I wasted a couple of magazines before realizing they were quick and temporary. Now I'm afraid of wasting more. How do you differentiate between books and magazines? Will the books have the same titles they did in Fallout 3?

Books do indeed have the same titles/names as in Fallout 3.

Shouldn't worry too much about wasting the mags though, they seem to be somewhat plentiful, and with proper scavenging/mentat useage you should have a nice surplus of them.

How to tell them apart: Magazines list +10 Skill in their info. Books list nothing.

Also, if you want magazines I have one word for you: Mailboxes