Students simply enter the ISBNs of any books they wish to sell on AbeBooks.co.uk’s buy-back page and they are instantly offered a competitive buy-back price. When the student accepts the offered price they open an account, complete their contact information, print the pre-paid postage label and packing list, and post the book(s) via the Royal Mail. A confirmation number is then issued and a cheque or online money transfer is sent to the student when the book(s) arrive.

Online textbook buyback has been running successfully in the US for some time, and we are quite excited to now have the option available for students in Britain.

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefèvre

For pure entertainment, this book is hard to beat. It was first published in 1923 as a novel. Lefèvre follows the life and times of Larry Livingston, a fictitious name for Jesse Livermore, one of Wall Street’s shrewdest traders.

Hugely entertaining, this is an insider’s view of the stock market in the wild, unregulated days of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Livermore was a speculator who made and lost several fortunes. He never considered himself an investor and didn’t mind being long or short, so long as he was right. Correctly assessing that he would never catch the top or bottom, he would wait for a trend to develop and then jump in. In today’s market he’d be called a momentum investor.

What keeps this book so popular after 84 years? Livermore’s advice on exploiting fear, greed and the herd mentality are just as relevant today as they were then

Hardbound, shrink-wrapped and priced at a whopping $70, The Blue Book of the Hamptons 2007 is indeed a kind of illicit read. In essence, it is a local directory for the area’s wealthy, socially connected residents, many of whom belong to nearby country clubs. But it is also a pared-down version of the Social Register, one that takes entry only by application and plays into the vanity of both new and longtime Hamptons residents.