Blinkist Helps You Read Books in Only 15 Minutes

blinkist As a busy entrepreneur, you have been conditioned to consume an overwhelming amount of information by feverishly scrolling and swiping your way through hundreds of brief news updates and 140-character industry tidbits, so reading actual books from cover to cover has become somewhat of a luxury that many of us can only fit into our occasional weekend getaway (if we’re lucky).

Aside from choosing to sleep even less than you already do or squeezing in a chapter here and there during bathroom breaks, there just isn’t a lot of time leftover to read everything on your wishlist from start to finish…

Until now.

The same technology that has stolen our extra time and hindered us from enjoying the tried and true method of flipping through a full-length paper book, has now made it possible for us to consume our favourite non-fiction books digitally in approximately 15 minutes each.

All thanks to Blinkist.

What is Blinkist?

Blinkist is both a Web and iOS app that allows you to absorb a catalog of non-fiction book titles in approximately 15 minutes each. Each book is broken down into summarized chapters, or blinks, that present the reader with all of the essential parts of the book. 

Blinks are powerful bites of insight from outstanding nonfiction. You can read a flashing in less than two minutes, so with each book made up of about eight blinks, you can cover the work's key insights in 15 minutes.

It's important to note that the blinks are 100% uniquely written by actual humans on the Blinkist team, and they take pride in their work (as they should).

We start from scratch every time. Bright, inquisitive readers and writers dive deep into the books we blink in order to create thoughtful new content imparts did the original work's key messages and intent.

Not sure about summaries? Are you a book purist?  That's ok,  Blinkist can be useful for you too!  In fact, on their website, they make it perfectly clear that blinks are not meant to replace books - and that they'd never want them to. 

Blinks are made to be read fast, so their very size keeps them from filling a book's formidable (if imaginary) shoes. We think of Blinkist the way did Neil Degrasse Tyson does a soundbite : as the beginning of a self-driven path toward learning. Get your bearings with Blinkist, then take your learning in whichever direction you choose.

How To Use Blinkist

Both the Web and iOS app are extremely easy to use and navigate, which is crucial since this app is primarily about saving us time, right? Here's a quick breakdown of what to expect once you're logged in to your Blinkist account.  

Discover and Choose a Book Title

When you're logged into your Blinkist account, you can browse their catalog of book titles using one of three simple ways after clicking "Discover" from the main menu:

Discover books using Blinkist App

1. New: In the first screenshot, you can see a list of the newest titles added to the Blinkist catalog (they are currently adding 40 new titles per month) 

2. Categories: You can also choose to list book titles by category. Blinkist currently has books in the following categories: 

  • Entrepreneurship (our favorite!)
  • Politics & History
  • Health & Happiness
  • Business and Careers
  • Popular Science
  • Productivity & Guides
  • Society
  • 3. Curated: You can also search by curated lists of book titles such as "Self Help's Greatest", or favorites from guests such as the curated list titled "Product Design with Hunter Walk", where YouTube's former leader of product management shares his no-design design reading list.  

    View the Details of the Book Title

    Is this book what you were looking for? Once you've clicked on a book title, you are shown a series of details about the book as seen below: 

    Blinkist Book Overview

    These details include the following: 

    • What this book is about 
    • Who should read it
    • Who is the author
    • Key Insights
    • The key insights here are brief overviews of the summarized chapters (blinks) that you will be reading (click on any one of them to expand that section). 

    Read, Highlight, and Share

    Once you begin reading the key insights (the meaty stuff), it will look like the screenshots below: 

    Reading Blinkist App

Design is clearly a priority for the team at Blinkist, as it's apparent immediately after loading the app. The features work well and the navigation is very smooth and simple to use. 

From the top of the app navigation, you can choose to share/save, edit font sizes, or view a jump menu of the key insights. 

The middle screenshot above shows the highlight option which allows you to highlight a section of text and then share it on social media and/or save it to your Blinkist account, organized nicely by title and date. 

Your account also automatically saves which sections of every book you've read so far, as well as the option to save a future reading list. 

Whether you're a busy entrepreneur looking for a detailed overview on new and popular books, or just an avid reader looking to double up on your book consumption, it's worth taking a peek at Blinkist to see if it can improve on (or add to) your reading routine. 

How Much Does Blinkist Cost?

Blinkist is a subscription-based service, but registered users can get a free 3-day trial to test the service. 

The pricing is as follows: 

  • Free 3-Day Trial 
  • $7.99 / month
  • $14.99 / 3 months
  • $49.99 / yearly
  • Blogtrepreneur Reader Discount: 

    Blinkist has been kind enough to offer Blogtrepreneur readers a 20% discount on yearly subscriptions. When you upgrade from your free trial account, simply redeem the discount using the code: Blogtrepreneur (case-sensitive). 

    Let us know what you think of Blinkist

 

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