One of the best ways to save money is to be certain that you actually want what you’re buying! I have recently discovered a tool that is a huge help when you’re considering buying a book. It’s called Google Book Search.
When looking for a book on Google Book Search, you will often be able to read some of the book online. I have found that several books of interest to me were available as a limited preview. That means that the author or publisher gave permission to Google Books to show a preview of the book, usually several pages from each chapter. I have found this feature to be very helpful in finding out if I like the writing style and whether or not I want to obtain the full book.
Some books, if they are out of copyright or if the author/publisher has given permission, are available to view in their entirety online! In fact, some of the books are even available to download as a PDF.
Unfortunately, not ALL books provide a preview. Some have no preview available, and you’ll only be able to see basic info about the book, like a card from a card catalog. Others have a snippet view, meaning that in addition to the card catalog info, you’ll only be able to read a few sentences of the book.
A new feature of Google Books is that you can save the books to your “my library”. Using “my library” allows you to save the books for review later and share the books you’re interested in with your friends. Check out my library, which I just started!
In order to use Google Books yourself, simply search by book title or author or ISBN to find a book. Or, if you don’t have a specific book in mind, you can search by topic and find a list of books that may be of interest to you. Once you’ve decided that you want to purchase a book, go to Amazon.com and buy it! You can be confident that you’re purchasing a book that won’t just sit on your shelf unread.
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