People who’ve read my writing know I’m a big fan of Google (http://www.kuam.com/news/story.asp?headline=5840), and that I use it extensively (and almost exclusively) to do most of my work.

This book isn’t at all what I expected - and this was a very welcome surprise! From the colophon for the first time not being a member of the animal kingdom (a pair of locking pliers dresses the book’s cover) to the content within, this is another achievement for the fine folks at O’Reilly.

I first got a copy of the book thinking it was an end-to-end collection of code snippets on using the Google API to write custom apps to access Google’s massive data store, but it’s so much more than that. The book is wholly a collection of 100 quick-reading tips and tricks on using Google, but not exclusively from a coder’s point of view. For that reason, it’s very flexible to a wide audience. It’s subdivided into distinct sections that focus on using the various services and features offered by Google, such as time-saving query syntax, to customized programming with the Google API, to off-the-wall tricks.

The book also gives great examples of performing searches that have little-to-no documentation from Google, such as doing lookups for stock symbols or phone numbers. The authors also do a great job of highlighting several utilities and apps built within and outside of the scope of the Google Terms of Service agreement to access its data. The games are quirky, but cool. You’re unquestionably going to find something in the title’s pages you’ll find neat and want to replicate/morph for your own use.

It may tend to disappoint codeheads who buy it just for syntax and rippable code samples for using the Google API, but it does more than make up for it in being a reference for getting the most out of what’s undoubtedly the world’s most popular search engine.

The only criticism I have is that the book was very top-heavy in examples written in Perl, so it’s more applicable to that crowd, especially given that the book’s back cover advertised examples in .NET, Java, Python, and PHP. (There was ONE example for each of the aforementioned languages and platforms in the chapter on programming against the Google API). However, my fellow .NET developers can surely use the Perl .NET or if you’re up for a good challenge, cross-translate the Perl syntax into the equivalent of your favorite .NET language.

But outside of that, the book’s great. It’s quick, fun, organized and won’t force you to give up a couple nights to get through it. And it not being solely a programmer’s book, it’s also applicable for others in your school, office and household. I’ve let several people read it – namely a teacher, a couple of students, and some Web surfers – and they all enjoyed it thoroughly. You read what you need to read, and get on with your life.

And at US$24.95, it’s a steal.