What is the benefit of using a Google ebook in the "cloud"?
Google ebooks that you purchase are kept on Google's vast network of computer servers, or "cloud." This system provides you with a lot of benefits in your reading experience, including the following:
More information here on reading on the cloud with Google Web Reader, multiple devices, iPhone and iPad, Google eBook app for Android, and Kobo/Sony/Nook.
What are the required configurations?
Once you've purchased your Google eBook, it will be associated with your Google Account (which you can create for free at any time). You can then read it using the WebReader on any supported browser with JavaScript enabled. No special software is necessary. Google eBooks is compatible with any browser with Javascript enabled.
For a superior reading experience, you can download and install the Google Books reading app for free on the iPhone (iPad and iPod Touch) or any Android phone.
What if I can't find Google eBooks I've bought?
To ensure that you are signed into the Google Account which your account on our website is linked to, please try the following steps:
For more go to our help page for your Your eBook Library.
After purchasing your eBook from our website, pick up your smart phone and go to Your eBook Library at mcnallyrobinson.com (there's a handy link to your eBook library in the email we send you confirming your eBook purchase). Once there, click on Read ePub. Your eBook will then download to your smartphone, and whichever ePub reading app you have installed will automatically open the file. Adobe Digital Editions available only as Scanned Pages (PDF) cannot be read comfortably on iPhones or Droids.
How do I use the Google Web Reader?
Once you have purchased Google eBooks from our website, you can easily access the title from Your eBook Library. Simply click a book cover or title in your library to launch the WebReader.
Google eBooks you have purchased are also automatically displayed in your My Google eBooks and Purchased bookshelves within "My Library", and you can directly access the Web Reader by clicking the title or cover thumbnail.
Navigation
The Web Reader allows users browsing books with Google Books to take advantage of their full screen for a more pleasant reading experience. If you re-size your browser window, the Web Reader will scale the book pages up or down to fit.
At the bottom of the page, a slider allows you to easily flip through and jump to different sections of the book. The current page number is displayed in the lower corner of the Web Viewer at all times.
My Library: Clicking the book icon will return you to the My Library page, where you can browse and manage your bookshelves.
Content: The list icon provides you easy access to the book's table of contents, with links to chapters and notable sections within the book.
Settings: The "Aa" icon contains book viewing settings. For many books, this includes the ability to choose to view original page images or flowing text (when available). The flowing text mode allows you to adjust the font, text size, line height, and justification. Original page images may be more suitable for specially formatted books, such as for poetry.
Search: The magnifying glass icon allows you to search for words and phrases within the ebook you're reading. You can easily switch between viewing search results sorted by order of appearance or by relevance.
About this Book: Displays the title and publisher of the current book. You can also see the average rating, check out reviews--or write your own--and view additional bibliographic information.
Keyboard Shortcuts
We support the following keyboard shortcuts to easily navigate through book pages:
Can I read my Google eBooks offline?
YES! We support offline reading in our mobile apps, where you can select books to be downloaded to your app for reading on the go. Please see the specific device articles for further details on how to download and use them:
If you using a supported eReader device, you can also read most books available as Google eBooks offline by downloading and transferring a PDF or ePub file to your device. Please see How to Download ebooks to your device for different supported devices.
At this time, Google eBooks does not support offline reading when using our Web Reader on your computer. Our engineers are working on enabling this and other new features in the near future.
If you would like to share your feedback on Google eBooks, please take a moment to suggest a feature to our team. We appreciate this feedback, which is very helpful as we work to prioritize features and make improvements.
Can I read my Google eBooks in multiple devices?
YES! You can access your Google eBooks on different devices, including on the web on your computer and via Android and iPad/iPhone apps. No matter where you read your Google eBook, we'll keep track of your reading place, so you can pick up right where you were last reading the next time you open your Google eBook
Note: In rare occasions when a user tries to access Google eBooks on a number of devices at the same time, our system may temporarily block them from opening new reading sessions.This can happen when too many readers are open on different machines or browsers. If your other reading sessions are closed or inactive, you will be able to read in this browser after a short delay. If you believe this is an error please contact our support team.
Tips for reading on multiple devices?
If you are having trouble syncing across devices, please contact us for further assistance.
How do I use the Google eBooks app for iPhone and iPad?
Download and install the Google Books app from the Apple App store to buy Google eBooks on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You'll also need a Google Account to read Google eBooks.
Your eBooks
Your iPhone or iPad shows you all the books which you've purchased in the "My eBooks" shelf, with those read most recently listed first. Whenever you buy Google eBooks they will be automatically added to this shelf and be available in the Google Books app on your iPhone, iPad, and any other device or reader you use to read Google eBooks. New books may take a couple of minutes to appear, but closing the app and re-opening it will show new books immediately.
Buying books. To buy more eBooks, tap the "Get eBooks" button or visit books.google.com on your computer.
Removing and adding books. To manage or remove any books on your "My eBooks" shelf, visit http://books.google.com from your computer.
Reading an eBook
To read a book, tap it. It'll begin downloading if it hasn't already. The book cover will remain dimmed until the download has finished, although you can still start reading. If you're offline and the book hasn't completed downloading, a warning message will pop up to let you know. You will have to go online to complete downloading your book.
Book controls. Tap the center of the screen to bring up or dismiss the menu bar and slider. The "My eBooks" button in the menu will return you to your list of eBooks.
Navigating. To turn the page, tap the right side of the screen or drag from the right side to the left. (To turn back, tap the left side or drag the other way.) The menu has a table of contents icon ([insert image]) which you can use to access specific chapters.
Dragging the marker on the slider allows you to "flip" to another page.
Searching. Tap the magnifying glass icon in the menu to search your book for a specific word or phrase.
Reading offline
You are able to read your Google eBooks offline on this app. Just make sure the books you want to read on the go are fully downloaded before you go offline. Books that aren’t downloaded have the words "Tap to download" under the book title. You will not be able to read these books if you go offline.
Once you tap the book cover, they will start downloading to your device. When books are downloading, the Google Books homescreen will show "Downloading..." under the title and a spinning circle over the book. You may have issues with reading offline if you get disconnected while the book is downloading.
Any books you've downloaded will remain downloaded to your device until you sign out of the Google Books app.
Settings
Use the Settings icon from the menu to customize your reading experience.
Brightness. Select one of two brightness modes:
Text display. Some books offer a choice between "Flowing Text" mode and "Scanned pages." Note that the first time you switch between these modes for a book, you'll trigger a download of the other format
Line height. Choose from three different line height options.
Text size and font. Books where the re-flowable text is available to us offer the option to increase or decrease the size of the text as you prefer, in addition to the ability to change the font.
3-D page turns. You can also turn off 3-D page turns if you prefer to see pages slide instead of turn.
Information
Tap on the Information icon at the top of the My eBooks screen for these options:
Please note that when you sign out of your account you will have to download your books again upon signing back into your account.
Installing the Google Books for Android app?
To install the app, visit the Android Market on your phone and search for "Google Books." Then tap the Install button. Please note you'll also need a Google Account to read Google eBooks.
How do I use the Google eBooks app for Android?
You can read Google eBooks on your Android device with the Google Books app if you have Android version 2.1 (Eclair) or later and the Android Market.
(To determine your app version, open the Books app and tap the menu button on your phone. Next, tap the 'Settings' button. The app version number appears under the heading, 'About'.)
Your eBooks
If you are new to Google eBooks, you'll find you have three free books in your library to help you get started: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, and Great Expectations. Just tap the book cover to start reading.
To add more ebooks to your library, tap Get eBooks to browse a selection of Google eBooks, or tap the search icon to search by book title or author name. If a book in your library does not appear, select Refresh from the menu to update the display.
Reading an eBook
To resume reading a book, simply tap on the cover.
To turn the page, tap the right side of the screen or swipe from right to left. (To turn back, tap the left side or swipe the other way.)
You can also tap the center of the screen, which reveals a slider that you can use to see what page you're on or to move around the book.
Another way to move quickly to other parts of the book is by using the table of contents. Select the Contents icon from the menu, and then choose a chapter. If you are reading a free sample, the chapters that are not available as part of the free sample are grayed out.
Settings
To change the way your ebooks are displayed, select the Settings icon from the menu when reading. You can change the text size, typeface, line spacing, and justification. You can also change the brightness settings, or choose between day and night themes. Note that many of these settings only apply when you are viewing the flowing text version of a book (see below).
Flowing text vs. original pages
Books are available in two viewing modes. In flowing text mode, the text of the book is wrapped according to your device's screen size, which allows you to read most books clearly even on a screen that is smaller than the original physical book. In original pages mode, the original scanned image of the book is displayed, which is useful when viewing on a larger screen, or when the contents of the book do not render well in flowing text mode.
To change the viewing mode, select Original pages or Flowing text from the menu when reading. If this menu option is not available, it's because the book you're reading is only available in one of the two modes.
Managing your eBooks Books that you read are automatically added to your library and downloaded to your device. If your device runs low on space, the local copies of books that you have not read recently may be removed to free up space. As long as you have a network connection, however, these books are still available to read, since they are still available in your library.
To see which books have been downloaded, select Manage eBooks from the menu.
If you plan to be without a network connection — for example, on an airplane or on vacation abroad — then you can guarantee that a book will be available offline by "pinning" it. Note that unpinning a book doesn't necessarily make it unavailable offline, but it does make the book subject to removal in case space on your device runs low.
The Manage eBooks view also allows you to remove a book from your library.
Note that removal of a book cannot be reversed from within the app. For purchased books, you can recover the book using a web browser by visiting the My purchases section of your library, and for free books and free samples, you can recover them by acquiring them again.
Using another Google Account. If you have books under another Google Account which is registered with your Android phone, you can switch to that account by selecting Accounts.
Choosing where to store your Google eBooks. To change where your books are stored, select Settings from the menu, then select Storage location.
Other ways to read Google eBooks. Any Google eBooks you read on your Android phone will also be available for you to continue reading via your web browser and on other supported devices.
How do I access my Google eBooks on my Kobo/Sony/Nook reader:
Google eBooks available with Flowing Text (ePub) can be read on eReading devices such as Kobo, Sony, and Nook via Adobe Digital Editions software. Download the eBook into Adobe Digital Editions, then transfer to your eReading device via a USB cable. (See How to download ebooks to your device.)
Google eBooks available only as Scanned Pages (PDF) cannot be read comfortably on eReading devices like Kobo, Sony or Nook.
Google eBooks not available with Flowing Text (ePub) or as Scanned Pages (PDF) cannot be read on eReading devices like Kobo, Sony, or Nook.
