75ers who read on Kindles

In a limited way, Kindle books are now lendable.

You can lend a book only once and only for two weeks.

Details at: www.amazon.com/kindle-lending

Jim set up a wiki for us. It's at:
http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Kindle

Thanks for starting this thread! When I check my Kindle for lendable books, I will post it here!

Okay, I just figured out an easy way to do this.

When you log in to Amazon, go to "My Account" then "Manage Your Kindle". Towards the bottom of the page you will see "Your Orders" and a list of all the books you've bought for your Kindle.

Click the + sign next to any book, and if there's a button that says "Lend this book", that means it's lendable.

I have a lot of free books on my Kindle, but there are a few that are not free, that I can lend to anyone who wants them:

An East End Murder by Charles Finch - this is FREE right now, if you want to download it for yourself. I think it's a short story or novella. Haven't read it yet myself.

Walking into Murder (a Laura Morland mystery) by Joan Lambert

Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews - I haven't read this yet, but with the group reads I'm doing from Jan - March, I probably won't get to it until spring.

Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

Murder, by the Book by Stephen Budiansky

The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer

Death of a Trophy Wife by Laura Levine

All God's Creatures by Carolyn McSparren

Okay, now here are some free Kindle books that I've read and can heartily recommend:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Lady Audley's Secret by M.E. Braddon
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Warden by Trollope

**Sorry - touchstones are NOT working!**

I'll be seeing my sister on Sunday so I'll find out then what she wants to read (tonight is my 10-year old niece's first-ever slumber party at their house so I'm sure she's quite busy).

Here are a few lendable Kindle books I've found so far. I will add to this list as I discover them.

Lendable Kindle books: Part 1

--Cast Member Confidential: A Disneyfied Memoir by Chris Mitchell
--An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor
--A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
--The White House Doctor: My Patients Were Presidents by Connie Mariano
--A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield
--Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
--Berried to the Hilt by Karen MacInerney
--When the Game Changed: An Oral History of Baseball's True Golden Age by George Castle
--Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
--The Wagon and Other Stories from the City by Martin Prieb
--Nine Weeks: a Teacher's Education in Army Basic Training by Rich Stowell
--Fatally Frosted by Jessica Beck
--A Cold Day in Paradise by Steve Hamilton
--The Whole Five Feet: What the Great Books Taught Me About Life, Death, and Pretty Much Everything Else by Christopher Beha

Oooh, I liked the Louise Penny book and The Whole Five Feet as well. I haven't read any of the others on your list. I will have to come back here and check on those in more detail.

Argh. Can't get my touchstones to work in post #4. Frustrating.

Thanks for the heads up! Does this work for all Kindles, or just newer ones? I have and 'ancient' original Kindle. It's full of a lot of freely available stuff from Gutenberg project, but there is some purchased stuff as well.

>4 BookAngel_a: I couldn't find the Charles Finch title about the East End Murder when I searched the Kindle bookstore. I did, however, download a few other titles that interested me.

7- It probably works for all Kindles. You can go to amazon.com and try it. I have a Kindle 2, so mine isn't the newest version and it works.
Go to:
My Account
Manage Your Kindle
Your Orders
Your purchased books should show up here. Hit the PLUS sign next to the books to see if they are lendable.

8- You're right - I couldn't find the Charles Finch short story either. It must have been a limited time only offering.
Send me a PM if you want to loan it for two weeks.

Thanks for posting about this. I didn't know about this feature. Right now, the only books I can loan are a handful the were free downloads that I haven't read yet. I hope they'll make this feature more widespread.

Rooms
Booth's Sister
Once Bitten
Vanish

Lendable Kindle books: Part 2

--Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
--How Lincoln Learned to Read by Daniel Wolff
--Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout
--Chicago Sports: A Fifty Year Love Affair by Chris Papas--Note: this was the worst book I read in 2010 and possibly the worst ever
--Skies to Conquer: A Year Inside the Air Force Academy by Diana Jean Schemo
--The Game From Where I Stand: A Ballplayer's Inside View by Doug Glanville
--Chicago: A Biography by Dominic A. Pacyga
--Curse of the Narrows by Laura M. MacDonald
--Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck
--Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke
--A Catered Birthday Party by Isis Crawford
--The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828 by Lynn Parsons
--Three Strikes You're Dead by Robert Goldsborough
--Fly by Wire: The Geese, the Glide, the Miracle on the Hudson by William Langewiesche--TAKEN
--The Ice Bowl: The Cold Truth About Football's Most Unforgettable Game by Ed Gruver--Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke
--Christmas Is Murder by C.S. Challinor
--Code Black by Phillip S. Donlay
--An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor
--Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip by Matthew Algeo
--Adams Vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 by John Ferling
--Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption by Laura J. Miller
--The Road to Cooperstown: A Father, Two Sons, and the Journey of a Lifetime by Tom Stanton

Thanks for starting this thread, Linda. So how do you 'borrow' a book from someone else? I just received a Kindle for Christmas and I've been downloading only free books so far. But since they are adding the ability to 'lend' books out, I might just buy some for a change.

#13 Caroline, I haven't actually done it yet but it appears that, once I find out that someone wants to borrow a book, I go to my "manage my Kindle" then find the book and click "loan this book" and then type in that person's email.

It looks like the loan period is for two weeks, during which time the book owner can't read the book. After two weeks, the book automatically goes back to the owner though the giftee can return it sooner.

Since I own about 127 lend-able Kindle books, I've decided to break them into monthly groups of 25 or so. This will be the January list! Remember, each book can only be loaned ONCE -- first come, first served. (I'm going to cross-post on my own thread.) Will delete books as they are requested. Also, since the lending period is only two weeks long, if you want to read one but don't want it until February, send me a PM telling me that, and I'll reserve it for you. The lists will exclude free books and 99 cent books.

Here are my lending ground rules:

first come, first served.
PM me (don't reply on the threads) and tell me what date you want me to send it. I'll try to accommodate those requests as best I can.
I will remove a title from the lend-able list when someone else has requested it.
I'll post the next one in early February.

So here's the January list:

1.The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
2.The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3.February by Lisa Moore
4.Roma by Steven Saylor
5.Random Violence by Jassy Mackenzie
6.Murder on the Cliffs by Joanna Challis
7.Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
8.My Man Jeeves by PG Wodehouse
9. Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
10. Murder in the Latin Quarter by Cara Black
11. Capital Ideas Evolving by Peter Bernstein
12. Farthing by Jo Walton
13. Firemaker by Peter May
14. Devil's Trill by Gerald Elias
15. Ice Blink by Scott Cookman -- SPOKEN FOR; FOR DELIVERY 1/15
16. The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid
17. Descartes: A Short Introduction by Tom Sorrell
18. Zoo Station by David Downing
19. Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows
20. A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church
21. To Begin the World Over Again by John Hulsman
22. The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots by Carolly Erickson (dreadful, but...)
23. The Watcher in the Pine by Rebecca Pawel
24. Seeds of Terror by Gretchen Peters
25. The Seven Sins by Jon Land

There's lots of books I'm interested in here, but I'm going to have to plan around the group reads I'm doing - since we can only borrow these books for two weeks! I'm going to keep posting my lendables and checking back on this thread throughout the year, when I have openings for reading borrowed books.

My sister, the LT lurker, had only 3 books that are lendable and I'm actually interested in one of them, Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. If I go through the lending process, I'll report back on how it works, things to watch out for.

I'm really interested in borrowing Fly by Wire, Linda, if your sister isn't and if no one else has spoken for it...?

17- Yes, please do! I'm anxious to see how it works.

Although I'm sure it's not too difficult - Suz and I tried out "gifting" Kindle books to each other and that was easier than I thought it would be.

Angela, I'd like to read the Stephen Budiansky mystery, Murder, By the Book.

If it's still available.

Lending out a Kindle book was very easy, btw.

I don't have a Kindle but my sister is getting one (it may have arrived by now) for Christmas, and I gave her a gift membership in LT for her birthday (tomorrow) so I am going to direct her to this thread!! Thanks, Linda, for setting it up.

20- Linda, I just sent it!

Thanks, Angela. I probably won't act on it for a day or two (til I read my current one).

One of my dearest friends (who was stranded in NJ so I haven't seen her since before the holidays) got a Kindle for Christmas. We have very similar reading tastes so I'm excited about that--we can share!!

ETA: I got the email. Thanks again!!

23- That's exciting about your friend!

Sigh. I don't have any "real life" friends who own Kindles. (Not that you gals aren't "real life" friends! I mean friends that I see face to face quite often.) I don't have too many friends who love to read. Out of those who do, as far as I can tell so far, none of them share my taste in books. Double sigh.

That's what draws me here.

The whole loaning process is easy. Angela let me borrow a Kindle book (you need to provide the sender your name and email address) and then Amazon sends an email telling you the book is available and a deadline for claiming it (the offer is good for 7 days).

After I claimed it this morning, the next time I put the whispernet on, it came through.

One interesting thing, not sure if it was a fluke or what but the typesize was much smaller than I'm used to. I wonder if it's because Angela uses a smaller typesize than I do or whether that was a coincidence.

Anyway, I now have 14 days to read it. That should not be a problem as it's a very quick read--I read 15% this morning over coffee.

So what happens after you 'borrow' a book from a Kindle lender? Does the book arrive with an expiration date and it then just disappears from your Kindle folder? Or do you have to send it back to the lender?

As I understand it, if I do nothing, in two weeks, it goes back to Angela. I think there's a way that I can send it back early, if I finish it early.

That was explained in the instructions but I forget how to do it. Probably go to manage my Kindle and click on the title.

It arrives as a regular book would. No indication that it's on loan. It also appears in the manage my Kindle order section.

On my Kindle screen, at the top, it says that the book is out on loan. I think if Linda would not have accepted my loan in 7 days, the book would have come right back to me.

I think amazon sends you a warning email when your loan is about to expire.

I'll be loaning a chunkster book from Suzanne next month so it will be interesting to see the whole process from the 'lendee' side, lol...

I'm curious as to how you would "send it back" early if you finish it early. There's probably a really simple way to do it. So far everything with my Kindle has been simpler than I expected - which is very, very good!

I checked that link (see msg 1) and it explained it. I think you go to manage your Kindle, orders, and then click on the book. There's a spot to delete the book, which sends it back to you, the person who loaned it to me.

I got one of those Kindle updates this morning, which drained my battery. Grrrr.

My Kindle is nearing its second birthday and it might be time to get a replacement battery.

There's a similar thread for those who have Nooks, and on that thread I've volunteered to put together a wiki page for folks to list books available to lend. Are the Kindle users interested in something similar? I'm envisioning a page each for Kindle and Nook that lists by username the titles with authors available for lending.

Example:

drneutron can lend:
- Gone With The Wiki by Jim Bim
- Book The Second by Josephine Doe

I need a volunteer or two to maintain the wiki page, but my expectation is that lenders will mostly add and delete their own entries.

Comments?

Fantastic idea, Jim!

I could help some, but I really only have used the wiki for updating TIOLI and the one new We Are Reading thread I created so not sure if I'll be a help or a hindrance.

I'm not very experienced at such things (I've never used a wiki before now!) but I could probably figure out how to enter and maintain the books I have for lending. Trial and error at first, I'm sure, but I could keep up my own list.

I think it's a nice idea, definitely!

Great idea, Jim. I saw that Cheli suggested it over on the Nook lending thread.

I've made quite few TIOLI entries (starts with a # symbol for each entry) and could keep an eye on it.

I'd say there's probably no need to put in book links. What do you think?

Heads up Kindle owners: if you have one of the Kindle covers with a hinge (not the lighted version), it might be causing your Kindle to freeze up and reboot.* Mine was. Amazon is refunding the amount paid for the cover PLUS adding a $25 credit to the pot. Pretty good customer service! I asked if I should send the cover back - she... said no, use it for a coaster or a dog toy.... I think it will find its way into some art work.

*Apparently the metal prongs are causing the problem; but with the lighted version, not so. I think I'll steer clear of either of them and try something different. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of this one

>35 teelgee:: Other than the purple (*grin*) that's pretty much like the ones my wife and I have, Terri. We have second generation Kindles but same principle. The lights work pretty well.

Oops, on looking at the interior of that one, it's not the same. We went for the Prodigy cover with the metal hinge. The elastic straps sometimes slip off and we didn't want a simultaneous failure of two of them to drop the device onto the floor.

Yah, I'm thinking I'll get the light too. There are times it's just a little too dark to read easily.

>>35 teelgee:. Which generation Kindle do you have? How did you get a phone number to call?

I have the hinged cover on a Generation 2 Kindle. It has re-booted once without my consent.

Metal hinge? I'm not sure what cover I have.

My battery was draining but I investigated and it had to do with me buying a number of books and the unit taking awhile to index them. Now that the indexing is over, I am back to normal.

Nancy, I have a 3rd generation (wifi, not 3G). I went to the Kindle support page online and found the phone #

Linda -- my battery was draining really quickly and I found out that - contrary to what seemed like common sense - it should not be completely shut off, that the sleep mode actually conserves the battery longer. It drains it quickly if you turn it off and on and it has to re-index. Also -- leaving the wifi on will drain it quite quickly too. So - connect, download and disconnect asap.

#40 In two years, I think I've turned mine off twice. Usually when I'm distracted or something. I noticed that the first week I had it. Letting it sleep doesn't drain the batteries as much.

I put the whispernet on for a few minutes in the morning to get my newsaper and then once or twice, briefly, to download blogs.

#35> Is that what's causing that? Argh! I'd been assuming it was just a thing the Kindle did because I'd heard so many people talking about it. Maybe I should contact Amazon CS and see what they say?

Apparently, when you loan a Kindle book to someone, and they return it early, you still cannot access the book until the two weeks are up.

Linda read the book she borrowed from me and returned it in two days, but I have not been able to get it back on my Kindle.

I finally went to Kindle "chat" on amazon and found out the above. If anyone finds out anything different, let me know. (It's been kinda fun figuring out how all this works.)

It's not a problem; it's just good to know.

Angela, I thought I read somewhere that you can access it once the borrower returns it. Hmmm.

Did you check your archives? I'm halfway through Skippy Dies so I'll let you know what my sister's experience is, after I finish that and return it to her, probably by the weekend.

Yep, I tried everything. I checked my archives, and I even went to amazon.com, manage your kindle, and had it re-sent to me. Nothing worked. I turned my whispernet on and tried "sync and check for items" many times. That's when I searched amazon's chat for it and someone else was having the same problem. She was told that you cannot access it until after the two weeks are up, even if it is returned. Obviously they are still working the bugs out of this. But I'm still happy that amazon is allowing it!

That's good to know, Angela. I'll be returning my other borrowed book to my sister today so we shall see what develops there.

You're right, sounds like they don't have all the bugs ironed out yet.

I've now set up the wiki page for book exchanges on the Nook. See here:

http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Kindle

Comments are welcome. I intend for this to be a jumping-off point, so make it useful! Once things get going, I'd like to hand off responsibility to someone participating in the exchange.

Thanks for setting it up, Jim. I've been using the TIOLI wiki for a year now so I've got some idea of how to use one. I've added my books, at least the lendable ones I've identified so far.

ETA: I didn't notice your template/instructions and so did it the same way we do it for TIOLI, namely a # at the start of each entry and brackets around the book link and title

In other news, I don't think Amazon has its act together yet, as Angela indicated. The same thing happened to my sister as to Angela, that is, when I returned a book early, she didn't get it yet.

The template is just to help folks get started. If you're comfortable with the TIOLI format, go for it!

Suz returned the Kindle book she borrowed from me. I got an email to that effect. I turned on the whispernet and then went over to the archives and there it was. I moved it over out of archives and yes, it's there, no trouble whatsoever.

Maybe they've ironed out their loan problems?

I still can't access Murder by the Book on my Kindle. I went to my archives, and I went to "Manage Your Kindle" and had it re-sent to my Kindle. Still nothing. Tomorrow is two weeks since the loan, so if it doesn't come back then I'm going to have to contact customer service.

Glad it worked for you and Suz though!

I've finished In the Bleak Midwinter, a terrific mystery, and noticed that it's lendable.

I'll add it to the wiki.

Linda, could I raise my hand for that one -- but not until Jan 28 or so? Let me know...

#54 Sure, that's fine. Please send me a reminder. I'll mark it as taken.

Good news: The book is finally back on my Kindle. Not sure exactly what did the trick. Maybe just that the two weeks were up?
I have a feeling my next loan will go more smoothly - I think Amazon is working the bugs out now.

53 - I'd like to loan that one, after Suz, if possible!

A free ebook of Book One of the Septimus Heap series. Magyk. Might be good for Fantasy February.

Here is the link.

Ooh, I've been meaning to try the Septimus Heap books for ages - looks like that's my spur to get going on them!

I use the lighted version of the cover and its not causing me any problems... but thanks for the warning though I'll know what to do if the situation changes.

#57 thanks for the heads up about Septimus Heap!! I've already downloaded it.

You are all welcome. I'm looking forward to reading the Septimus Heap.

This one isn't free, but it's close. I really enjoyed it when I read it.

http://www.amazon.com/20th-Century-Ghosts-ebook/dp/B000W916P2%3FSubscriptionId%3...

There's a free Kindle book on amazon.com that seems to be historical fiction:

Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

It's getting good reviews on amazon, so I downloaded it. Just wanted to give you a heads up!

Thanks, Angela. For some reason I love posting the links to free and discounted books. It makes me happy.

I just bought this one. The first in the Tess Monaghan series is here. I own a paper version of this, but find that I prefer reading ebooks these days.

ETA: It is not free. It is 0.99.

well poo, I missed Greatest Knight for free.

64- Let me know when you want to read it and I'll loan it to you...

Got an email from Netgalley, and they say their books will be available for Kindles again in March. Hope it works!

#66 I hope so too. I just signed up with them and notice that Poisoned Pen Press was one of the few with Kindle availability, right now.

I haven't finished many Kindle books lately but, of those I have finished, two of them are lendable. I've added these to the wiki.

The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch, as well as the excellent On Hallowed Ground: The Story of the Arlington National Cemetery by Robert M. Poole

I have a question for those of you who read on Kindles like me. Have any of you read books with footnotes? I just obtained a Kindle version of a book through NetGalley that appears to have footnotes. It appears that they used OCR to make the Kindle version so right in the middle of a sentence the footnote text will appear (long after you've reached the symbol for the footnote) and you will have to skip over the footnote to get to the rest of the text. It took me awhile to figure out what was going on. Is this normal? If so, publishers who plan to create e-texts should probably use end notes (at the end of the chapter or the book). Being a fan of real footnotes, it pains me to suggest this, but it is preferable to the way this book is done. This is the first book I've read that appears to have used footnotes. I've seen endnotes in a Kindle book before. I just want to know if anyone else has run across the problem.

I'm accustomed to Kindle endnotes, but have never met a footnote. That sounds distracting as all get-out. I have found endnote navigation easy.

The endnote is no problem. This is just awful. There's no line to show you when you are getting to a footnote, etc.

I just found some "footnotes" last night while reading Unbroken. They were placed at the end of the section. No interrupting the flow of reading, but available had I wanted them.

Big sale on Kindle books, the Sunshine Sale. Not sure how long it lasts.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=tsm_1_fb_s_kin_lm68lm?docId=1000692281

Looks like it's got a whole bunch of more obscure-type nonfiction that I'm interested. Haven't checked out any fiction yet.

Lori, the problem is with NetGalleys, not the Kindle per se. Or rather, since the Kindle doesn't accept Adobe Digital Editor files, when a book is sent to your Kindle from them, it's reformatted as a PDF. The means it's always going to be a lot more buggy than the same book read via ADE either on the computer or on a Nook. Some NetGalley books I can read on Kindle; others, like the one I'm reading now, have so many formatting issues of so many different kinds that the effort is too great. Then I go back to the Nook, which generally I still am finding a more irritating device.

Thank you, Linda. I am even now downloading Heidegger's Glasses for $1.99 - my kind of price. For the same amount I see that they offer the first of one of my favorite series of all time: Ross Poldark by Winston Graham. Anybody who enjoys romance, adventure, and solid (as far as I can tell) historical research, should jump on this one.

One book I saw for cheap price was the first book in Karen MacInerney's B&B series set in Maine.

I saw that one, Linda, but I already had it. I did pick up a couple by Nadia Gordon set in the Napa Valley that sounded somewhat interesting. Most, if not all, of the others I got were nonfiction. There were a few that I wouldn't mind reading that I don't own, but I know our library has them so I decided not to even spend $3 on them.

There are some great bargains there for Sourcebooks tomes, including The Brothers of Gwynedd, which is a real chunkster. I may get the Poldark book, too... I ended up with six; and am rather peeved that I paid full price for some others that I could now have purchased at a steep discount!

I don't remember if anyone has posted some of these or not, but I follow several blogs that notify you of free and low-cost Kindle titles (many of which are limited time offers).

Books on the Knob - http://blog.booksontheknob.org/
Pixel of Ink - http://www.pixelofink.com/
Inspired Reads - http://www.inspiredreads.com/ (for Christian books)
Kindle Nation Daily - http://kindlenationdaily.com/
Amazon Kindle 3 and Kindle DX Review & News Blog - http://blogkindle.com/

The first 3 also include books for Nook and Kobo readers. Inspired Reads includes many titles at ChristianBooks.com. The last ones often include other Kindle news items besides book offers.

>74 Chatterbox:: Suzanne, have you tried Calibre to convert ADE eBooks to Kindle format? I successfully converted an ePub book using Calibre and some additional instructions here.

>75 LizzieD:: Peggy! Poldark is your favorite series of all time? I thought that was Dance to the Music of Time !!

>79 thornton37814:: Those are great links ... thanks!

I haven't tried Calibre; I should, I know, but I really wrestle with technical stuff, and I've got more crucial challenges to sort out at present. (Like getting my Scrivener software to work, and getting a blog up and running -- I seem stuck on the design issues and how to do what I want to do.) As long as it works, more or less, I'll cope!

>80 lauralkeet: Poldark is ONE of my favorite series of all time! The other biggie is, of course, *DANCE*!!! I neglected to mention that I also saw The Dervish House which I read on my Kindle for many more than 2 bucks last year. It's wonderful near-future scifi set in Istanbul. If I hadn't read it already, this Scot would be fuming. As it is, I like E. Pargeter, so I just downloaded The Brothers of Gwynedd too. I have to live to 110 now with brain and eyes improving with each year......

>82 LizzieD:: aha ... OK. :)

#82 -- Peggy, I had already spotted that one independently of the sale; Tad just finished it and the review made it sound appealing, so onto the Kindle it went! (and half a dozen others promptly followed...)
I am kicking myself for "overpaying" for the Pargeter, Heyer, Selinko and other books, however.

(I also own the 12 episodes of *Poldark Saga* on VHS as they appeared on Masterpiece Theater back in the 70's. Most of the casting was wonderfully done although I wasn't crazy about Robin Ellis as Ross. My major complaint is that the video series left out a favorite character, Aunt Agatha Poldark. I named our Senior Cat "Chibby," A.A.'s word for a baby.)