How to listen to Kindle books on Alexa

Did you know that you can listen to your Kindle books using Amazon’s Alexa speech synthesis service? Read all about it right here.

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Assistive technology doesn’t get any better than the likes of speech synthesis services and apps like Amazon Alexa. This virtual assistant can make anyone’s daily life easier by providing numerous smart-home benefits, including a playback voice-over for Kindle books.

You can use Alexa and its Amazon Echo smart speakers to listen to your favorite graphic novels, web articles, and emails. And even if this might sound a bit complicated for ordinary folks, it’s actually simple to set up. So, let’s check out how you can do this.

What is Alexa, and what can it do for you

Although most of us refer to it as just Alexa, this piece of assistive tech is actually called Amazon Alexa. It’s an improved version of a Polish speech synthesizer, Ivona, which was bought by Amazon back in 2013, and it can perform all sorts of wonders.

In essence, you can speak to the Alexa app and interact with it verbally like you would with a sentient being. Nevertheless, its main purpose is to set up alarms, play music from Spotify, stream podcasts, act as a thermostat, provide all sorts of news, and much more.

Yet, most people don’t know that the Alexa device is capable of voicing e-books from another Amazon service—Kindle. All you have to do is link the two, and you can listen to Alexa’s voice narrate novels, short stories, and study books.

How to listen to Kindle books on Alexa

Listening to Kindle books on Alexa is nothing short of easy. All you have to do is tell Alexa to read. By doing so, you can relax, do chores, or do any other activity you might come up with. More importantly, switching between other devices and Alexa works seamlessly. The bellowed speech synthesizer will pick up right where your phone or tablet left off.

You can make Alexa narrate your Kindle book through two voice commands. Firstly, you can tell it: “Alexa, read my Kindle book,” and it will immediately start voicing the last book you were reading on your Kindle device or its app. The other way is by saying: “Alexa, read Hunger Games from Kindle,” and it will immediately start reading the book you chose.

While Alexa is narrating your Kindle book to you, you can interact with it even more. From changing the chapter and speeding up to skipping 30 seconds and telling you information about the book itself. But even if all this seems peachy, it’s pretty basic when it comes to text-to-speech technology. Other third-party apps can add to the experience even more.

Listen to Kindle books on Alexa using Speechify’s text-to-speech application

Speechify is the best-rated app on all relevant app stores. The reason is simple. It’s a high-quality text-to-speech piece of software that can transcribe any digital and handwritten text into natural-sounding audio. Speechify offers dozens of AI narrators that speak in over 30 different languages, and the maximum reading speed is 900 words per minute.

Since Speechify is one of the most powerful text-to-speech tools out there, it can even connect with Alexa and your Echo device, and help it read books from the Kindle store for an even better listening experience. To do so, you’ll have to follow a couple of steps. But no worries— it’s not that complex, and you’ll surely get the hang of it immediately.

• Step 1 — Find and export the Alexa Interaction Model inside the Alexa developer console as a JSON file.
  
• Step 2 — Upload the Alexa Interaction Model into Speechify, and you’ll be able to edit its configuration inside the mentioned TTS app.
  
• Step 3 — You might need to fiddle with options and Speechify itself a bit. If you get lost, look up online tutorials on this topic.
  

FAQs

How do I get Alexa to read a book from my Kindle library?

Ask Alexa to read a book from your Kindle family library, and it will start narrating the last book you read on your Kindle device or its app. If you want Alexa to read a specific book, say the title while interacting with the speech synthesizer.

How do I listen to audiobooks on my Kindle?

You can listen to them by downloading Audible Narration and its Whispersync tool from inside the Kindle, telling Alexa to narrate it, or through a third-party text-to-speech app like Speechify.

Can I listen to audiobooks on my Alexa?

Besides setting up alarms and reading news and weather reports, Alexa can voice audiobooks from other Amazon book services like Audible Books, Prime Reading, and Kindle.

Can Alexa read Kindle books on iPhone?

It can, but it’s a bit complex as iPhones and iPads aren’t Amazon devices. Instead, you can download a text-to-speech app like Speechify onto your Apple iOS mobile device and have it read aloud your Kindle books.

How do I listen to Kindle books on Alexa?

Just say: “Alexa, read my Kindle books,” or “Alexa, read book title from my Kindle Unlimited.”

What is the difference between an audio book and an audiobook?

The difference is that audio book is wrongly spelled. Audiobook is one word, and it refers to books transcribed into audio and read by professional narrators.

How can I listen to a book on my Kindle if I don't have an Alexa?

You can download a Kindle app onto your smartphone, fire tablet, or smartphone and use a text-to-speech app like Speechify to turn your e-book into its audiobook version.