Unlimited audiobooks now available in Malta with BookBeat

I love reading, but like many of us these days, I just don't find the time to get as much done as I want. Somehow I find plenty of time for Netflix, but sitting down to read a book only really happens when I find myself on a plane.

Something I do fit in a lot though is Podcast episodes and for a long time I've wanted to switch out podcasts for audiobooks but there has been no good service plan here in Malta. The few services I could find come with a monthly fee that gave you a very limited amount of audiobooks (like 1 per month) and if you want anything above that you have to pay and audiobooks are expensive! It ended up being just totally unreasonable. Until now...

What is BookBeat?

BookBeat is a service from the media powerhouse Bonnier Group that has finally come to Malta. For a small monthly fee, they offer unlimited audiobook listening. BookBeat was founded in 2015 and is a digital streaming service that allows you to find, download and listen to a huge range of audiobooks right on your phone.

You can listen via wifi and data, but even better, you can download an audiobook at home, connected to wifi, then listen to it when you don't have any connection (like when you're flying!).

Enjoy a free month of audiobooks in Malta!

For just €14.90 per month, you can listen to as many audiobooks as you have time for and, believe me, once you get started you'll find yourself making more and more time for them. BookBeat offers a 2-week free trial to everyone to let them test out the service with no risk, but, my readers can enjoy an entire month of BookBeat audiobooks for free.

There is no obligation to continue after the free trial if you don't want to and, even if you do sign up for the paid subscription afterwards, you can cancel any time with no hidden cancellation fees. It's your service, so use it as much, as little, how and when you like.

How do I use BookBeat?

It's a super easy app to use. First signup for your free month, then go to the AppStore on your phone, download BookBeat then log in. Once you're in you can find titles under the "Categories" or "Inspiration" tabs at the bottom of the screen or "Search" if you know exactly what you're looking for.

Once you see a cover you like the look of, tap on it to open up more info and, if you like it, either hit "Listen" to start directly or "Download" to save for listening later.

Then there are some nice extra features like being able to adjust the number of seconds under 'rewind' and 'fast forward', you can set a sleep timer so if you're listening in bed, the book won't continue playing all the way through after you've fallen asleep. I have to have something playing to fall asleep so I absolutely love this feature. I set it to 15 minutes so if I do fall asleep, I only have a few minutes to rewind when I come back to start again later.

But, are there many books to choose from?

Yes! When I saw the low price and the fact that the service offers unlimited listening, I expected there to be a catch and most likely it'd be a super limited selection of books, but I was very happy to find I was wrong. There are thousands of audiobooks ready to be heard on BookBeat, ranging from some of the old classics to recent releases.

Right now I'm listening to "Everything is F*cked" by Mark Manson, who also wrote "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" which I'm sure you've all read (but if not, that one's also on there!) with Lindsey Kelk's "One in a Million" lined up next for a little light relief.

I tend to listen to a lot of business books, as I'm always striving to be a better leader and buying the books, or even the Kindle editions can also get expensive, then, when you don't find enough time to sit and read (or constantly fall asleep when reading, like me) it really isn't worth it, so listening to them whenever I'm walking to a meeting or popping to the shops is the perfect way to always be learning.

So, go and sign up for your free month and let me know which audiobook you start listening to first!