Thursday, November 3, 2011

Finally! Kindle has a library!



It's here! It's free! (not really)



Almost since the day the Kindle was released, buyers/readers have been asking about a lending library for Kindle users. Naturally the idea of giving away new or recent releases for free would not appeal to a corporate giant, so Amazon's response was always:

"Yeah... about that..."

Now Amazon has found a way to make us e-readers sorta happy by announcing the start of the Kindle User's Lending Library. The idea: you borrow one book a month with due dates, and therefore- no late fees. The catch(es)?

1) You need an Amazon Prime Membership, which is $79/year. Right now you can sign up for a free 1 month trial to check out the service. I did my trial during September to see how Amazon's streaming movies and tv shows stacked up against Netflix in the midst of the tragic/hilarious Qwikster debacle, and found the comparison unfavorable. The free two day shipping is pretty handy though, especially as the gift-giving season approaches.

2) As of right now there are a limited number of "big name" books available. Amazon trumpets news of "over 100 bestsellers" as if that's a massive incentive- but when you realize that about 15 of those could be books from Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin, you calm down a bit.

Overall- I'm not jumping at it right now. I'm on a fantasy kick at the moment (it started with George R.R. Martin's books over the summer, went through the Dragonlance series, and I'm now getting through as many of Jordan (and friends) Wheel of Time books as possible.

Will you be checking out Kindle's Lending Library?