Before I begin reading in earnest on my new Kindle, I plan to finish up the library book I’m currently in the middle of. It’s not a public-domain book, so I can’t get it for free for the Kindle. In fact, I can get it cheaper in paperback than for the Kindle. But it’s frustrating to have the device sitting there unused while I read a borrowed book. I don’t necessarily want to own this book, though, and certainly not for $12 (I’m cheap).

It’d be nifty if Amazon had a rent-to-own option. The idea is that you pay a buck or two per week to have a book downloaded to your Kindle. When you’re done, you check it back in and pay no more. If you keep it long enough that you’ve paid the full price for the book, then you get to keep the book.

While I balk at paying $12 for a book I’ll skim once and never read again, I wouldn’t balk at paying $2 to have it for a week. It’s so easy to buy an iPhone app at the very low price point even if it’s something you don’t anticipate using long-term. I think that throwaway books are similar. Amazon’s losing my money by not giving me an option like this. I would rent loads of books at $2 a pop but will decline to buy the Kindle version at full price.