So Your E-Ink Kindle has died…
How to recover your books
without buying a new Kindle

First, configure calibre…

Follow this guide to installing and configuring calibre and the DRM-removal plug-in.

If you cannot obtain your serial from your device, it is available in the "Manage Your Content and Devices" section of the Amazon website, under "Your devices"

Click to embiggen: Image of the amazon Manage Your Content and Devices page showing the location of a device's serial number in the Your Devices section

If USB still works…

To Write

If you can't get the books from the device…

Books can be downloaded from the amazon website, one at a time, from the "Your Content" section of the "Manage Your Content and Devices".

Click on the button under the "Actions" column, next to the book you want to download.

Click to embiggen: Image of the actions menu relating to an ebook in the Your Content section of the Manage Your Content and Devices page

Choose the "Download & transfer via USB" option from the menu, then select the E-Ink kindle whose serial number you added to calibre.

Click to embiggen: Image of the device selection menu of the Download option

Add the downloaded book to calibre with the Add book option. DRM will be removed on addition to the library, and can then be used on any kindle.

Calibre will also allow you to convert to alternative formats, such as EPUB, to allow reading on non-Kindle e-readers.