Amazon's e-book lending library only works on Kindles

(CBS/AP) - Amazon announced Thursday that it's starting a lending service for Kindle owners, letting them borrow one e-book per month.

Borrowers have to subscribe to Amazon's Prime service, which provides free two-day shipping and streaming movies for $79 per year.

Sounds cool, right? Here's the part that stinks.

The e-books can't be read on phones, PCs or tablet computers, even though there are Kindle apps for these devices.

Amazon says it's paying publishers for the right to lend the books which is usually for a fixed fee. In some cases, it's paying the wholesale price every time a book is checked out.

Amazon says the library has more than 5,000 books, including current bestsellers such as Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" trilogy. The company wouldn't reveal which publishers were on board with the library plan.