Subskrypcja Amazon Prime została wprowadzona w polskim Amazonie w październiku 2021 roku. Polscy klienci sklepu mogą dzięki temu korzystać z bezpłatnej dostawy na terenie kraju wielu produktów oferowanych bezpośrednio przez Amazon oraz mają dostęp do Amazon Prime Video i Prime Gaming. Nie bez znaczenia będzie też w przyszłości dostęp do promocji (także obejmujących czytniki Kindle) w ramach akcji Amazon Prime Day. W poprzednich latach (np. 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 czy 2017) opisywałem je, ponieważ ceny poszczególnych modeli czytników Kindle bywały wtedy najniższe w historii.

Ciężarówki przewożące towary do magazynów Amazonu przy okazji reklamują usługę Amazon Prime

Jednak na co dzień to Amazon Prime Video jest chyba najcenniejszym elementem wspomnianego abonamentu. Wiele produkcji filmowych, dostępnych w ramach tej usługi, zbiera bardzo pozytywne opinie. Można tu przywołać kilka z nich: The Grand Tour, The Boys, 4 Blocks, Dobry omen, Upload, Downton Abbey, Wspaniała pani Maisel, Panchayat czy Kler. Niestety, spora część oferty Amazon Prime Video wciąż nie posiada polskich napisów czy polskojęzycznego lektora. Tu jest jeszcze sporo do nadrobienia.

Kadr z oficjalnego zwiastuna trzeciego sezonu serialu The Boys (źródło: YouTube)

W porównaniu do innych krajów europejskich objętych programem Amazon Prime, a już szczególnie w porównaniu do Stanów, oferta w naszym kraju jest uboższa. W tamtejszych oddziałach Amazonu abonenci usługi otrzymują znacznie szerszy pakiet. W jego skład wchodzi m.in. bezpłatna dostawa w jeden dzień (zwykle w większych miastach), dostęp do odsłuchu muzyki w Amazon Music czy wypożyczalni e-booków Prime Reading. Z drugiej strony roczny koszt członkostwa w Amazon Prime w Polsce jest znacznie niższy w porównaniu do Stanów, Kanady czy choćby nawet Indii.

Dostępny w usłudze Amazon Prime "The Grand Tour" jest kolejną produkcją autorów najpopularniejszej edycji programu telewizyjnego "Top Gear" (źródło: YouTube)

Amazon Prime jest szczególnie popularny wśród amerykańskich klientów amazon.com. Szacunkowo podaje się (z powołaniem na ostatni raport Consumer Intelligence Research Partners w tej sprawie), że w Stanach Zjednoczonych może być obecnie nawet 120 mln aktywnych subskrybentów. To całkiem sporo, szczególnie zestawiając to z liczbą wszystkich gospodarstw domowych w tym kraju, którą ocenia się na 126,8 mln. Dochody z Amazon Prime są więc zapewne ważnym elementem w budżecie firmy. Niedawno Amazon zdecydował się na podniesienie cen tej usługi właśnie w Stanach, a następnie także w Kanadzie. Obecnie subskrybenci Prime w amazon.com płacić będą rocznie 139 USD (ok. 600 PLN) zaś w amazon.ca 99 CDN (ok. 340 PLN). Plus lokalny podatek jak sądzę. Z drugiej strony globu - w indyjskim oddziale sklepu cena rocznej subskrypcji wynosi 1 499 INR (ok. 85 PLN). U nas Amazon Prime, od momentu uruchomienia usługi, wciąż kosztuje 49 PLN rocznie. To tyle samo, co abonament na bezpłatne dostawy z najpopularniejszej u nas platformy zakupowej Allegro (przy minimalnej kwocie zamówienia za 40 PLN od jednego sprzedawcy).

Logo Amazon Prime (źródło: mat. prasowe Amazon)

Trudno powiedzieć, czy nas czeka to samo w najbliższej przyszłości, ale inflacja w naszym kraju nie śpi. Sporo zależy od ceny abonamentu na bezpłatne wysyłki z Allegro, czyli największego konkurenta Amazonu na naszym rynku internetowych zakupów. Jednak gołym okiem widać, że rosną nie tylko jednostkowe ceny zakupów ale i przesyłek. Może warto więc teraz rozważyć przystąpienie do programu Amazon Prime jeśli na przykład i tak planowaliśmy zakup abonamentu czy to z powodu bezpłatnych dostaw ze sklepu czy dostępu do wypożyczalni wideo. Do Amazon Prime można przystąpić z oficjalnej strony programu. Opłata abonamentowa obecnie wynosi 49 PLN (4,10 PLN za miesiąc przy umowie na rok) lub 10,99 PLN miesięcznie (przy umowie na miesiąc). Zanim zaczniemy płacić, możemy skorzystać z 30 dni bezpłatnego okresu próbnego. Oficjalna strona programu znajduje się tutaj.

Odsyłacze do sklepu, zawarte w tekście, są częścią programu afiliacyjnego Amazon

 

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So not too much to say here. I really enjoyed reading this as we follow Christie as she travels around the world. We get to see her real life letters, photos, and other things that were kept that showcased her travels from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Honolulu, Canada, and then back to England. The main reason why I gave this just four stars though is that this just doesn't have a lot of great insight I think into Christie. We see letters she wrote to her mother for the most part. The letters I thought were charming and she definitely can write descriptions of people and places to the point you feel that you are there too. However, I didn't see a lot here that would give me a great insight into what drove her thinking when she wrote her books or what she really felt about things.

"The Grand Tour" follows Agatha Christie and her first husband, Archie, as they begin a 10 month trip from England and back again in 1922. Agatha Christie had given birth to her daughter Rosalind, but decided that she would accompany Archie who was a member of  the British Empire Exhibition Mission party.

The Christies travel around the world and have to deal with some people who you wonder if they ended up in any of Christie's works in the future. For example, the general manager of the commission was Major Ernest Albert Belcher who was aggravating to the extreme. I think at one point in South Africa it's implied that if they eat anything that the "natives" provide, they were just asking for death. 

Even though Agatha suffered from really bad seasickness and still didn't seem at home on a boat, she still traveled and met with people eagerly. I loved reading about how she and her husband learned to surf. I think that Moonlight was the first person to tell me that Christie learned to surf and it does boggle my mind that women at this time were doing this. It seems as if this would be an activity that most people would deem too manly. 

The writing was quite clear and crisp. We get headers to let us know the date of letters and you get a foreword and afterword by Christie's grandson. I would love to read a better nonfiction book about Christie since the one I read last year by Laura Thompson was practically unreadable. This book did a good job of giving me a glimpse of her life. 

This was a book club read that I started with reservations. Although I had previously read and enjoyed three of Alan Titchmarsh's novels, I was worried that this was going to be more of a rehash of David Nicholl's 'Us'. However, while both centred around a guy touring Europe, they we actually quite different and I have to say I enjoyed this. Only the end, as sort of epilogue to the tour, grated with me and I felt the story would have been stronger without it.

Timothy Gandy suddenly finds himself with no job and no wife. So what better to do than the travel that he had longed to do for many years? Inspired by the Grand Tour of previous centuries and armed with old writings and a guide-book dated 1904, he heads towards France and Italy in search of....adventure?

I couldn't help but picture Alan Titchmarsh, himself as Timothy Gandy, he is just too well-known a face. But even that added to the narrative in a way. It's a very easy-read style, almost chick-lit, but I could quite see how the shy traveller could shake off his reservations in a new environment and meet some interesting characters along the way.

Add it to your summer beach reads :)

Also read:

Trowel and Error - Memoir (3.5 stars)

The Last Lighthouse Keeper (5 stars)

Only Dad (4 stars)

#THEGRANDTOUR  

Book 2 of Jenna series takes us back to the 'journey' of our sexually adventurous heroine Jenna, who, we find this time, is shagging her way through Europe.

If you hadn't read the first book, Jenna in the Midwest, Jenna is a journalist, though not sure where she finds the time to do anything related to journalism, seeing how she spends her time doing quickies in every nook and cranny of wherever.

When book 1 ended, she was already in an open relationship with a guy named Wolfe, who is bi and loves boasting about his own 'adventures' to whoever would hear. Since he's now back home, Jenna is free to do whatever... The author doesn't disappoint as the story starts and we find Jenna traveling by train, starting her journey with a quickie with a complete stranger... in the train's bathroom. She was thrilled because on top of a being well-endowed, the stranger was also married. You go girl!