The beauty of book summaries is that you can get key points of a book distilled down into easily digestible information. So, if you are too busy to read every book on your list. a book summary can help you to quickly glean knowledge. In addition, it can help you prepare for a meeting or decide if you should buy the book or not. Rather than spending six to 10 hours reading a single book, you might spend a few minutes to an hour instead. Irrespective of your status, you can always get value from book summaries. In this article, we will cover the best book summary websites and resources for busy people.
What is a Book Summary?
A book summary is a summary of the original book and it covers key points made by the book author. However, this will be in the words and sentences of the summarizer. Please note that a book summary is not plagiarism nor a copycat trying to pretend it’s the original. Rather, a book summary is its own new work. Moreover, it is shorter and credits the original writer for his or her big ideas.
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Why Read Book Summaries?
People read book summaries for different reasons. This can include to:
- Learn information faster and save time for other things.
- Be successful in the business world, life or school.
- Sound knowledgeable in meetings.
- Create reading lists to develop your team.
- Get inspired to do bigger and better things.
Also, book summaries address our shortened attention spans in the information age of the internet. As you probably know, some people have trouble concentrating on longer books. So, book summaries allow us to get through more books in less time.
In What Formats Can You Get Book Summaries?
Traditionally, book summaries are in writing. However, some book services today offer summaries in multiple formats. This can include infographics, videos, MP3 files, downloadable PDFs, electronic epub files and / or Kindle. Some websites also provide summaries as part of mobile apps.
Best Websites to Find Book Summaries
There are quite a lot of websites where you can find book summaries. But in this article, we will cover some of the best places to find book summaries.
1. Blinkist
Blinkist has a broad library of 3000+ titles and is my number one website to find book summaries. You will find many topics in the career and life success areas. This can range from entrepreneurship to parenting to communication skills. In addition, you also get highlights from prominent podcasts.
If you have a premium subscription, you will get unlimited access to all titles. Aside reading the summaries, you can also listen to voice recordings. You can highlight ideas and sync them with Evernote. In addition, you get the ability to download summaries for offline access and send to Kindle. To start enjoying this service, you can sign up for the free daily newsletter. This will allow you to read one title a day at no charge.
2. Summaries
Summaries provides concise information and tools and specializes in business books. One of the best things about Summaries.com is that each summary condenses a 300+ page book into eight pages long. The company believes eight pages is the ideal length for someone to get the main ideas. Over 1,000 works are part of its offering, including everything from sales books to finance books.
You can either have a subscription which allows you to get a new summary weekly or purchase by the piece. Aside this, the website offers a free plan with abbreviated 5-minute snapshots in blog posts. This free plan gives you a taste while the lengthier size are more thorough on topics and advice.
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3. GetAbstract
GetAbstract is one of the big players in this industry and has the widest catalog with over 20,000 summaries. The service is aimed at the corporate world with categories like management, innovation, corporate IT. GetAbstract’s book summaries are high quality although you may find some a bit dry. Every book summary includes a rating, take-aways, popular quotes, and an author bio. In addition, it also has great features like the ability to highlight things, such as a favorite idea or several sentences.
To get started, you can sign up for the 3-day free trial and if you like it, you can subscribe to the service. The subscription gets you access to all books as well as multiple formats including Kindle, along with Android and iOS apps.
4. Optimize
Optimize.me is a resource website in the self-improvement niche. Along with motivational content and classes by founder, subscribers also get access to a website section called Philosophers Notes. If you are looking to choose a self help book or a leadership book for learning how to improve your life and career, and you want summaries, then Philosophers Notes is a great place.
You get in-depth written summaries along with accompanying MP3 files. There are even a few free ones, although most are premium.
5. ReadItFor.Me
ReadItFor.Me is really two services in one. It includes a virtual learning platform called ActionClass and book summaries. The action classes are a leadership development program applying topics from books to your own action plan. ReaditForMe offers a schedule of classes three times per week around a specific book. Books include 36 leadership and soft skill competencies. The free book summaries have a 14-day trial. If you like the books, you can subscribe.
6. Instaread
Instaread covers over 1,000 books in wide topics such as politics, arts, fiction, nutrition and psychology. It gives the feel of a high-brow MBA. Also. it offers summaries of Harvard Business Review, Kellogg Insight and New York Times articles. It features written and voice, with a focus on its mobile apps.
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7. Readingraphics
Readingraphics allows you to experience a book summary in visual format with its graphics of non-fiction books. It offers three formats:
- infographic summary
- 10-15 page written summaries
- 20-minute audio files
The written summaries are interesting to read, and highly visual with bullets and callout boxes. You can buy a book summary bundle that includes all three formats or you can purchase a single book summary. When you subscribe to the the company’s newsletter, you will get the summary for free: Think and Grow Rich, and How to Win Friends and Influence People.
8. FourMinuteBooks
FourMinuteBooks specializes in non-fiction books, with more than 800 mostly focused on self-improvement. New summaries come out three times a week and you can get notified via the email newsletter. You can purchase the library of PDFs or 300 audiobooks. The audiobooks come as MP3s and on Soundcloud. The service also offers bundles of free book summaries.
In Summary
One great thing about book summary websites is that they not only do the work of summarizing books, they make it easy to find all in one place often in multiple formats. A major part of their value-add is convenience. So, check them out to see the ones that work for you.
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