Finding the right book

Well, we all know the old saying, 'You can't judge a book by its cover'. It's important to check that the book we are buying is right for us, especially study books. We need to examine the contents and style of books to discover if they are what we want. Of course, we can do this online using Amazon's 'Look inside' feature. However, not all books on Amazon have that feature. Sometimes, when we are not quite sure what sort of book we want, it is useful to look through several books to get an idea of what's available. It is not altogether easy to do this using online searches. Recently when I did a search, I ended up with pages and pages of book titles which were clearly not relevant to my needs. Sometimes it is difficult to refine the key word search without excluding books that might be useful.

If we visit our local bookshops, we are likely to find that they are stocking a more limited range of books than in previous years. The exception might be books that have local appeal, such as local history books and local tourist guides. The sale of local books provides a lifeline to local bookshops, who find it hard to compete on price with online retailers for most of the other books they sell.

Finding the right book within bookshops isn't always easy, either. A lot depends on how the book is classified, as to where you will find it. It is a good idea to look in different parts of the shop. Sometimes there is a more academic area as well as a more popular one. How the books are displayed in larger chains of booksellers relates to deals done between the bookseller and publishers, not necessarily on the merits of the books. The first book you see may not be the best one for you.


Public libraries aren't as well stocked as they once were. It is worth checking, if you are interested in specialist books, whether you can subscribe to your local university's library.

Of course, lots of books are available online. Out of copyright books are available free from a number of sites, including the Gutenberg or Bartleby sites. These sites provide a wonderful resource for book-lovers. They can be useful if you know what you want and it is available.
Having the right book can make all the difference. It can motivate us to want to read it and inspire us to further study. Dull books can have the opposite effect and can discourage the keenest students. A well written book, with clear explanations and a good level of analysis, is always worth the search.

Anne Jones, January 2011