This post is sponsored by Kobo Plus, and contains affiliate links which bring a portion of your purchase to us at no extra charge to you. If you use them, thanks, and if not, no worries. Thanks, y’all! 

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I know y’all have heard about Kobo Plus, I am presuming, but in case not: Kobo Plus is nifty. Especially if you want to learn new skills.

Kobo Plus is a subscription service that allows you unlimited access to ebooks, audiobooks, or, depending on the plan, ebooks and audiobooks.

I’ll be honest – I didn’t know about the separate Kobo Plus Listen option until recently and I’m really happy with it.

If the graphic isn’t legible for you, Kobo Plus Listen is $7.99US per month, and there are over 150,000 audiobooks in their catalog.

Kobo Plus Read is also $7.99US per month, and has over 1.5 million ebooks in their catalog, including some exclusives, and entire series bundles, too.

And Kobo Plus Read & Listen is $9.99 per month – both listening and ebooks, for $10. That’s a really good deal.

Plus, if you’re a new subscriber, you can try Kobo Plus for 30 days for free, and cancel any time.

I love a cancel any time – and if you’re someone who worries that you won’t remember to, here’s a tip. When you sign up for a free trial, set a reminder or calendar appointment for just under the free trial length, with a link to where you can unsubscribe. So if it’s a 14 day free trial, sign up, and IMMEDIATELY afterward, set a reminder or calendar item for 12 or 13 days from now that your trial is about to end, and do you want to renew? Helps me out immensely.

One of my favorite things to do with subscription services is look at all the nonfiction crafting books that might teach me a skill I’ve been very curious about. There are MANY cookbooks, instructions books, pattern collections, and project books inside Kobo Plus, all included in the monthly fee.

I’ve become a little obsessed with people who make miniature things. I love seeing the process, and I LOVE looking at the finished projects. I have a miniature polymer clay shabbat dinner display hanging in my kitchen with tiny challah, tiny peas, potatoes, and carrots, tiny plates and forks, and tiny bottles of wine. I love looking at it, knowing it was handmade (by Chapel View Crafts in Wales) and still being in awe of the teeny-teensy food made by hand.

And of course there are plenty of books to help me learn, such as:

And great googly-moogly look what I found while searching the miniature options:

That’s an entire book about miniature quilts. Combining a hobby I already do with one I’m curious about? Egads. And it’s included in Kobo Plus! (Alas, the foundation paper for piecing is not included, but that’s understandable.)

I’m going to end up making miniature quilts, aren’t I? Probably!

There are books on dollhouse miniature crafting:

And a book on terrarium construction with miniature worlds inside aimed at children:

I did this a bunch of years ago! I made a big jar terrarium that lasted for a long, long time, and had little jeeps off-roading inside.  I also made a terrarium bowl for my husband that had little people faffing about in the foliage. It’s very fun to find small scale miniatures and put them alongside small plants that suddenly look like redwoods due to the perspective.

This is, alas, my catnip: I LOVE miniature scenes. This book is by Sharon Harvey who was a contestant on The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge 2022 which I have just learned about and will be hunting down shortly.

And since I’m moving a lot of my herbs and potted plants indoors, maybe this year I’ll start working on a fairy garden and set it up in the spring?

I also did a search for crochet, which is a fiber art I have no experience with, and again, I might have to try it because look how pretty:

Toni Lipsey has a gorgeous YouTube channel, too. Yup, I’m doomed.

Of course there are miniature amigurumi books, including this one of teeny tiny ones – or microgurumi:

Look at me, giving myself nine hobbies in one post. Go me!

The most important element to this post: you’ve got options in your subscription services.

If you’re an insatiable reader and listener (hi) or hobbyist (hi again) an unlimited subscription plan can keep you happily engrossed and save you some money, too.

Do you look for nonfiction and hobby titles in your subscription services? What hobbies are your favorites to search for?

And if you’re a Kobo Plus subscriber, what titles do you recommend?