Fantasy adventure
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
A girl is swept into a magical country. Short chapters, vivid scenes, and a journey worth following.
A welcoming first choice.
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Beyond the textbook
Read for the story. Grow with the language.
Reading original books lets you encounter English in the wild: real dialogue, vivid descriptions, humor, suspense, and phrases people remember. You don't need to understand every word to enjoy a good story.
The next chapter of your English education isn't a lesson. It's a book.
Your free reading list
Find a book you won't want to put down.
Already know some English? Start with an engaging story and build confidence from there. These are original classics, not simplified textbooks. We have put shorter and more approachable options first, then offered bigger adventures for later.
01 / Best places to begin
Start with a great story.
A clear plot, unforgettable characters, or shorter episodes can help you keep turning pages.
Mysteries · short stories
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
A detective solves one impossible mystery after another. You can finish one complete story at a time.
Try one case at a time.
View free bookAnimal adventures
The Jungle Book
Mowgli, wolves, tigers, and a world full of danger. A collection of stories rather than one long novel.
Poetic and sometimes old-fashioned.
View free bookMystery · friendship
The Secret Garden
A locked garden, an unfamiliar house, and a secret. The mystery makes this story easy to get invested in.
Some regional dialect.
View free bookSurvival adventure
The Call of the Wild
A dog must survive the harsh Yukon wilderness. Short, dramatic, and full of action.
Some challenging nature vocabulary.
View free book02 / Adventure and exploration
Pirates, expeditions, and impossible journeys.
For readers who want danger, discoveries, hidden worlds, and one more chapter.
Pirates · treasure
Treasure Island
A secret map leads Jim Hawkins onto a ship full of pirates. One of the great treasure-hunt stories.
Some sailor vocabulary and dialect.
View free bookTravel · race against time
Around the World in Eighty Days
A man makes an extraordinary bet and sets off around the globe. Every delay could cost him everything.
English translation from French.
View free bookDinosaurs · expedition
The Lost World
An expedition discovers a plateau where prehistoric creatures still survive.
Adventure with some scientific language.
View free bookSubmarines · sea adventure
Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
Journey beneath the ocean with the mysterious Captain Nemo.
English translation; detailed descriptions.
View free bookHidden treasure · exploration
King Solomon's Mines
Explorers cross dangerous terrain searching for a vanished man and legendary treasure.
Contains dated colonial attitudes.
View free book03 / Science fiction and strange worlds
The future begins here.
These early science-fiction stories are gripping, though several use more demanding language than our first picks.
Time travel
The Time Machine
A scientist travels thousands of years into the future and finds a very strange world.
Relatively short; big ideas.
View free bookAlien invasion
The War of the Worlds
Martians invade Earth. A frightening, fast-moving story told by someone trying to survive.
Tense and sometimes descriptive.
View free bookStrange science · suspense
The Invisible Man
A mysterious stranger arrives at an English village with a secret.
Some older expressions.
View free bookMars · sword-and-planet
A Princess of Mars
A man is transported to Mars and thrown into battles and adventures on another world.
Action-packed; harder vocabulary.
View free book04 / People you will remember
Adventures of a different kind.
Sometimes the best reason to keep reading is a character who feels like a friend.
Humor · imagination
Anne of Green Gables
An imaginative orphan brings chaos and delight to a quiet island community.
Lively dialogue and idioms.
View free bookFamily · growing up
Little Women
Four sisters discover who they want to become, through joys and difficult choices.
A longer, rewarding next step.
View free bookFantasy · absurdity
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
A curious girl follows a rabbit into a wonderfully strange world.
Playful wordplay can be tricky.
View free bookA note on difficulty: “Start here” means a friendly place to begin reading original English literature, not beginner-level language instruction. Classic books can use old-fashioned expressions, regional dialect, or unusual vocabulary. Pick what interests you most; it's fine to look up words or try another book.
Made for real reading
A little help when you need it. A good story when you don't.
01 / FREE
Look up an unfamiliar word.
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02 / FREE
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Highlight memorable expressions, make notes, and return to passages you want to remember.
03 / FREE
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Change fonts, text size, spacing, and themes, and set a comfortable daily reading goal.
04 / PREMIUM
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Read anywhere
Your library goes wherever you go.
Download books while you have a connection, then read them offline on a bus, a train, or a quiet afternoon at home. Book downloads, bookmarks, highlighting, notes, and reading progress do not require Premium.
Where English got some of its character
Read the words that shaped the language.
Some of the most influential works in English have left their mark on literature, idioms, quotations, and cultural references. These are exciting destinations as your confidence grows, not necessarily your first stop.
The King James Bible
Its rhythms and expressions have influenced centuries of English writing and everyday speech. Explore its stories, poetry, and familiar phrases. This translation uses early-seventeenth-century English.
Explore the King James Bible ↗William Shakespeare
Comedy, tragedy, ambition, love, betrayal, and language that writers still echo. Start with a play that interests you; the older vocabulary will take some patience.
Explore Shakespeare ↗Jane Austen
Wit, romance, social observation, and unforgettable dialogue. Pride and Prejudice rewards readers who enjoy noticing what people mean, not just what they say.
Explore Pride and Prejudice ↗Charles Dickens
Memorable characters, dramatic stories, and a wonderful ear for voices. Try the shorter A Christmas Carol before taking on Great Expectations.
Explore A Christmas Carol ↗ Great Expectations ↗Literature isn't a single level of English. Older works, including Shakespeare and the King James Bible, are especially important culturally but often very different from modern everyday speech. It's fine to save them for later.
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Choose a story.
Search for one of these titles in Guten's Project Gutenberg catalog. Or open a book's Project Gutenberg link and share a supported link to Guten, or use its ebook number.
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Questions
A few things to know.
Is Guten an English course?
No. Guten is an ebook reader, not a language course or a source of graded readers. It is useful for people who already know some English and want to read original books for pleasure and practice.
Are the books really free?
Yes. Guten's core reading experience, including downloading public-domain books, bookmarks, highlighting, notes, definition lookup, and offline reading, is free. Premium is an optional one-time purchase for Read Aloud and other extras. There is no subscription.
Is this for absolute beginners?
Most original classics are more suitable for readers with some existing English comprehension. Shorter stories and books with strong plots are good starting points, but even these can include unusual or older English.
Are the books in modern English?
Some are relatively straightforward; others use older vocabulary, dialect, or literary language. Shakespeare and the King James Bible are included for their influence on English, not because their language is easy.
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Where do the books come from?
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Your next great read
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From pirate ships to distant planets, a whole world of stories is ready for you. Pick one, download it, and begin.