Books can be very useful in the Mount&Blade series. Their primary purpose is to give free boosts to your skills or attributes without having to level up. You can purchase them from Book Merchants, found in taverns. Reference books provide the bonus by simply being in your inventory. You do not have to read them, but losing the book will result in losing the bonus and the effect does not stack if you have more books of the same kind.
Other books must be read, but the bonus is permanent. In order to read a book, you must go to the camp menu and "select a book to read". You will then read this book whenever you are resting, such as when you have set up camp, or are staying in a tavern. Once the book is finished, you will get a boost to a certain skill or attribute. These types of books require approximately 143 hours to read.
It might be advisable to read books during the night rather than the day, because of the movement speed penalties.
Bonuses can't pass the 10 level limit of skills, so make sure you only level up to 9 the skills of books you intend to read or keep as reference.
Bonuses of reference books don't stack and you can only read each book type once.
Book Merchant
Book Merchants are educated men peddling books for those who wish to better themselves. You can find them in taverns. Books are expensive, but often well worth the benefit.
Book Merchant inventory varies somewhat between taverns, however their space is partially shared as items sold to one book merchant can often be found in another's inventory.
(from The Ultimate Warband Guide, http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=121687291)
Here is an incomplete list of books available...
| Name | Weight | Description | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map of the Known World | 2.0 | +1 to path-finding after reading | 10 Intelligence |
| Book of Patrons | 1.0 | Reference | >10 Intelligence |
| ... |