One of the features that the Barnes & Noble Nook has had that the Amazon Kindle lacked is the ability to lend e-books. No more.
You can now lend your Kindle books, as the feature, first reported back in October, has gone live today.
But before you get too excited about the ability to share your digital library, there are a number of key restrictions.
Only certain books can be loaned. According to Amazon, “it is up to the publisher or rights holder to determine which titles are eligible for lending.” (None of the books I have downloaded are available to lend, for what it’s worth.) Furthermore, while the book is on loan, the owner can’t access it. Lending can only be initiated by U.S. customers, and recipients won’t have access to certain books in certain countries.
And arguably the most frustrating restriction: you can only lend a book once.
The loan lasts 14 days, which I suppose isn’t totally unreasonable. And hey, at least you’re guaranteed to get the book back, right?
Currently, sharing can only be administered via the Amazon website, not within apps or on the Kindle itself. For (certain) books you’ve downloaded, you’ll find the option under “Manage Your Kindle.”
The recipient of your book needn’t own a Kindle, and you’ll just need their email address in order to make the loan. They’ve got to crack the book open…. errrr, click on the link and accept the download… within 7 days, and they have 14 days total, of course, in order to read and “return” it.
