5 Great Web Tools for Book Lovers

Whether you love to read books the old fashioned way or with a new fangled device like a Kindle, the web is great place to find resources on just about everything book-related. Whether you need help finding a particular volume, want to track your library account or just want to chit-chat about your reactions to a particularly memorable read, you’ll find ways to meet your needs via several web tools. Here are a few every bibliophile should try out.

WorldCat: While you may think this tool is just for academics and researchers, think again. After all, unless you live in a major city there is a pretty good chance your library doesn’t always have the book you want to read. With WorldCat, you can find out what the closest library to you is that carries the book you’d like, or find out where to purchase it, get other recommendations and read reviews.

Shelfari: Whether you want to find out what other people are reading or just show off your particularly large collection of books, you’ll find the tools to do it at Shelfari. The site combines some of the features of social networking with book cataloging and provides ample features to share your love of reading with the web.?

GoodReads: If you’re a book lover with lots of friends who also love books, this site may be an ideal way to stay connected through your pastime. Users can get recommendations on what to read next, set up a book club, keep track of favorite reads and quite a bit more.

LibraryElf: Are you the kind of person who can’t ever remember when your library books are due? Do you check out books from multiple libraries at once? This helpful little tool can help make late fees a thing of the past by alerting you when your materials are due and keeping track of everything you have checked out.

BookBurro: With this tool, you’ll be able to very simply search for and find the best deals on any book you come across. Even better, the application can recognize webpages where books are listed and allows you to search through prices and library holdings without ever even leaving the page you’re on.

No matter what kind of books you love or where you choose to enjoy them, these web tools can help keep you busy enjoying connecting, searching and tracking your reading.

This post was contributed by Caitlin Smith, who writes about the online college. She welcomes your feedback at CaitlinSmith1117@gmail.com.

Obama: The Historic Journey

It is well documented that the election of 2008 captured the profound interest and imagination of the U.S. and the world in ways that had not been seen in over 40 years. Legions of followers witnessed every nuance from the caucuses of Iowa to the historical impact of Inauguration Day. ‘Obama: The Historic Journey’ (Callaway/New York Times) captures every step along the way in magnificent detail in both it’s large format photographs and insightful writings that allow readers to re-live moments from his break-thru speech at the Democratic Convention in 2004, to the primaries, debates, the selection of a Vice-President, the convention in Denver, the battles with John McCain (and the Sarah Palin sideshow) to election day and the ultimate Inauguration. In addition to the beautiful photographs, there are transcripts of each of his major speeches as well as a series of well written perspectives from the likes of Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd, Caroline Kennedy, Nicholas Kristof, David Brooks, Tom Friedman and others. Despite a proliferation of Obama books following the election, ‘Obama: The Historic Journey’ is the one volume that presents the journey with the same outsized impact that epitomized the campaign itself. A+ – Tim Devine

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Reality Check – Guy Kawasaki (Portfolio)

Love him or hate him, there is no doubt that Guy Kawasaki has positioned himself as one of the go-to sages of latter-day Silicon Valley. His ‘Art of the Start’ was the de facto bible for young entrepreneurs looking to get their piece of the gobs of Web 2.0 venture capital up for grabs along the money highway known as Sand Hill Road.

In ‘Reality Check,’ Kawasaki once again explains, in his trademark unvarnished terms, the best method of cutting through the ‘bullshiitake’ (his word, not ours – he is Asian, after all) and not only grabbing the cash, but actually creating and conquering a market in virtually any new enterprise one cares to engage.

Kawasaki is often funny and irreverent but always focused and relentless in keeping his readers focused on the real answers to questions about marketing and social media as opposed to indulging the many urban myths or conventional thinking that pervades the thoughts of so many first time businessmen. The aptly named ‘Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition’ covers a wide berth of business silos – from business plans and customer service to the more visible modern day pursuits of blogging, evangelizing and, yes, schmoozing (“good schmoozers are good listeners.”) Of course, Kawasaki should know much about the latter, as he is one of the Valley’s most relentless bloggers and schmoozers (did someone say ’self-promoter?’)

Kawasaki peppers his own thoughts with interviews and mini-lists from a variety of experts on the various topics at hand as his book covers nearly every imaginable topic of today’s digital marketing landscape. And while the author revisits some material from his earlier works (the 10/20/30 rule, for example) It’s hard to argue with Kawasaki’s approach, not just because of his unconventional thinking (which is pervasive from cover-to-cover) but also because of the fact that he is widely recognized as a key player in the Silicon Valley landscape who swims in this pool everyday.

While there are many who see Kawasaki’s smart-ass approach as effectively decimating the line between evangelizing and self-promoting, ‘Reality Check’ effectively imparts a shiitake-load of information that young entrepreneurs need all in one jam-packed book. If you or someone you know are even thinking of starting a Web 2.0 style company, this book is an au courant must read. If you’re just looking to understand the state of the art in the new world order of business modeling, this hard-hitting, reality-based book is head-and-shoulders above most modern day marketing tomes, especially if you can let the obvious ego-driven approach not phase you.