Amazon announced earlier this year that there would be lending available for some Kindle ebooks. The announcement came out yesterday that the feature is now active.
Message from the Amazon Kindle Team:
Today, we’re pleased to launch Kindle Book Lending, a new feature that lets you loan Kindle books to anyone you choose. The borrower does not need to own a Kindle. Kindle books can be read on Kindle or using our free Kindle reading applications for PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android devices. Each eligible book can be lent once for a period of 14 days. Not all e-books are lendable – the publisher or rights holder determines which titles are enabled for lending. For more information on how to loan Kindle books, please visit www.amazon.com/kindle-lending.
Books that have lending available
Not all publishers have made lending available. If a book is available for lending you will see this in the product description:
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 1252 KB
Print Length: 350 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books (May 1, 2007)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B003I1WY2A
Lending: Enabled
Here is a book where the lending was enabled: Water for Elephants: A Novel
Share Kindle Books and Nook Books with Facebook Lending Groups
Share Kindle Books and Nook Books with Facebook Lending Groups
A day after Amazon allowed customers to share Kindle ebooks with each other, a Facebook book loaning group started. It is similar to the Nook Lend Me group.
http://www.suite101.com/content/share-kindle-books-and-nook-books-with-facebook-lending-groups-a326215#ixzz19lYNFYeF
Kindle Lending Club
Check out the Kindle Lending Club page on Facebook – for people to request and offer Kindle book loans, discover great new books for free, and share their collection with other book lovers:
http://www.facebook.com/KindleLendingClub
The Nook’s Book Lending Feature Is A Joke
In December of 2009 Jeff Bezos commented on the Nook Book Lending Feature being a joke.
See: http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-the-nooks-book-lending-feature-is-a-joke-2009-12
The lending feature just released for the Kindle is identical to the Nook lending feature that Bezos previously commented on.