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Alexa can't find my Kindle books

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user463

Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« on: January 08, 2017, 07:50:47 pm »
Hello. I am new to the Echo (just got it yesterday) and am loving it, but a bit perplexed about the reading of Kindle books. I only have one Amazon account and if I go into the app on my phone and click Books, there is a list that says Books that Alexa can read and a whole bunh of books. I can tap on any of those books and Alexa will begin reading it. However, if I say "Alexa, read Kindle book [title]" or whatever the proper phrasing is (I am using the proper phrases from the Amazon support pages, I just don't remember it now) no matter which book I choose, Alexa says, "I cannot find [name of book] in your Library." But they are all there both in the app, on my Kindles and in my "manage your content" section on Amazon. These are all books that were purchased from Amazon and they read fine when I hit play in the app. I'm trying to get the voice activation working because I typically read more than one book at a time and want to be able to lay in bed and tell her to open whichever book I am in the mood to read that day.

Has anyone else had this problem or have any suggestions for me to try? Thanks!

Offline jwlv

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Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2017, 10:59:15 pm »
I'm fairly certain that Alexa cannot read Kindle books. For reading books on an Echo device, Amazon wants people to use Audible (an Amazon company), for which there is a monthly subscription fee.

Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2017, 04:24:29 am »
kindle books can be read, see if the following helps

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201975870

gladsong

Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #3 on: January 09, 2017, 10:06:02 am »
I have the exact same problem with my Kindle.  A list of books Alexa can read comes up in the Alexa app. I can double click on a book and she will start reading it. I can say, "Alexa, stop" or "Alexa pause," and she will stop. I can say, "Alexa resume reading such and such book and she will do so.  However, if I just use the voice command, "Alexa, read such and such book in my Kindle library," she replies that she cannot find my Kindle library.  Now, what I have been trying to make the empty headed DOT support team based in India (who can barely understand and speak English) understand, is that the problem is NOT how I am phrasing my request. The problem is how Alexa connects to Kindle. That is where the problem lies.  My husband and I both are computer savvy, and by the way his Dot connects to all of his Kindle books without any problem. There are two major problems that need to be addressed. First is the understanding level and technical level of Dot support and the other is HOW the Dot connects to the Kindle library. That is where the technical issue, whatever it may be,  is centered.

user463

Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #4 on: January 09, 2017, 06:40:49 pm »
kindle books can be read, see if the following helps

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201975870

Thanks for the link. I tried everything on that page yesterday. No luck.

user463

Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2017, 06:43:28 pm »
I have the exact same problem with my Kindle.  A list of books Alexa can read comes up in the Alexa app. I can double click on a book and she will start reading it. I can say, "Alexa, stop" or "Alexa pause," and she will stop. I can say, "Alexa resume reading such and such book and she will do so.  However, if I just use the voice command, "Alexa, read such and such book in my Kindle library," she replies that she cannot find my Kindle library.  Now, what I have been trying to make the empty headed DOT support team based in India (who can barely understand and speak English) understand, is that the problem is NOT how I am phrasing my request. The problem is how Alexa connects to Kindle. That is where the problem lies.  My husband and I both are computer savvy, and by the way his Dot connects to all of his Kindle books without any problem. There are two major problems that need to be addressed. First is the understanding level and technical level of Dot support and the other is HOW the Dot connects to the Kindle library. That is where the technical issue, whatever it may be,  is centered.

This is exactly what is happening to me. I just got a second Echo Dot for the bedroom and after setting it up, tried with this one and still get the "I can't find [book] in your library." Again, on this one, I can manually tap the book and it will start reading, it will stop and pause. If I say "Alexa, read my book." it will open the last book that I was reading. The issue for me is being able to use voice commands to tell her if I want to read a different book. It is just so weird. I am speaking clearly and have gone through the 25 training phrases and still no dice. Very odd. I did not contact Kindle support because I knew that whomever I spoke to would probably just give me a link to the help page or tell me to try stuff that I've already tried multiple times.

Alpha Bitch

Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #6 on: January 09, 2017, 11:41:58 pm »
Quote
I did not contact Kindle support because I knew that whomever I spoke to would probably just give me a link to the help page or tell me to try stuff that I've already tried multiple times.
Then call DOT tech support - 1-877-375-9365.  Let them know all the troubleshooting you have already tried. 

FWIW:  You can do the same w/Kindle support as well.  No one knows what you have previously done unless you tell them!

gladsong

Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2017, 10:26:35 am »
The "developers" evidently fixed whatever the problem was with my Dot not reading my Kindle books, because the voice commands worked last night.  It has been a struggle, though. Amazon should receive an award for having the absolutely worst support team in history, surpassing even Time Warner.

Deerfly

Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2017, 03:39:03 pm »
Have exactly the same problem. I spent hours with 2 'customer support's and finally had a case number to Tech Support created (they acknowledged, after a while, that others had this problem). Turns out Alexa often can't find even some Amazon music albums, repeating back to me the exact titles I find in my Prime music, and see in the Alexa app.


Lo and Behold! They fixed it, at least for this afternoon. Now if only Alexa could understand I want to hear the Itzhak Perlman station they show in Prime Music, and not "I talk Pearl Man", I'd be in business!
« Last Edit: January 11, 2017, 03:47:28 pm by Deerfly »

Book_Lover√

Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2017, 11:52:37 am »
I was able to successfully get Alexa to read from a different Kindle book by going into the Alexa app, choosing the Kindle card, Browse, and selecting from the books in my Library that Alexa can read aloud.

strayfish

Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #10 on: March 29, 2017, 12:09:36 pm »
Kindle vanished for a while recently (just in the UK?) but I see it's back now.

Foxcub6

Re: Alexa can't find my Kindle books
« Reply #11 on: April 02, 2017, 06:50:30 pm »
When I go into Alexa app and open music and books select kindle it just shows Gary's Echo and a blank page ?