How to share Kindle e

One of the greatest joys of reading is sharing what you love. When you buy a physical book, and you love it, you pass it along to friends and family members who might glean some of the same happiness, or sadness, or wonder, that you had when you read it. But sharing that joy isn't always so easy when you've got an e-book instead of a physical book. Handing your entire Kindle over to someone just doesn't feel realistic — but that isn't the only way to share an e-book.

Kindle has a lending feature built in called the Family Library. It's a great way to share your book collection with your friends and family that links together two adults and up to four children, from an adult's account, to share Amazon Prime benefits and Kindle e-books. To set it up, you'll need to link all the accounts together through Amazon Household. Then, navigate to Manage Your Content and Devices, select Content, then Show Family Library, and enable sharing on all your Kindle e-books. You'll want to check the box next to the books you want to share, then select Add to Library.

If you don't have the Family Library — or if you want to share books with more than just your family — there is still an option to share your e-books. You can't read a loaned book while someone else is reading it, so this wouldn't work for a simultaneous book club situation, but it's a great option for sharing with those who aren't in your Family Library. Here's a step-by-step guide.

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Pick your book

Click "Content & Devices" in your Amazon dropdown menu Credit: amazon

Navigate to the Manage Your Content and Devices dropdown on and pick the e-book you'd like to loan out. This is an important step, because not all Kindle e-books are lendable. You can check if yours is by checking the product details or checking the content and devices page.

Loan it out

You'll see an Actions button, which you click and select Loan This Title. If a book isn't lendable, that option won't appear. You can only loan a Kindle e-book once, so make sure you're loaning it to the person who deserves it most.

Pick the recipient

Now you'll be prompted to enter the recipient's personal email address associated with their Amazon account, and you have the option to add a message. Then select Send. Just because the personal email address has to be associated with their Amazon account doesn't mean they have to have a Kindle to read the book you share — they can read it from the free Kindle app or online at read.amazon.com.

Let them read and enjoy

After you send the copy, a book loan notification is sent to the recipient. They have to accept the loan — if they don't within seven days, it gets sent back to you. They only have 14 days to read it before it's returned to you.