BestShopSites
Bottom Line Rating*

Best Sites
Capsules/Description

Accolades

"No need to hound small bookstores for that out-of-print find. An online network of hundreds of indie booksellers, this site ranks up there with Bibliofind and Alibris as the place to go when searching for that rare hardcover.... Although books are searchable by title, author, keyword and publisher, the inability to get results by price can make searching a bit difficult. And be careful, this site is best if you know exactly what you want: you won't find much in terms of plot description here." (Forbes--click here for full review)

Amazon
www.amazon.com

"With stiff competitor Barnesandnoble.com always in tow, Amazon.com had to spiff up its core bookselling business to secure its spot in the giant online bookselling arena. Its massive inventory is now enhanced with original essays, columns, synopsis and recommendations by genre. Check out reviews from toted publications such as The New York Times Book Review and The Kirkus Review, along with comments from customers." (Forbes--click here for full review)

Macworld Review: "Amazon gets the nod again for many of the same reasons it wins in the music category. It has among the best prices on the Net, a good selection, and above all, fabulous service. Little touches such as "One-click" shopping and user ratings and reviews of books have made Amazon synonymous with online shopping."

Best Book Site : Macworld (January 2000)

Forbes Selection  in Best of the Web Forbes 9-11-00

TechTV's Best Shopping Site Pick

Barnes & Noble
www.bn.com

"A site that knows what bookworms want: erudite essays and sneak peeks at what to expect. What we particularly liked about this site was the no-holds-barred objectivity of the reviews.... For wireless freaks, there is Palm Pilot access." (Forbes--click here for full review)

Macworld Review: "Runner-up Barnes & Noble is nearly identical. Both sites' selections are quite comprehensive, but they're not equal in all areas. If you can't find what you want at Amazon, check here."

Runner-up Best Book Site : Macworld (January 2000)

TechTV's Best Shopping Site Pick

Forbes 9-11-00

DealPilot.com
www.dealpilot.com

EW review: "This German-based (yet English-language) search engine will hunt for a book in any of five languages, then canvas biblio-merchants around the world to compile your shopping options, complete with price, tax, shipping time, and delivery info. Better yet, if you buy more than one item (DealPilot also scouts out the music and movie realms), the program figures where to get the lot for the least cash. Original creators Christopher Muenchhoff and Christoph Janz get the credit for this very smart, very clear, very fast site--and you get the benefit."

"A" & "Best of Breed" : Entertainment Weekly Fall 1999

TechTV's Best Shopping Site Pick

Powell's Books
www.powells.com

"This site offers so many book lists that there's an entire section called "List Madness". Whether it's the Twenty Best Books List, Staff Picks - searchable by subject or employee, or Readers' Picks, you'll definitely find some unexpected titles. Powells.com, the online arm of Oregon's celebrated new-and-used bookstore chain, offers literary news and interviews, usually conducted when author's pass through for signings, that are substantial and smart... New books are generally full price."(Forbes--click here for full review)

EW review: "All right, so maybe you won't be taking advantage of their annual blowout on Springer-Verlag scientific-mathematics books, but this Portland, Ore., independent bookstore is renowned Web-wide for its oodles of affordably priced used, rare, and antiquarian books. Offerings range from the futuristic (palmtop-ready downloadable eBooks) to the historical (a signed U.K. first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird) And, hey--that four-volume Practical Blacksmithing set could be perfect for Dad. "

"A" : Entertainment Weekly Fall 1999

Forbes Selection in Best of the Web Forbes 9-11-00

British Books @ American Prices
www.prices.com

EW review: "Some books just haven't been published in the U.S.--for example, Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty, a companion to the BBC comedy series--but why let that stop you from reading them? Though the "American prices" tend to be high (sometimes more than $30), this efficient, informative site is especially good for bios of U.K. celebs. Now all you have to do is figure out that British "humour."

"B+" : Entertainment Weekly Fall 1999

Books Without Borders
www.bookswithoutborders.com

EW review: "Libros/livres/bucher for the little ones abound at this multilingual bookstore, which proffers originals, translations, videos, and audiotapes in a melange of idioms: Spanish, Russian, German, Italian, French. You might pay a slight premium for these parlez-vous publications, but if you're a parent cultivating your kids, proprietors Heidi Shih Hua Ho, Cory Barnidge, and Jenia Strudell just may be speaking your language. B+

"B+" : Entertainment Weekly Fall 1999

"Claiming they’ll find the "books you thought you’d never find," we have no reason to argue. Wonderfully designed Alibris taps into the world of used and out-of-print books with a depth that makes Barnes & Noble and Amazon seem shallow. Plug in a title or browse through their many sections and subsections. Great extras include articles, such as on how to care for your rare books, newsgroups and a glossary of book terms." (Forbes--click here for full review)

  "A site any minimalist would love. This no-frills, yet powerful search engine for used and rare titles canvases a network of suppliers around the world. Plug in J.D. Salinger to retrieve the New Yorker issue his last story, "Hapworth 16, 1924," was published in. You can also input by title, price range and whether you seek first editions."(Forbes--click here for full review)

Macworld: "It's nice that you can get practically any book in print at any number of online bookstores, from Amazon (www.amazon.com) to Powell's Books (www.powells.com). For those who are looking for a hard-to-find volume, however, Bibliofind has listings of more than 10 million used and rare books at booksellers around the world. Once you find a book in Bibliofind's database, you can buy the book directly from the seller; Bibliofind doesn't take a cut."

Macworld's Best Place to Track Down Old and Rare Books

"Want to know who won the Pulitzer for Fiction this year? Satiate your bookworm curiosity with this informational site which links to everything you could ever want to know about books: award winners, scores of booklists, reviews from leading sources, you name it. Want to see if a book's going to be worth the read? Check out links to full-text versions to get a taste....Links to comparison shopping Web sites for the best price on that book you're looking for." (Forbes--click here for full review)

BestOnly.com
www.bestonly.com

Best book lists guide to the greatest books of all time, and over 60 literary awards. Only the best books - linked to bookstore Amazon.com for convenient purchase.

BookZone
www.bookzone.com

EW review: "Volume vendors Laurence Palestrant and Mary Westheimer bill their wares as "the Net's most interesting books"--and, boy howdy, interesting is the right word. Some titles here are mainstream, but most are fringe books ranging from Y2Kitchen: The Joy of Cooking in a Crisis to the inspirational volume We the People Are the Messiah. That this site also allows self-published authors to offer their works should come as no surprise to anyone.

"B" : Entertainment Weekly Fall 1999

BestShopSites
Bottom Line Rating*

Other Sites

Link to Reviews

"The Marshalls’ of the online book world. Offers a good selection of audio books with deep discounts. Good price on that self-help book you wanted three years ago. While steep discounts are offered, most are of books you’ve never heard of" (Forbes--click here for full review)

TechTV's Best Shopping Site Pick

"Disregard the selection, check out the prices....No recommendations or anything extra that doesn't have to do with explaining how low their prices are" (Forbes--click here for full review)

"Looking past the pathetically amateur design work, Audiobooks surprisingly turned out to be one of the better specialty sites. Megastores may have better prices –titles here are 20 percent off list—but can’t come close to the breadth of selection" (Forbes--click here for full review)

"This site looks promising at first glance. But once you make some clicks, all praise falls flat on its face" (Forbes--click here for full review)

"You can’t buy books here, but this kooky site deserves a visit for its daring. Taking advantage of public domain, Bibliomania offers the full text of hundreds of classic novels, short stories and poetry" (Forbes--click here for full review)

"Nothing to get excited about: this site’s a pure search bot. Berkeley based Bookfinder helps you find any of over 15 million new, used, rare, or out-of-print books using 15,000 sellers to locate the book you want" (Forbes--click here for full review)

"A dull site that fails to distinguish itself in any way" (Forbes--click here for full review)

"Second-rate in the Barnes & Noble dominated bricks and mortar bookselling world, Borders.com also lags in the online race.... A generic superstore feel" (Forbes--click here for full review)

"With over a thousand books under $3, Cheapy Books really does specialize in cheap books. But your not going to find a very good selection or very nice editions of the books they do have" (Forbes--click here for full review)

"Dedicated to children and parenting books, Cherry Valley Books boasts thousands of handpicked books spanning over 200 categories from Adoption to Bedtime Stories" (Forbes--click here for full review)

"An online bookstore with a geeky twist" (Forbes--click here for full review)