Who Knew? Free Books Online!

You don't have to go to the library anymore to help you find those books on your "To Read" list. My daughter has downloaded books such as Pride and Prejudice onto her mp3 and now always has something to read no matter where she goes. Who knew?

http://www.readprint.com/
This is a free online library with authors like Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Lewis Carroll, Victor Hugo, Keats, Kipling, Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Wordsworth.

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
Project Gutenberg-over 28,000 online books for free

Books-On-Line
Over 32,000 completely free online books.

Classical Literature Library
1,258 classical fiction and nonfiction e-books.

Great Books Index
Books from mankind's greatest minds.

The Internet Public Library
Online texts collection contains over 20,000 titles.

The On-Line Books Page
Searchable database of over 20,000 online books.

Open Directory Project
A directory of online books-somehow I don't think you'll find classics here.

Modern English Collection
2,722 titles from AD 1500-present.

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/index.html
The British Library Online Gallery-this is the most exciting one as far as I'm concerned. You can actually see the books, turn the pages, and magnify details. Books include: A selection of Leonardo DaVinci's sketches, the Codex Sinaiticus, Alice's Adventures Underground, Mozart's Musical Diary and Jane Austen's Early Works among many, many others. What a fabulous way to have access to rare publications!

Since I now have my daughter's old mp3 player I'm going to give "virtual" book reading a try. I'm hestitant and not sure whether I'm going to enjoy reading this way--there is something to be said for turning crisp pages, the smell of the ink on the page and pondering illustrations but I can see the advantages when you're forced to wait somewhere & don't have a book with you.

I'll let you know how it goes.



Salynne ©2009