The Art of Buying Books Online
If you're a book lover of long standing, the storefront book store may be part of the ritual and nostalgia of buying books. It can be nice to spend a rainy afternoon in the book store, browsing for hours in a large bookstore, stopping for a cup of coffee at their in-house Starbucks. You can chat with other shoppers and even meet new people. When you go home, you'll feel as though you had a good afternoon of entertainment.
Nonetheless, your neighborhood book store can only contain so many books. Perhaps you're looking for some obscure title, or maybe you just don't want to go out in the rain to go shopping. Buying books online offers a solution to both problems.
Because the online seller doesn't have the overhead of the brick and mortar vendor, they can afford to offer discounts, often substantial, to customers who choose buying books online. They'll sometimes offer a bundled price on two related books, offering an even larger discount.
Another advantage of buying books online is that you have an opportunity to read not just the publisher's review, but also those of independent critics and literary organizations. Many allow readers who've read the book to rate the book and write their own review. Reading all of these reviews and comments gives you a better sense of what the book has to offer.
If you decide this is not the book you're looking for, the online sellers offer suggestions of other related titles or "people who purchased this book also bought ...". These suggestions are often interesting, leading you to explore some more. Book selling is a very competitive business, and online sellers try to accommodate your search in every way they can.
Their search engines are well tuned, and using keywords, titles and author's names will turn up hundreds of results, usually sorted by relevance. However, you can change the search to bring up results in order of publishing date, if your looking for the latest information on your topic.
When you're buying books online, you can virtually "visit" both the new and used book stores at the same time. Almost all online book stores have a bargain books section, much larger than you'll find in a regular bookstore.
For convenience and selection, you can't beat the online book store. If you haven't yet warmed up to the idea, give buying books online a try. | 
