This page will outline some of my favorite book recommnedation and services. As I mentioned before these will be non-fiction items. (And yes, I do read fiction too.) When it comes to finding books, I have a discovery process because it’s too easy to buy or borrow items without giving thought as to why I’m reading the book. Obviously, one discovery method is the old-fashioned bookstore browse if you’re lucky to have one in your neighborhood.
My Discovery Process
Apart from friend recommendations, I’ve been relying on three services to surface book ideas for me:
Wowbrary
This is a free service that ties in with a lot of public libraries. In my case, each Saturday morning I get a list of new resources that my library has ordered. These include books, movies, and music. It’s not too long and each item has a brief description, image, and links to get more info or to place a “hold”. Their more Info button takes me to the specific Amazon page where I can also see user reviews. Wowbrary is a non-profit organization and one of their funding mechanisms is Amazon affiliate commissions.
Optimize.me –
This site is a rebranded and enhanced version of the service I reviewed sometime back called “Philosophers Notes“. While Brian still has his notes, which are available to members, he offers something called “Optimize + 1”. Instead of being a full-blown book report, it a small nugget he’s extracted. I’ll get an email mentioning the item and I can click through to see this video. This often introduces me to new books. The cost is still between $7.99 and $12.99 per month, but the Optimize + items are free.
Blinkist –
This is another service I continue to use to surface book recommendations. Sometimes, I have a book in mind and want to see the Blinkist abstract. Other times, I’ll see what they have as new entries. They do offer a free book a day as well although you don’t get to choose the book. You might also be interested in my review of Blinkist.
Recommended Reading
To make things easier, I’m going to have these titles link to Amazon. And like Wowbrary, I am an Amazon Affiliate.