Google Books

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Oh Shari,
Have you picked up a non public domain book without a payment option?

Hmmm...I just tried, and it won't allow it. Strange that some books are available to download with no payment method and some aren't.

Shari

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by shalym

Ok...when I went to books.google.com and typed in "Treasure Island" I ended up on this page https://books.google.com/books?id=UP...island&f=false

I then decided to click on the "Ebook-Free" button to download the book, and it took me to google play to get the book. I had to use a google account to download the book. (although I didn't need a payment method attached to the account)

So yes...google books doesn't sell anything, and you can't download anything from there either--not even free books that are in the public domain.

I assure you that you can download out of copyright books from Google Books; I've downloaded a large number of books from there associated with my Egyptology degree.

Try this link, for example:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...elzoni&f=false

This should display the title page of a book called "Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries Within the Pyramids", by Giovani Belzoni, published in 1820. In the upper right corner of the page is a "gearwheel" button. Click it and you get a drop-down menu which says:

My Library
Help
Advanced Book Search
Download EPUB
Download PDF
Plain Text

The bottom three items on the menu get you the page scan PDF (which is what I always download), a horrible ePub generated from uncorrected OCR on the scanned pages, and the same thing as ASCII text.

[crutledge]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Shari, we aren't talking about Google Play here, but about Google Books, which is a completely different service. Google Books is not a bookstore, and doesn't sell anything.

What purpose does Google Books serve?

It does seem that Google does not follow the purpose stated in the header attached to each scanned book.

If you can find them, Google books can be downloaded from Acquire.com which can be a PITA to use.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I assure you that you can download out of copyright books from Google Books; I've downloaded a large number of books from there associated with my Egyptology degree.

Try this link, for example:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...elzoni&f=false

This should display the title page of a book called "Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries Within the Pyramids", by Giovani Belzoni, published in 1820. In the upper right corner of the page is a "gearwheel" button. Click it and you get a drop-down menu which says:

My Library
Help
Advanced Book Search
Download EPUB
Download PDF
Plain Text

The bottom three items on the menu get you the page scan PDF (which is what I always download), a horrible ePub generated from uncorrected OCR on the scanned pages, and the same thing as ASCII text.

Interesting--thank you for pointing that out! I never saw it...my eyes were drawn to the colorful button with the word "free" on it. Sorry...I'm not usually taken in by such things.

Shari

[Alpha o]

If you get a free app for your Android phone or tablet, it's the same account with a credit card attached. You will get a receipt marked free. I like to trial some apps, and some utility apps are free.

I don't know about now, but when Google first got involved with the old books, the books were included in your Google Dashboard Account under books. Google Books from Play and old scans were in the same book account. I got some old out of print, and they were on the my Google account Dashboard.

Google account is like the "One Ring"

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by shalym

Interesting--thank you for pointing that out! I never saw it...my eyes were drawn to the colorful button with the word "free" on it. Sorry...I'm not usually taken in by such things.

Shari

It's my pleasure . It's a wonderful resource for old books, and the only reason I pointed it out is precisely because it's not obvious that you can download from there! Your eye is naturally drawn to to the large button that says "EBOOK - FREE" which takes you to Google Play Books.

[kennyc]

And now it's all just Alphabet soup.

[GlenBarrington]

I occasionally use Google Play books, but with the exception of a few classics I want to revisit, I tend to avoid public domain books. Most of them just don't seem relevant to me.

I also admit to being spoiled by the Kindle environment. Google Play just isn't as slick and smooth operating as Kindle. If a book seems oddly expensive on Kindle (It happens), I will shop around, going to Google, and Kobo first.

But usually they aren't any cheaper. I'll try a couple other places, but if none of them come closer to my desired price, I wait until their price DOES come down. I simply WILL NOT pay more than $8 US for an ebook, regardless of Author or how well received it is by reviewers.