How to Find a Book Without a Title or Author

Do you want to look for a book title when all you recall is the plot? Online search tactics make it simple to locate a book based on a vague description.

Sometimes you remember a book by its cover. Sometimes by the acts of a minor figure. However, there are situations when you cannot recall the author or title. Everyone suffers from book amnesia from time to time, so expect to see (or be asked) a question like this one day:

“What was that novel about a puppet master who was a murderer?”

You may have asked the librarian in the past. When you don’t know the title or author of a book, you may use these strategies to search it online.

How to Find a Book With a Google Search

When you can’t (or don’t want to) recall the name of a book, author, or characters in it, Google or another search engine should be able to assist you discover it.

What applies to any general search also applies to attempting to locate a book without knowing the title or author. As keywords, include any information from the book that you recall.

If you forget the title or author, you must recall anything useful from the book. It may be a character’s name, a passage of dialogue, or even key story points—the more exact the phrase, the better the outcome.

All usual search rules apply (for instance, for exact searches, put it in quotes). Google’s auto-suggestions will also let you know whether you’re on the correct track.

The hunt for a long-lost book is a wonderful method to hone your advanced Google Search abilities. You may, for example, include or exclude certain terms, search with an exact phrase, or use the wildcard operator to estimate a character’s name.

Try Google Books Search

Google Books Library Initiative was the largest book cataloging project of its type. It scanned millions of volumes and launched Google Books Search, which functions similarly to Google Search.

The difference is that the reference page presented in the search results includes additional information such as different covers, tables of content, popular words and phrases, and notable excerpts from the book. You may also see sample pages to see whether this is the book you were looking for. You may also search inside a book.

The amount of search options available to you might assist you in finding books with ambiguous descriptions.

Use the Advanced Google Search Page criteria to narrow your results by topic, publisher, language, publication date, or ISBN and ISSN numbers. These final two, on the other hand, you’re unlikely to recall.

To get a hint, play around with keywords and wildcard operators. Even if you don’t locate the book you’re searching for, you could come across a reference that will point you in the right direction.

The Best Online Catalogs to Find Any Book

Some search engines are more specialized for book searches.

BookFinder is a sophisticated search engine (click on Show more choices) that searches the inventory of over 100,000 bookshops worldwide. Try a keyword search, or narrow your search by the publication year if you remember it.

BookFinder’s advanced search options may help you locate out-of-print books or first editions. It’s also a popular site for locating the most affordable textbooks.

WorldCat is the greatest network of library material and services in the world. You may search a database of 72,000 libraries from 170 countries. For example, you may look for a book and find it in a local library. You may check out the item online if you have a library card.

Try the Advanced Search feature, which includes criteria such as Audience and Languages.

Take a look at WorldCat Categories (or Fictional Finder), which allows you to search across fiction genres for hundreds of titles, authors, themes, characters, places, and more, sorted by popularity in the world’s libraries.

The Library of Congress (LOC) is the world’s biggest library and now has a massive digital collection. A search of its 167 million item collection, which includes books, serials, manuscripts, maps, music, recordings, photographs, and electronic resources, should not take long.

To top it all off, the LOC includes a helpful Ask A Librarian form for any questions.

Use Amazon Search to Find the Name of a Book

Amazon began as an online bookshop. Books remain the most popular category in terms of sales, with millions of volumes available at all times. If Amazon doesn’t have the book you’re searching for, it’s either out of print or you have a hazier memory than you believe.

To name a book, you may begin with the basic search box and a keyword. However, Amazon’s Advanced Book Search is the true book finder. Amazon does not maintain a formal list of advanced search operators. On the above page, though, it does provide a few search recommendations. The API documentation includes a few power searches for your book that you may attempt.

Click “Next” to go through the documentation. Experimenting with the [title-begins] keyword, for example, might help you rapidly name books.

The key is to break through the noise of Amazon search results. Try JungleSearch.net, an Amazon sophisticated search engine that may also help you find hidden Amazon search results.

If everything else fails, use a Google site search. You could strike it rich. As an example:

Amazon matches your keywords not just to titles and authors, but also to every word inside a book. By clicking the Look Inside link and scrolling through the sample pages, you can see whether this is the book you’re searching for. Then, check for sentences, key words, and citations using the Search Inside This Book option.

“Rachel Childs”+journalist site:amazon.com

Use Amazon’s Look Inside to Search Inside the Book

Any website that assists you in finding your next book will be supported by an online community. Use these suggested book platforms to get into the collective memories of book enthusiasts.

Ask for Help From Online Book Communities

Goodreads is a division of Amazon. As a result, you may anticipate a similarly extensive information base. This book geek social network features discussion forums on a number of themes.

You may seek assistance from any genre-specific organization. However, it may be worth trying these two first:

Looking for a romance book description? Or how about that thriller you read as a kid? Another nice place to look for neglected titles is the aptly called BookSleuth. Use the community forum, which is arranged by genre, and offer as much information as possible so that the members can assist you.

LibraryThing is a more intellectual, less trendy alternative to Goodreads. In this community group, start a new thread for your particular search and input all the book information you can recall.

You should have either the book or your memory back by now. If not, your quest has probably come to a disappointing halt since the book-loving masses have yet to come to your aid. So it’s time to extend your horizons by posting an SOS on your preferred social network.

Ask Your Social Networks to Name That Book

The social network isn’t only for reconnecting with long-lost pals. You may also enlist the aid of the crowd to locate that elusive book. However, your social circle may be too small, so extend your search by attending book clubs.

Mark Zuckerberg launched A Year of Books, which grew to over 600,000 followers. Smaller public clubs, such as the Andrew Luck Book Club and Friday Reads, are still active. Some book clubs also adhere to a certain genre.

Begin by doing a Twitter search. Hashtags facilitate microblogging, however the general #books or #bibliophile hashtag may be too wide. Instead, consider entering the genre into a hashtag search (e.g., #DarkFantasy or #UrbanFantasy) to restrict your results and/or when asking for assistance.

Outside of Facebook and Twitter, the Q&A site may have the greatest gathering of “experts.” The nicest part about Quora is that you can always anticipate a high-quality answer. Consider the answer in the screenshot.

Stack Exchange is a collection of 168 Q&A groups. Although Stack Overflow is the most popular among programmers, there are other specialty groups for Ebooks and Literature. Then you may join a genre-specific community and ask a question. Popular genres include science fiction and fantasy.

You couldn’t come up with a finer name for a book subreddit than Tip of My Tongue. To grasp the power of collective memory, just scan your eyes along the answered answers with the green tag. When you can just recall the cover of a book, try subreddits like What’s That Book, Books, and printSF.

A Google search should turn up the missing book. If you’re feeling lazy, utilize Wikipedia to discover books. The massive online encyclopedia contains an ever-growing storehouse of the world’s information, so there’s a possibility it’ll also include hints on the title of the book you can’t recall.

Use Wikipedia

The internet is dependent on the generosity of strangers. The good news is that book enthusiasts are everywhere, and the community is very helpful even when searching for a book based on a vague description. So, the next time you ask yourself, “what was that book?” try to remember even the smallest detail about it.

Here are three ideas to search for a book via Wikipedia:

• Wikipedia:Book sources: Use these collections of links to library catalogs, bookstores, and other book databases.
• Wikipedia Ste Search: Enter your term into the Wikipedia search engine or Google’s site search operator, for example, [keyword] site:wikipedia.org.
• Explore Linked Wikipedia Pages: Because Wikipedia connects pages like hubs and spokes, any related book page may lead to the information you’re looking for.

Help Others Find Forgotten Books Too

A little detail, such as a physical feature or image, might be a hint. Try to recall some related memories: What did you do while you were reading the book? What age were you? Was it a gift or something you borrowed?

To close, the best tip for every book lover is to make a reading list and keep it organized.

To close, the best tip for every book lover is to make a reading list and keep it organized.

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