FREE BOOKS: 100 legal sites to download literature

Looking for the next great book to sink your teeth into? Look no further. Below are over 100 links to websites that provide free e-books on a huge variety of topics.

Browse works by Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad and other famous authors here.

1.       Classic Bookshelf: This site has put classic novels online, from Charles Dickens to Charlotte Bronte.

2.       The Online Books Page: The University of Pennsylvania hosts this book search and database.

3.       Project Gutenberg: This famous site has over 27,000 free books online.

4.       Page by Page Books: Find books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells, as well as speeches from George W. Bush on this site.

5.       Classic Book Library: Genres here include historical fiction, history, science fiction, mystery, romance and children’s literature, but they’re all classics.

6.       Classic Reader: Here you can read Shakespeare, young adult fiction and more.

7.       Read Print: From George Orwell to Alexandre Dumas to George Eliot to Charles Darwin, this online library is stocked with the best classics.

8.       Planet eBook: Download free classic literature titles here, from Dostoevsky to D.H. Lawrence to Joseph Conrad.

9.       The Spectator Project: Montclair State University’s project features full-text, online versions of The Spectator and The Tatler.

10.    Bibliomania: This site has more than 2,000 classic texts, plus study guides and reference books.

11.    Online Library of Literature: Find full and unabridged texts of classic literature, including the Bronte sisters, Mark Twain and more.

12.    Bartleby: Bartleby has much more than just the classics, but its collection of anthologies and other important novels made it famous.

13.    Fiction.us: Fiction.us has a huge selection of novels, including works by Lewis Carroll, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, Flaubert, George Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others.

14.    Free Classic Literature: Find British authors like Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, plus other authors like Jules Verne, Mark Twain, and more.

Textbooks

If you don’t absolutely need to pay for your textbooks, save yourself a few hundred dollars by reviewing these sites.

15.    Textbook Revolution: Find biology, business, engineering, mathematics and world history textbooks here.

16.    Wikibooks: From cookbooks to the computing department, find instructional and educational materials here.

17.    KnowThis Free Online Textbooks: Get directed to stats textbooks and more.

18.    Online Medical Textbooks: Find books about plastic surgery, anatomy and more here.

19.    Online Science and Math Textbooks: Access biochemistry, chemistry, aeronautics, medical manuals and other textbooks here.

20.    MIT Open Courseware Supplemental Resources: Find free videos, textbooks and more on the subjects of mechanical engineering, mathematics, chemistry and more.

21.    Flat World Knowledge: This innovative site has created an open college textbooks platform that will launch in January 2009.

22.    Free Business Textbooks: Find free books to go along with accounting, economics and other business classes.

23.    Light and Matter: Here you can access open source physics textbooks.

24.    eMedicine: This project from WebMD is continuously updated and has articles and references on surgery, pediatrics and more.

Math and Science

Turn to this list to find books about math, science, engineering and technology.

25.    FullBooks.com: This site has “thousands of full-text free books,” including a large amount of scientific essays and books.

26.    Free online textbooks, lecture notes, tutorials and videos on mathematics: NYU links to several free resources for math students.

27.    Online Mathematics Texts: Here you can find online textbooks likeElementary Linear Algebra and Complex Variables.

28.    Science and Engineering Books for free download: These books range in topics from nanotechnology to compressible flow.

29.    FreeScience.info: Find over 1800 math, engineering and science books here.

30.    Free Tech Books: Computer programmers and computer science enthusiasts can find helpful books here.

Children’s Books

Even children’s books are now available online. Find illustrated books, chapter books and more.

31.    byGosh: Find free illustrated children’s books and stories here.

32.    Munseys: Munseys has nearly 2,000 children’s titles, plus books about religion, biographies and more.

33.    International Children’s Digital Library: Find award-winning books and search by categories like age group, make believe books, true books or picture books.

34.    Lookybook: Access children’s picture books here.

Philosophy and Religion

For books about philosophy and religion, check out these websites.

35.    Bored.com: Bored.com has music ebooks, cooking ebooks, and over 150 philosophy titles and over 1,000 religion titles.

36.    Ideology.us: Here you’ll find works by Rene Descartes, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, David Hume and others.

37.    Free Books on Yoga, Religion and Philosophy: Recent uploads to this site include Practical Lessons in Yoga and Philosophy of Dreams.

38.    The Sociology of Religion: Read this book by Max Weber, here.

39.    Religion eBooks: Read books about the Bible, Christian books, and more.

Plays

From Shakespeare to George Bernard Shaw to more contemporary playwrights, visit these sites.

40.    ReadBookOnline.net: Here you can read plays by Chekhov, Thomas Hardy, Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe and others.

41.    Plays: Read Pygmalion, Uncle Vanya or The Playboy of the Western World here.

42.    The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: MIT has made available all of Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies, and histories.

43.    Plays Online: This site catalogs “all the plays [they] know about that are available in full text versions online for free.”

44.    ProPlay: This site has children’s plays, comedies, dramas and musicals.

Modern Fiction, Fantasy and Romance

These websites boast collections of graphic novels, romance novels, fantasy books and more.

45.    Public Bookshelf: Find romance novels, mysteries and more.

46.    The Internet Book Database of Fiction: This forum features fantasy and graphic novels, anime, J.K. Rowling and more.

47.    Free Online Novels: Here you can find Christian novels, fantasy and graphic novels, adventure books, horror books and more.

48.    Foxglove: This British site has free novels, satire and short stories.

49.    Baen Free Library: Find books by Scott Gier, Keith Laumer and others.

50.    The Road to Romance: This website has books by Patricia Cornwell and other romance novelists.

51.    Get Free Ebooks: This site’s largest collection includes fiction books.

52.    John T. Cullen: Read short stories from John T. Cullen here.

53.    SF and Fantasy Books Online: Books here include Arabian Nights,Aesop’s Fables and more.

54.    Free Novels Online and Free Online Cyber-Books: This list contains mostly fantasy books.

Foreign Language

For books in a foreign language like French, Spanish and even Romanian, look here.

55.    Project Laurens Jz Coster: Find Dutch literature here.

56.    ATHENA Textes Francais: Search by author’s name, French books, or books written by other authors but translated into French.

57.    Liber Liber: Download Italian books here. Browse by author, title, or subject.

58.    Biblioteca romaneasca: Find Romanian books on this site.

59.    Bibliolteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes: Look up authors to find a catalog of their available works on this Spanish site.

60.    KEIMENA: This page is entirely in Greek, but if you’re looking for modern Greek literature, this is the place to access books online.

61.    Proyecto Cervantes: Texas A&M’s Proyecto Cervantes has cataloged Cervantes’ work online.

62.    Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum: Access many Latin texts here.

63.    Project Runeberg: Find Scandinavian literature online here.

64.    Italian Women Writers: This site provides information about Italian women authors and features full-text titles too.

65.    Biblioteca Valenciana: Register to use this database of Catalan and Valencian books.

66.    Ketab Farsi: Access literature and publications in Farsi from this site.

67.    Afghanistan Digital Library: Powered by NYU, the Afghanistan Digital Library has works published between 1870 and 1930.

68.    CELT: CELT stands for “the Corpus of Electronic Texts” features important historical literature and documents.

69.    Projekt Gutenberg-DE: This easy-to-use database of German language texts lets you search by genres and author.

History and Culture

Refresh your memory of world history, the classics and U.S. history here.

70.    LibriVox: LibriVox has a good selection of historical fiction.

71.    The Perseus Project: Tufts’ Perseus Digital Library features titles from Ancient Rome and Greece, published in English and original languages.

72.    Access Genealogy: Find literature about Native American history, the Scotch-Irish immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, and more.

73.    Free History Books: This collection features U.S. history books, including works by Paul Jennings, Sarah Morgan Dawson, Josiah Quincy and others.

74.    Most Popular History Books: Free titles include Seven Days and Seven Nights by Alexander Szegedy and Autobiography of a Female Slave by Martha G. Browne.

Rare Books

Look for rare books online here.

75.    Questia: Questia has 5,000 books available for free, including rare books and classics.

76.    …

Arts and Entertainment

This list features books about celebrities, movies, fashion and more.

77.    Books-On-Line: This large collection includes movie scripts, newer works, cookbooks and more.

78.    Chest of Books: This site has a wide range of free books, including gardening and cooking books, home improvement books, craft and hobby books, art books and more.

79.    Free e-Books: Find titles related to beauty and fashion, games, health, drama and more.

80.    2020ok: Categories here include art, graphic design, performing arts, ethnic and national, careers, business and a lot more.

81.    Free Art Books: Find artist books and art books in PDF format here.

82.    Free Web design books: OnlineComputerBooks.com directs you to free web design books.

83.    Free Music Books: Find sheet music, lyrics and books about music here.

84.    Free Fashion Books: Costume and fashion books are linked to the Google Books page.

Mystery

Here you can find mystery books from Sherlock Holmes to more contemporary authors.

85.    MysteryNet: Read free short mystery stories on this site.

86.    TopMystery.com: Read books by Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton and other mystery writers here.

87.    Mystery Books: Read books by Sue Grafton and others.

Poetry

These poetry sites have works by Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe and others.

88.    The Literature Network: This site features forums, a copy of The King James Bible, and over 3,000 short stories and poems.

89.    Poetry: This list includes “The Raven,” “O Captain! My Captain!” and “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde.”

90.    Poem Hunter: Find free poems, lyrics and quotations on this site.

91.    Famous Poetry Online: Read limericks, love poetry, and poems by Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, John Donne, Lord Byron and others.

92.    Google Poetry: Google Books has a large selection of poetry, fromThe Canterbury Tales to Beowulf to Walt Whitman.

93.    QuotesandPoem.com: Read poems by Maya Angelou, William Blake, Sylvia Plath and more.

94.    CompleteClassics.com: Rudyard Kipling, Allen Ginsberg and Alfred Lord Tennyson are all featured here.

95.    PinkPoem.com: On this site, you can download free poetry ebooks.

Miscellaneous

For even more free book sites, check out this list.

96.    Banned Books: Here you can follow links of banned books to their full text online.

97.    World eBook Library: This monstrous collection includes classics, encyclopedias, children’s books and a lot more.

98.    DailyLit: DailyLit has everything from Moby Dick to the more recent phenomenon, Skinny Bitch.

99.    A Celebration of Women Writers: The University of Pennsylvania’s page for women writers includes Newbery winners.

100.Free Online Novels: These novels are fully online and range from romance to religious fiction to historical fiction.

101.ManyBooks.net: Download mysteries and other books for your iPhone or eBook reader here.

102.Authorama: Books here are pulled from Google Books and more. You’ll find history books, novels and more.

103.Prize-winning books online: Use this directory to connect to full-text copies of Newbery winners, Nobel Prize winners and Pulitzer winners.

Source: http://www.iheartintelligence.com/2014/08/31/free-books-100-legal-sites-download-literature/

Education System: Public vs Private Enterprise

Education system: It is better if it remains pubic service sector

I can't resist from sharing this. Why? Because there is something good about two things. More importantly, rarely, we get some thing good to listen about these two things. One is Government service sector and another is Teachers working in Government schools. Normally, they do not stand high in public perception. Azim Premji, who is an entrepreneur and champion of 'Privatisation' has something interesting to share.

Rather than Privatisation, PPP - Publiv-Private Partnership seems to be a better model. But it can only work if private enterprise do not see it as an extension of business. Private enterprise shall never think of earning money out of education system. Education should not be charity, but it should neither be business. Azim Premji has rightly said that "any good society needs robust public systems".

The full article which is Excerpts from a speech delivered by Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Ltd at a recent interaction with IAS and IPS officers can be read here: How to make India great.

The excerpts are give here under:

• "A week spent in such a region can be very disturbing because it reveals the reality of inequality and injustice that millions of our fellow citizens face."
• But despite glaringly visible problems and challenges, the week was also deeply energising and filled me with hope because of the spirit of the people i met there. 
• I also met, across all villages and small towns, hundreds of teachers from government schools who are deeply committed and motivated. They spend their own money and come on their own time, often on a public holiday or weekend, to learn something new, so that they can become better teachers.
• I can tell you that even in a successful IT company there will be very few takers if you ask people to come on a Sunday, at their own cost, to learn and become better software engineers. But these teachers do this. They recognise from within themselves that as educators, they have a deep responsibility. That, in many ways, the future of our children is in their hands.
• This positive experience with government schoolteachers is not limited to Karnataka but true across the country. Our experience has been that 10-20% teachers everywhere are highly motivated. They lead positive change.
• It’s true that 10-20% are quite disengaged. (My addition: Only for these disengaged teachers, Governement sells public schools, colleges to private enterprise. The Governments should learn to motivate the other 60% rather than creating an environment to swing these 60% towards the disengaged 20%.)
• To me, all this is reason for great hope. It certainly is positive reason for hope that in the frontline of our public education, in the government school system, there are a significant number of people working for genuine improvement. (The see that only in private education system good education happens and so Government shall privatise education system is one of the darkest, bleakest and terrible idea to happen in India)
• Our schools and colleges need to improve on very many counts. We are aware of these challenges. I believe our efforts to improve the system will receive a big fillip if we harness and channelise the abundant positive energy that i alluded to. We can’t always keep blaming and castigating people in our public systems because that is no way for any positive change to happen.
• We have to provide support and create the environment for such change to happen, for people to feel empowered and take the initiative. And at the same time we must strongly reaffirm our commitment to the public education system; this is a very fundamental issue.
• I think that any good society needs robust public systems, and certainly a good public education system is of utmost importance.
• Let me end by saying that all my life, i have learnt that ordinary people are capable of doing extraordinary things. For this they need to be trusted, encouraged and empowered. This is not the only thing that needs to be done, but nothing else will work unless we do this.
• That is because in a country of our size and our complexity, a few supermen or superwomen can’t change the nation. We should engage and energise the average citizen. This includes the teachers, health workers, mid-level officials, and many more in all kinds of roles and also all of us.
• I know that this is possible. I have hope because i have seen this happen. I have had the privilege of seeing often, what i saw with teachers in northeast Karnataka and with the 16-year-old girl who wanted to join the police service. It’s that spirit that will build a good and great India, the India that we have envisioned in our Constitution. And we must all work for that.

Literature, Films and Indian Railways

What does Rails stand for in Indian films and literature?

(This is stub . . . will be written at length with some examples)

In India, the journey through train is full of hardships.

Taking the cosmic view of hardships in journey by train, what does it signify? 

Is it India in miniature? 

Is it the experience of living in India?

Over-crowded, personal spaces intercepted by others, though the compartment is full, hundreds of passengers can accommodate themselves, rush to get out and get in, coolies – their act to pull luggage overhead is something like myth of Sisyphus, Indian Railways is India on the track – engine and compartments want to break through but the tracks holds them back and engine toils hard, puffing up smoke, compartments squeak in pain yet always on move without complaining – this is how an average middle class Indian Common Men lives their lives. They want to break through but Indian conditions, environment holds them back… they toil hard and squeak in pain but all in vain.

Then, the trains have air-conditioned coaches. Trains have First Class and Second Class divisions. These coaches are for the rich and powerful high-middle class Indians. The new-economy and hefty salary packs in government service sector have created this newly rich class which has climbed the ladder from poor to lower-middle class to rich middle class. The Indian Railways is in their memory as something great, something wonderful. All good that we see in Indian films about the railways, is for this class of people. Sometimes, the 'real' India, the India of 'Darkness', the India of 'have-nots', find themselves represented in the films.

To be added . . . updates will be made very soon.

Making of Indian States in 12 Images

Infographical Presentation of the Making of Indian States in Twelve Images

From the day India got its Independence in 1947, the making of the states on various reasons was / is ans ongoing process. Initially, states were divided on linguistic identity. Ironically, even today, demands for separate state based on linguistic identity keeps erupting. Perhaps, India would have been more united if straight column and rows, squares of equal area, marked different states. But it would have killed the beautiful diversity (linguistic, cultural, festivals, food, clothing etc) would have been killed. It is good to see India stands united preserving its diversity. Let it get divided into more states on the grounds of socio-cultural-linguistic diversity. The real beauty of India is in its diversity. Any attempt to impose 'oneness' of religion, language, culture or food will neither be accepted nor it will be good for the health of Nation - India.

I do not know who has prepared this. I got it from social media. But who ever has done this, has/have presented it quite beautifully. With the advent of new technologies and smart devices, the mode of communication is changing very rapidly. If today, anybody believed that one should master Language to master communication, he is advocating communication skills for the twentieth century. In the Twenty-First century, communication through visuals is replacing communication through language. If WhatsApp kind of applications are so popularly used for communication, it obviously raises questions. If there was Short Message Service (SMS - Text message), why WhatsApp becomes so popular? Simple reason is that it allows person to go beyond language and communicate through smiles, images and videos. Though it may sound too early to predict that the end of language as the means of communication has begin, yet, one can sense that we now-a-days, are communicating lesser & lesser with languages and, more & more with images. Infographic is the in thing. See, how beautifully these infographs convey the message. It is quite true a picture is worth thousand words! 

Power of Morning Rituals

Morning Rituals

If you've ever woken up feeling groggy, sluggish, and unmotivated, you're not alone. Many people struggle with starting their day on the right foot, and it can have a significant impact on their productivity, happiness, and overall well-being. But what if there was a way to kickstart your day with a burst of energy and positivity? That's where morning rituals come in.

Morning rituals are a set of actions that you perform every morning to set the tone for your day. They can be anything from exercise, meditation, journaling, or even reading a few pages of a book. The key is to make them consistent and meaningful to you.

The power of morning rituals lies in their ability to create a sense of control and structure in your day. By starting your day with purposeful actions, you take charge of your day's narrative, rather than letting outside influences dictate how you feel and act.

For me, my morning ritual starts on the tennis court. There's something about hitting a ball with all your might that helps release negative emotions and stress. It's a form of therapy that clears my mind and sets me up for a productive day ahead.

But you don't have to be a tennis player to benefit from morning rituals. The key is to find something that resonates with you and brings you joy. It could be a quick yoga routine, a brisk walk outside, or even a few minutes of deep breathing. The goal is to find an activity that helps you connect with yourself and set a positive tone for the day.

One of the biggest benefits of morning rituals is their ability to boost your overall well-being. Studies have shown that consistent morning routines can reduce stress levels, improve sleep quality, and increase feelings of happiness and productivity throughout the day.

So, how do you start a morning ritual? It's all about finding what works for you and committing to it. Start small and build up over time. Don't try to do too much at once, or you risk burning out and giving up on the routine altogether. Set realistic goals and make it a priority to stick to them, even when it's challenging.

The morning rituals are a powerful tool for boosting your overall well-being and setting the tone for a positive and productive day. Whether you're a tennis player, a yogi, or a bookworm, there's a morning ritual out there for everyone. So why not give it a try and see the difference it can make in your life

This albums (embedded from Facebook) displays photos related to physical fitness, sports and recreation activities which are carried out with the fervour of religious ritual.

Morning Rituals: This albums displays photos related to physical fitness, sports and recreation activities which are...
Posted by Dilip Barad on Monday, 20 April 2015

Thanks to Harbhadrasinh I. Sarvaiya for yet another very well shoot video.

Posted by Dilip Barad on Friday, 6 November 2015

Helicopter topspin ☺ #MSDHONI #Tennis #Cricket . Thanks to Pesi Noshir Sinor for the video.

Posted by Dilip Barad on Tuesday, 6 January 2015

Economics Simplified

The economies and the corporations of the world explained in the utmost simplifies way with the common example of two cows.