Purchasing an actual book from a brick-and-mortar store is becoming increasingly less common for people to do, but it hasn’t completely gone out of style just yet. There’s something about entering a bookstore and viewing all the potential great stories and epic tales just sitting on the shelves, waiting to be discovered.

The discovery part is always the most difficult because, aside from the novels converted into films, I don’t have any idea whether the book I’m looking at in my hands is any good or not. And I’m not too keen on trusting the one-line, cherry-picked reviews provided on the book’s jacket.

So instead of wasting your time performing a Google search for reviews on a particular novel, get instant reviews from trusted sources, like The New York Times and Publishers Weekly, by scanning the book’s ISBN (International Standard Book Number) using developer Stefan New‘s free Android application, OpenBook.

Step 1: Install the App

To get things started, enter the Google Play Store on your device to install OpenBook – Book Reviews.

Step 2: Scan the ISBN

With your book in-hand, locate the ISBN, which is typically on the back cover above the barcode. Open the app and tap “Scan Barcode,” then use your camera to do the scanning.

Step 3: View the Reviews

Once the ISBN has been recorded in the app, tap “Get Reviews” to view the results.

If you still appreciate the practice of reading for leisure, then make finding that next great novel a little easier with this free app. And if you’re using the book for a report, find out how to easily scan the ISBN for instant bibliographies.

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