for me. But I knew from the moment I first tried it, that it was perfect for me.

I went from the free trial period to the annual subscription in a nanosecond because I was so impressed with the “blink” approach to reading.

I only read non-fiction and Blinkist only offers non-fiction: a match made in heaven.

Blinkist currently offers 3000 books, divided among 27 different categories. e.g., biographies, politics, technology. They also offer books on personal development, mindfulness, relationships, and parenting. They’re adding 40 new books per month.

Scroll down for what I love most about Blinkist and two areas that could stand improvement.

Why Blinkist is a genius idea

Some people love to read. They devour books. I’m one of them WHEN I find the right book. I also only read non-fiction. Finding books that grab me is extremely rare. Two that come to mind that I couldn’t put down were Shoe Dog and Tribe of Mentors. However, most of the time I buy books only to have them languish on my nightstand.

Oftentimes I’ve bought a book based on the rave reviews it’s received from influential readers like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg. I bought Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind based on their recommendations. I could not get into it but I knew there was something important about it that I needed to understand. Well, lo and behold, it’s on Blinkist and I read it in 15 minutes and I’m glad I didn’t waste months of my time trying to slog through it. The Blinkist insights were enough for me.

Blinkist reminds me of having a discussion with friends about a book – you talk about its essence, the key takeaways, but you rarely spend more than 15 minutes on it.

What would make Blinkist better?

I have two recommendations for them:

1. Let me see how I rated each of the books I’ve finished. That would be extremely helpful. And yes, I am saying I “sometimes” don’t recall which of the books I loved vs. ones I’d give a miss – especially when the subject matter and the titles are similar, e.g., The Fine Art of Small Talk versus Talk?
2. Allow us to request titles and then alert us when they become available. For example, I am dying to read Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber and I’m tired of searching for it on the site (in vain).

Favorite reads to date

In no particular order:

• Because Internet: Understanding the new rules of language
• Deep Thinking by Garry Kasparov – EXCELLENT!
• Educated by Tara Westover
• A Short History of Brexit – I had no idea! This is one book that I am pretty sure is better as a Blinkist read.
• The Curious History of Dating – from Jane Austen to Tinder. TERRIFIC READ!
• The Fine Art of Small Talk
• The Personality Brokers – The history of Myers-Briggs and the birth of personality testing (all a bit of a scam)
• We Are The Nerds: The birth of Reddit
• The Signal and The Noise by Nate Silver – why so many predictions fail and why some don’t (from the stock market to climate change to terrorist attacks). Some fascinating and scandalous tidbits in here!

Bottom Line.

Blinkist is perfect for people like me who are curious about a lot of different things and don’t have the inclination to give up all of our other interests to focus primarily on reading.

I’m also finding myself equally thrilled with Blinkist books that are enthralling as I am with ones that are absolute bores. In the first instance, I am excited to discover a great new topic or writer, in the latter, I am relieved that I only had to sacrifice 15-minutes of my life to slog through a book that might be important but absolutely tedious.