Google has been cataloging the contents of books for some time now, as part of their Google Book Search service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Book_Search


They have recently reached a legal agreement with members of the publishing industry, specifying which books they can make available online, and how much of any given book people can preview for free. An important part of this agreement is that people can now buy and download legal copies of books which are out of print, but still under copyright - after reading a generous hunk of the book online to determine if it's the book that they are looking for. And like Project Gutenberg and similar groups, they are offering out of print and out of copyright works for free.

Here is a subject search on "puppets" to get you started:

http://books.google.com/books?rview=1&q=subject:%22puppets%22&as_brr=0


This particular search includes both public domain and copyrighted works. You can filter your search to show public domain ("full view") books only, or full and limited ("preview") books. The Google Book Search project is scanning and cataloging 3,000 books a day on an ongoing basis, in an effort to catalog and preserve human knowledge.

If the book is still in print and available somewhere for purchase, or available to borrow from a library, Google Book Search has helpful links for that, too. And it's not just puppetry books - try out their book search for yourself and see what you can find.

So here's your chance to find a book you like, download or preview it for free, buy books that are out of print but still under copyright, or borrow them from the library - and then come back here and post a review with links to the books you've read. Unfortunately, they still haven't scanned all of the books in the world, so not all titles are available yet. That might take a few more weeks.

 

Ron G.

PS
As far as I know these new services have only been worked out with US publishers and copyright holders, it will take some time for all titles to become available internationally. Project Gutenberg has the texts and sometimes illustrations available from many public domain books from around the world available for download or online reading though, with collections based in many countries ...

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/

http://gutenberg.net.au/

Wow Ron this is great.  Thank you so much for keeping us informed on this type stuff. I have always looked you as Puppets and Stuffs legal advisor. You know your stuff when it comes to books. Do you still have all those books still boxed up.

Billy D.