Well, I’ll be honest, I’m not sure my free reading challenge is actually going to make it to Christmas. This past week I seem to be spending a lot of energy finding exceptions and loopholes that make me able to buy books.

Most obvious this week was Rebel by Joanne Macgregor (it’s fabulous, btw – check out my review on the Paisley Piranha site). I’ve read and reviewed the first two in her Recoil trilogy, so when she asked if I’d like a review copy of the third there was only ever going to be one answer. Due simply to having a hectic time lately, I didn’t open her mail with the review copy link until the day Rebel came out. It was on a 99p offer for launch and as I often say that the day I can’t afford 99p for a book will be a dark day indeed in my life, I bought a copy rather than downloading it for free.

My other motivation is good old Amazon fritzing their own systems. As part of their constant tampering, they are now taking down a lot of “got a copy of this book in exchange for a review” reviews in case they aren’t authentic. Well, that raises my hackles since I review books because I love them and I want to share my enthusiasm far and wide. I spend a chunk of time writing reviews and I resent some bot deciding that I don’t know my own mind when it comes to my reaction to a book. Buying the things gives me “Verified purchase” status which makes it less likely I’ll spend time and effort writing a review only for it to vanish into the black hole of Amazon’s disapproval.

So, clearly, spending more money with them will teach Amazon a harsh lesson(!), but it does also mean that writers get paid for their hard work, so that’s something…