DESCRIPTIONS & SOURCES
Good stories.
Clear sources.
Explore books through descriptions and recommendations, then follow the source.
Project Gutenberg catalogue
The original 350 classics use titles, subjects and synopses from Project Gutenberg’s RDF catalogue, released under CC0. Gutenberg labels these synopses as automatically generated; they can contain inaccuracies. Each entry links to its exact reading record. Additional Wilde entries link to Gutenberg where an English edition has been identified.
Modern fiction and other works
Many descriptions are encyclopedia introductions or shortened plot overviews by Wikipedia contributors. Each book page links to the article revision and its contributors and identifies the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. These adapted descriptions remain available under that licence; shortening and whitespace changes are indicated. The licence applies to the description, not to the novel. Some entries instead use our original descriptions checked against author or publisher pages.
A bibliographic entry awaiting a checked story description is labelled on its page. It can be saved and browsed, but it does not enter recommendation matching. Titles, authors and formats are kept distinct: collaborations, plays and collections are identified where the source supports them. An author's fiction collection is not a claim to catalogue every essay, individual short story or nonfiction volume they wrote.
Bestseller archive and its limits
Our selections use Jordan Pruett’s 2022 Post45 Data Collective dataset, New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers (1931–2020), DOI 10.18737/CNJV1733p4520220211, under CC BY 4.0. We cover 1976–2020, selecting up to 50 unique titles for each year by distinct weeks on the weekly list. Ties use best weekly rank, then title. This is our derived archive selection, not an official NYT annual top 50 or a ranking by sales.
Some source years have missing weeks and some contain fewer than 50 titles. Each year filter shows its observed coverage. We have not completed 2021–2025: a verified reusable weekly source is still required. Popularity selects archive entries; it does not contribute to your recommendation score.
Reading at the source
We host no ebooks or full book texts. A Gutenberg link leads to the source’s editions and copyright information. Other links provide author, publisher or reference information and are not free ebook offers. Availability depends on the source and the law where you read. Gutenberg’s public-domain designation concerns the United States.
The Free Library is independent and is not operated or endorsed by Project Gutenberg, Wikipedia or the New York Times. Our typographic book illustrations are original designs.