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Three of the shortest recorded reading commitments in this catalog. Times are estimates, not quality ratings.
About 34 minutes
Historical Psychological Social Fiction
7,692 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #34915About 35 minutes
Fantasy Juvenile Worlds
7,961 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #61990About 35 minutes
Adventure Picaresque Fiction
7,939 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #6263693 of 93 catalog books have a stored excerpt with a Gutenberg source record. Search covers these excerpts only, up to 6,000 characters per book. A missing match does not mean the phrase is absent from the full work.
But were things different: had I not a friend left in the world; were there not a single house open to me in pity; had I to accept the wallet and ragged cloak of sheer penury: as long as I am free from all resentment, hardness and scorn, I would be able to face the life with much more calm and confidence than I would were my body in purple and fine linen, and the soul within me sick with hate. And I really shall have no difficulty. When you really want love you will find it waiting for you. I …
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| Book | Recorded words | Estimated minutes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abolition Fanaticism in New York Speech of a Runaway Slave from Baltimore, at an Abolition Meeting in New York, Held May 11, 1847 — Story, Setting & Ideas | 7,692 | 34 | Gutenberg #34915 |
| A Sermon Preach'd upon the Occasion of the Anniversary Thanksgiving of the Fifth of November, 1706 at the Church of Kensington — Text and Context | 7,961 | 35 | Gutenberg #61990 |
| To the Person Sitting in Darkness — Background and Themes | 7,939 | 35 | Gutenberg #62636 |
Choices use stored catalog measurements. Estimates vary with reading speed. A shared category is a catalog label, not a claim that two books have the same argument or literary quality.
Search reads excerpt text stored with this catalog and links to its associated Gutenberg record. The connection is stored in the site database; this tool does not recheck that every excerpt is word-for-word identical to that external record. Excerpt search does not cover every chapter and does not verify historical publication dates.
Catalog snapshot checked: 2026-09-25. Coverage: 93 public books, 93 available source excerpts.
The IEREM Public Domain Literature Library offers a carefully selected collection of 93 public-domain works, organized into four thematic categories. Each title is accompanied by tools designed to help you understand its structure, length, and context before you begin reading.
Explore the Finder to match books with your interests, the Compare tool to weigh different editions side by side, and the Reading estimates to gauge the time commitment. These tools are meant to support your reading choices, not to replace your own judgment.
Use the Finder to browse by category, subject, length, and reading time. It helps you narrow down the collection to titles that fit your interests and available time.
The Compare tool lets you examine two or more books side by side, showing word count, reading time, and text sections. Useful for deciding which edition to read first.
The Reading tool provides estimates based on typical reading speeds. See how long each book might take, from a quick evening read to a longer immersion.
The IEREM library holds 93 public-domain works, ranging from short pamphlets to multi-volume collections. With categories such as Adventure Picaresque Fiction and Science Fiction Utopias, and lengths that vary from under 10,000 words to over 150,000, deciding what to read next can be as much about logistics as about taste. The Book Finder, Compare Books, and Reading Tracker are designed to work as a sequence: first narrow your options, then examine the differences that matter, and finally plan a realistic pace.
The tools do not rate literary quality. They simply surface measurable features—word count, estimated reading time, chapter rhythm, sentence flow, and subjects—so you can make an informed choice. For example, a work like "Major Prophets of To-Day — Reading Companion" (id 276) sits at 71,740 words with an estimated 312 minutes of reading time. Knowing that before you start can shape whether you tackle it now or save it for a longer stretch.
The Book Finder lets you filter by category, length, estimated reading time, chapter rhythm, sentence flow, and subjects. If you know you want a quick read, you can select the 'quick' time range and see titles that fit. If you prefer works with shorter chapters, the chapter-rhythm filter narrows the field. The Finder is most useful when you have a general sense of what you are in the mood for but need help locating candidates.
The catalog includes 20 short works, 31 medium, 25 long, and 17 epic titles. Similarly, time estimates range from 19 quick reads to 13 marathons. These counts are not evenly distributed, so the Finder helps you see which categories have the most options at your preferred length. For instance, if you want a long book in Science Fiction Utopias, you might find fewer choices than in Fantasy Juvenile Worlds, which has 24 titles.
Once you have two or three candidates, the Compare tool lays side-by-side word counts, estimated reading times, text sections, sentence flow, chapter rhythm, subjects, and page information when available. This is where you can see, for example, that one book has 20 sections and another has only 4, which might affect how easy it is to pause between reading sessions.
The Reading Tracker then helps you plan progress. With a default daily goal of 20 pages, you can estimate how many days a book will take. For a 71,740-word book like "Major Prophets of To-Day — Reading Companion", the initial page estimate would be about 287 pages, meaning roughly 15 days at that pace. Adjusting the daily goal changes the finish date, and the tracker stores your history in the browser without requiring an account.