Amazon Prime Members Can Get Two Free E-Books in August

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You can get thousands of free e-books over the course of 2025 if you know where—and when—to look. All year long, Amazon is offering free Kindle e-books to readers, with new opportunities popping up every month. In August, Prime members can get two free Kindle e-books from Amazon's First Reads program.

What is Amazon's First Reads?

Amazon First Reads is a program aimed at Prime members that offers early access to new e-books across many genres, as curated by First Reads editors (one of many Prime Member benefits). Prime members can choose to download one free e-book every month from a rotating list—though some months that number is bumped up to two, usually with a free short novel—and non-members get them for a discounted price. These e-books can be read on any compatible Kindle device or via the free Kindle app.

Amazon Kindle (16 GB)

$109.99 at Amazon

$109.99 at Amazon

How to get your free Amazon Kindle e-books in August

Go to the First Reads landing page to see the full list of e-books available this month. Once you find a book that seems interesting, click the "Shop Now" button from the First Reads landing page. Make sure you’re not being redirected to the Kindle or Amazon mobile application, because you won't see the free book option there; instead, use your internet browser on your phone or computer.

Make sure you’re not clicking the ”Pre-order for...” button, as that will direct you to pay; instead, click the “Read for Free” or the "Buy Now with 1-Click" button under the "First Reads" banner on the book's Amazon page (don't worry, you won't be charged). This will send the e-book directly to the Kindle linked to your Amazon account.

You can see what it should look like from the screenshot below.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

You’ll know you did it right when you see a “Thanks, [your name]!” order summary indicating the e-book is being auto-delivered to the Kindle Cloud Reader.

Free Amazon Kindle e-books available in August 2025

This month, you can choose one from eight new Kindle e-books, plus the new bonus short read, Bad Date. Amazon notes the genre for each of the books above the title, offering a quick way to narrow down your options. (If you hover over the "See Editor Notes" under the "Shop Now" button, you'll be able to read a short description from the First Reads editor who picked the book.)

Here are your options for August 2025. You can choose one of these e-books and the bonus short read, Bad Date:

Suspense by Ellery Lloyd.

Bad Date: A Short Story

$1.99 at Amazon

$1.99 at Amazon

Psychological Thriller by Christina Baker Kline (Author), Anne Burt (Author).

Please Don't Lie: A Thriller (Crystal River Book 1)

$4.99 at Amazon

$4.99 at Amazon

Historical Fiction by Andrea Catalano.

The First Witch of Boston: A Novel

$4.99 at Amazon

$4.99 at Amazon

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These Marshall Headphones Are at Their Lowest Price Ever Right Now

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The Marshall Major V headphones are now $99.99, down from $159.99, which is the lowest price they’ve hit according to price trackers. That makes this a better time than usual to pick them up, especially if you’ve had your eye on Marshall’s signature retro design but didn’t want to shell out for style alone.

Marshall Major V On-Ear Bluetooth Headphones

$99.99 at Amazon

$159.99 Save $60.00

$99.99 at Amazon

$159.99 Save $60.00

These wireless headphones aren’t overloaded with features, but what they do offer, they do well: solid sound, absurdly long battery life, and classic looks that actually feel comfortable on your head.

You won’t find active noise cancellation here, so if that’s a dealbreaker, fair warning. What you do get are 40mm drivers that deliver deep bass and clean highs, along with a comfortable on-ear design that’ll let in a bit of the outside world. Bluetooth 5.3 keeps the connection stable, and you’ll get support for AAC, SBC, and LC3 codecs, plus you get Spotify Tap integration and wired playback via a semi-coiled 3.5mm cable, notes this PCMag review. The headphones fold up, but there's no case or pouch for easy portability. Marshall says the battery lasts over 100 hours, and even if you fall short of that, it’s still wildly above average. Charging happens over USB-C or wirelessly.

The Marshall app, available for both Android and iOS, adds just enough extra control to be useful. You can customize the sound signature, reassign the “M” button on the left earcup, and toggle EQ presets. That app-based EQ doesn’t carry over when you plug in the audio cable, which is a weird quirk, but not a dealbreaker. If you want bells and whistles like ANC or high-end codec support, you’re better off elsewhere. But if you like the idea of booming sound, customizable controls, and battery life that won’t quit after a few commutes, this deal is worth a look.

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You Can Use Your Mac's Trackpad As a Scale (but You Probably Shouldn't)

I am aware that the phrase "life hack" can sometimes be shorthand for "useless tip." The jokes are decades old at this point, something I try to be aware of when I write an article. So let me be clear: I do not think you should use your MacBook as a scale. You can, though.

Ontario-based developer Kris Shah made an app that turns any Mac trackpad into a scale. This isn't a good idea in the kitchen, mostly because you don't want to spill ingredients on your expensive laptop. But the app is called TrackWeight—it's ridiculous, and I love it.

Using Trackweight requires holding a finger lightly on the trackpad (this is because your Mac doesn't activate the trackpad unless it's being touched by a finger or something else with capacitance). The idea is to rest your finger in such a way where you're not pushing down at all—I had the most luck just barely holding my finger over the trackpad but mostly resting it on the laptop. You can hit the spacebar with your other hand to reset the weight to zero, if you want, or you can just put your object onto the trackpad to measure it.

Credit: Justin Pot

I tested this with a few objects, mostly notably a bowl of blueberries. The result was within a few grams of my kitchen scale.

Credit: Justin Pot

I also tested this with a standalone Magic Trackpad—it worked just as well, and is possibly slightly more practical as a scale (but still not really practical at all).

So why does this work? The Mac Trackpad has a built-in pressure sensor, mostly used to detect how hard you're pressing for features like Force Touch. When you press and hold on your Trackpad to trigger the "Look Up" tool and other features, your Mac is using a pressure sensor to detect that you're pressing harder.

According to the developer, there's a hidden API on the Mac that makes it possible for applications to detect the amount of pressure currently being applied to the track pad, and that's what's used to calculate the weight of the object. It's a fascinating hack, and a demonstration of the unexpected technology embedded in modern laptops.

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