The Universe for Cheap

The Illustrated Atlas of the Universe by Mark A. Garlick is another bargain book I found at Borders, just US$9.99 for a very large paperback, though I should have perhaps sprung for the $20 to get the hard cover (but I have so many other astronomy references, I was really just getting this to check out for recommendation purposes). The verdict: great illustrations, great information, nice book design, up to date (2006, many recent spacecraft images), the star charts are clear and readable, really a very nice book. It's reasonably big in format and page count (around 300 pages) but not overwhelming. I like it better than some of the more expensive books like DK's Universe.

If you are looking for a small gift for someone (yourself for that matter) who thinks they may be interested in astronomy (or is even sure they are interested), you couldn't go far wrong with this book. The book is Australian in origin and seems to have arrived in the U.S. specifically for the bargain book trade. But it's up to date and nicely produced - so it truly is a bargain.