If you’ve ever picked up the latest book in a series and couldn’t remember characters or what happened in the last book, Amazon has a new feature that might help you.
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Starting today, your Kindle is getting “Kindle Recaps,” something Amazon says is similar to the “Previously on…” segment before a TV show.
How it works
For certain books, Kindle Recaps make it easier to dive right back in, Amazon says, by giving a quick refresher on storylines and character arcs. Recaps are available for both books you’ve purchased and books you’ve borrowed.
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Amazon did not say how it chooses which books will get Recaps, but it is only for books in a series for now. It does not appear to be only for new books, as the press release shows the feature working for the Oz series of books by L. Frank Baum, published over 100 years ago.
The press release about Kindle Recaps did not mention this fact, but Amazon confirmed to TechCrunch that the summaries are written by AI (just like the site’s review summaries), explaining: “We use technology, including GenAI and Amazon moderators, to create short recaps of books that accurately reflect book content.”
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The last part of that is encouraging, because if the summaries were entirely written by AI and never checked, there would always be a little concern about the accuracy.
How to find Recaps
If you want to find Recaps, you’ll need the latest version of the Kindle software. You can download it yourself or wait until you receive it through an over-the-air update within the next several weeks.
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Once you have that software, look for the “View Recaps” button in the series page in your Kindle Library or the “View Recaps” item within the series grouping three-dot menu.
Amazon says the feature will soon be available on the Kindle app for iOS.
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