About 24 minutes
The Riot Act — A Reader’s Guide
Adventure Picaresque Fiction
5,502 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #8142
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Start with a reading choice
Three of the shortest recorded reading commitments in this catalog. Times are estimates, not quality ratings.
About 28 minutes
Cincinnati's "Old Cunny": A Notorious Purveyor of Human Flesh — Text and Context
Adventure Picaresque Fiction
6,352 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #65856About 38 minutes
A Letter to the Right Honorable the Lord Chancellor, on the Nature and Interpretation of Unsoundness of Mind, and Imbecility of Intellect — Key Ideas to Explore
Adventure Picaresque Fiction
8,616 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #27740Search the excerpts stored with this catalog
90 of 90 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.
Read a catalog excerpt example: Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians — Text and Context
Produced by George Davis United States Copyright Office Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Many educators and librarians ask about the fair use and photocopying provisions of the copyright law. The Copyright Office cannot give legal advice or offer opinions on what is permitted or prohibited. However, we have published in this circular basic information on some of the most important legislativ…
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Compare two books and their available excerpts
| Book | Recorded words | Estimated minutes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Riot Act — A Reader’s Guide | 5,502 | 24 | Gutenberg #8142 |
| Cincinnati's "Old Cunny": A Notorious Purveyor of Human Flesh — Text and Context | 6,352 | 28 | Gutenberg #65856 |
| A Letter to the Right Honorable the Lord Chancellor, on the Nature and Interpretation of Unsoundness of Mind, and Imbecility of Intellect — Key Ideas to Explore | 8,616 | 38 | Gutenberg #27740 |
How these choices and excerpts are prepared
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: 90 public books, 90 available source excerpts.
Do more with this book catalog
AADVE Public Domain Literature Library holds 90 public-domain books across four curated categories. The collection spans adventure, science fiction, fantasy, and historical social fiction, with a focus on legal history, criminology, and social commentary. Each title is presented with tools that let you explore its structure, length, and subject matter before you begin reading.
The library is organized to help you find works that match your interests and available time. You can browse by category, length, or subject, then use the interactive tools to compare editions and estimate reading time. These aids are designed to make the catalog easier to navigate, not to replace the experience of reading the texts themselves.
90
books in this catalog
4
catalog categories
90
books with reading-time data
Made for this collection
Ways the catalog data becomes useful
Find Your Next Read
Use the Finder to match books to your preferences. Choose a category, length, or subject, and see which titles fit your interests.
Compare Books Side by Side
The Compare tool shows key details like word count and reading time for multiple titles, helping you decide which one to start first.
Estimate Reading Time
The Reading tool offers honest estimates based on word counts and typical reading speeds, so you can plan your time realistically.
Choosing, Comparing, and Tracking: A Guide to the AADVE Tools
The AADVE Public Domain Literature Library holds ninety works, many of them long and demanding. A quick glance at the catalog shows that word counts range from under ten thousand to well over two hundred thousand, and estimated reading times stretch from under an hour to more than fifteen. With that much variation, the first decision is often not which book to read but how to approach the choice.
Three tools work together here: Book Finder narrows the catalog, Compare Books puts two or three titles side by side, and Reading Tracker turns a chosen book into a daily plan. They do not rate literary quality; they help you decide what to read next and how to pace yourself once you start.
Start with Book Finder, then verify with Compare
Book Finder is the entry point when you have a rough idea of what you want. You can filter by category, word-count length, estimated reading time, chapter rhythm, sentence flow, or subject. For example, if you are interested in legal history, you might select the subject "Jurisprudence" and see a handful of titles. The filter narrows the ninety-book catalog to a manageable set.
Once you have a few candidates, Compare Books lets you see the measurable details side by side. You might compare two books that look similar in length but differ in sentence flow. A book with a lower average sentence length may feel quicker to read even if the page count is similar. The comparison is descriptive, not a judgment of quality.
The hub links all three tools so you can move from a broad search to a close comparison without losing your place. For instance, "International Law. A Treatise. Volume 1 (of 2) Peace. Second Edition — A Reader’s Guide" appears in the catalog with a word count above 210,000 and an estimated reading time of over 900 minutes. A reader considering that book might use Compare to see how it stacks up against a shorter legal text, then use Reading Tracker to plan a realistic daily page goal.
Use Reading Tracker after you commit
Reading Tracker is for the moment after you have chosen a book. It records progress in pages, not minutes or sections, and it lets you set a daily page goal. If the catalog does not have a fixed page count, the tracker estimates pages by dividing the word count by 250. You can also enter the page count from your own edition.
The tracker does not require an account; it stores your progress in the browser's local storage. That means you can close the page and come back later, but your history is tied to the device and browser you use. The default daily goal is 20 pages, which you can adjust.
For a long book like "International Law. A Treatise. Volume 1 (of 2) Peace. Second Edition — A Reader’s Guide," a 20-page daily goal might feel slow, but the tracker will show the estimated finish date based on your actual progress. That concrete number can help you decide whether to commit to a marathon read or choose a shorter title.