BookBrowse -- Your guide to exceptional books

Tens of thousands of books are published each year in the USA alone. Even if you read a book a day you could only read a tiny fraction of these. So, how on earth do you choose which are worth reading in your valuable free time?

Newspaper and magazine reviews are useful, but they're just one person's opinion, and you can't browse the book for yourself; and if you visit many bookstores these days you'll be hard pressed to find somebody with the knowledge to guide you to anything other than the bestsellers or the coffee-bar! As for websites - there's a proliferation of information about books on the web but have you got the time to wade through all the noise to find the books that are of interest to you? And are you sure that the information you're getting is free of bias?

Just as the cornflakes displayed on the supermarket aisle-ends are there because the manufacturer paid a premium for the spot, many of the books that you'll see on the front tables in your local chain bookstore, or on the lead pages of well known online retailers, are paid promotions - which is why the same old bestselling authors get so much of the space. BookBrowse does not sell books and we do not accept payments to feature books editorially, so we're free to recommend books on merit and not because of the size of the publisher's marketing budget.

BookBrowse's concept is very simple but, to the best of our knowledge, unique. We are a book recommendation service on a mission to seek out the diamonds in the rough from the approximate 100,000 books published each year (in the USA alone), so that you can spend your time reading books you truly enjoy - and stop wasting time and money on books that you set aside half-finished, or worse - stay up late to finish, only to find that you can barely remember them the next day!

When we find a book that we think our members and visitors will enjoy we gather together all the information you need to decide if it's right for you, including an excerpt, the range of media reviews (abbreviated to each reviewer's essential opinion to minimize repetition and plot spoilers), author biography and, more often than not, an author interview and discussion guide.

If you like to read 'quality' books and enjoy reading a variety of genres you're very likely to appreciate BookBrowse - among our recommendations you'll find novels that whisk you to interesting times and places, thrillers that are more than just 'page turners', nonfiction that informs as it entertains, and much else. Everytime you visit you'll find an eclectic, informative and interesting selection of titles, from established writers to first time authors, from a wide range of genres, both fiction and non-fiction - so you can browse the cream of the crop without having to wade through shelves of also-rans.

You can browse some of BookBrowse for free but we reserve a number of premium features for our members. Become a member for just $35 a year and you'll get:

• Our interactive online-magazines with in-depth reviews and the stories behind the books.
• Hand picked 'readalike' suggestions from all featured books to other books you're likely to enjoy.
• The ability to browse for books by time period, setting and a wide range of themes.
• The opportunity to receive free books.
• Straight talk about the books before they're even published via our monthly issue of "BookBrowse Previews" which profiles 80-100 notable books publishing the next month.
• And much more

Publishers estimate that one-third of books bought are never read and a further one-third are put aside unfinished. How much money and time could a $35 annual subscription to BookBrowse save you?

Find out more and browse sample issues here.


Librarians: "BookBrowse for Libraries" provides your patrons with remote and in-library access to all that BookBrowse has to offer for a great deal less than other 'readers' advisory' services! In our April 2009 survey, of the 1501 library patrons who visit their library at least once a month 75% said they'd like their library to subscribe to BookBrowse; and 95% of librarians thought the cost of 'BookBrowse for Libraries' was 'about right' or better, with 62% saying they thought it offered good to great value for money. Find out more.