help - so much choice!! (Psychology Books in general)

Member Name: freud

Product:	Psychology Books in general
Date:	08/01/09 (161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good books around

Disadvantages: poor books around

Having taught psychology for quite a few years I've accumulated so many books I thought I'd go through them all to see if I could donate some to our local charity shops but unfortunately I can't!

There are 2 reasons for this -
1. I love them all.
2. Many are now unfortunately out of print.

My bookshelves are fairly well organised & vary from small handbooks to huge great 'doorstopper' books as well as journals & papers & I refer to them all at some stage of the year.

Why so many? To be honest I've never found a single book which contained all the relevant information I needed for the different levels I taught. Some were lacking up-to-date research, some excluded major theories or were weak on statistics or were too simplistic or long-winded & 'dry'.

The books I used the most were:
'Psychology: Science of Mind & Behaviour' by Richard Gross, a hefty book but contains a good deal of psychological background & studies good for Access & 'A' level courses.

'Discovering Psychology' by Barbara Woods is a highly readable text which is great for introduction & GCSE courses.

I would never be without my 'Research Methods & Statistics in Psycholgy' by Richard Coolican.

The rest of my bookshelves are full of other recommended course books which are very useful for research & also ones I accumulated for specific personal interests. These include many on mental health issues, child care development & problems, counselling, psychology of art, speech therapy, cognitive impairment, dictionaries, stress,therapies & psychonalysis etc.

I bought some books on psychology through college as they were 'essential reading' but as funding was scarce there wasn't really the opportunity to order more than 2 textbooks per year. I therefore searched 2nd hand book shops & charity shops & was able to get hold of some real bargains - well worth a browse particularly when some books are out of print.

There are thousands of books about psychology as one can see from visiting the library or bookshops & it's difficult to know where to start - or finish ...

Let me try & offer a little advice from one who has wasted time & money on many psychology books?

- if you are undertaking a course have a word with your tutor before paying out for recommended course books which may be listed but which you may rarely use.
- have a look on ebay/ Amazon & in charity & 2nd hand book shops.
- if you want to read for personal interest then it's worth having a browse in Waterstone's etc to get a feeling for the type of language/ perspective - many books are far too 'dry' & long-winded so can be frustrating & off-putting.


All books are expensive these days so good luck & enjoy!!

Summary: some psycholgy books are worth the price - others are not