Where to buy books online

[PleaseChooseAnother]

I'm trying to cut down on the amount I use Amazon.

Does anyone have any suggestions of somewhere to buy books that makes suggestions for other similar books as well as Amazon does?

I read a wide range of books and enjoy clicking from one recommendation to the next to find books to read, since I don't get chance to wander around bookshops any more.

I buy from Waterstones because I want to see a bookshop on my high street in years to come

Waterstones pay their taxes

Hive is excellent. Speedy, good value, free P&P and you can nominate a local bookstore to receive a % of your spend. I’ve not bought a physical book from Amazon since the start of the year.

Yes, like others here, I alternate Blackwells, Hive, and Waterstones. Avoiding Amazon and Abe, which is Amazon by another name. Bookfinder is good for finding the more obscure, older books... my book addiction is quite something, but better that than food.

Big Green Bookshop is really good. They don't have a list of available stock on their website, but are able to source most books in print, and often have exclusive signed copies. Search for them on Twitter, they have a fab social media presence, and have an ongoing "Buy a stranger a book" feature on Wednesdays, which is a lovely thing to behold (I've been on both the giving and receiving end).

Use Amazon to find books via ‘books like this’ but but the isbn into book finder.com. This compares all of the main (and lots of independent) sellers. You can then choose your seller from the results discarding the sellers you want to boycott. We’ve sold books for 16 years and when we did it full time and had our own website our results were included in the bookfinder results.

Oh I love Buy A Stranger A Book day. How could I forget Big Green Bookshop? It’s my favourite thing on Twitter!

I use my local independent book shop. I email and ask for recommendations, they send some, I choose one and then buy it. They deliver it to me.

Fox Lane Books
Run by a lovely lady who gives wonderful recommendations

I love this site…
Thereadinggiraffe.co.uk
All books are £3 - something suitable for all ages.
They even have casualty section with books even cheaper.

Wherever you end up, it's good to try to buy from the actual bookstore doing mail order, rather than an intermediary (like Amazon) that takes a cut of the money.

A lot of independents sell through Abe - find the book on there, then see if the seller has their own website (some fo, some don't.)

Abe books are affiliated to Amazon. World of Books is good.

uk.bookshop.org/
This company operates in a similar way to Hive - you can nominate your local bookshop, or any other to receive a percentage.

Worth a read. ethicalrevolution.co.uk/amazon-alternatives/
See comment “Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing. People often get caught out using Abe Books or The Book Depository when trying to avoid Amazon. They are both Amazon companies.”

I use Blackwells and Foyles, and my favourite bookshop in the world, dauntbooks.co.uk/ which has proper shops in London and a good website.

I recently found a very good website for children's books letstel.net/personalized-books. We have already ordered 2 books for developing teamwork and good habits "Invisible Monsters" and "Daniel and His Crew Fix Problems". My daughter was very pleased)))

bookshop.org is great, I don’t think you get tailored recommendations but they have lots of curated lists which are great for discovering new books and all the profits go to independent booksellers. They also have a wish list feature which is something I find useful on Amazon.

If you can, please buy from here: uk.bookshop.org/

twitter.com/bookshop_org_UK

They support local independent bookshops.

I like The Reading Tree

@mrssmiling

uk.bookshop.org/ This company operates in a similar way to Hive - you can nominate your local bookshop, or any other to receive a percentage.

Worth a read. ethicalrevolution.co.uk/amazon-alternatives/
See comment “Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing. People often get caught out using Abe Books or The Book Depository when trying to avoid Amazon. They are both Amazon companies.”

I’ve used Bookshop a lot in the last 18 months. My nearest (lovely) bookshop is 10 miles away, so it’s been inaccessible a lot in this time. Bookshop allows me to nominate them, and tells me the profit they’ll make on my purchase!

I like Persephone Books. Their website, and books, are gorgeous.