Roughly 80 percent of books published in the U.S. between 1923 to 1964 never extended their copyrights. Now many of them are available to download for free.

BOOKS
Marcel Proust wasn’t known for brevity, but for some reason he decided to cut these rather risqué pages from his first book.
Toni Morrison's death was confirmed by her publisher. The acclaimed author was known for her award-winning novels 'Beloved,' 'Song of Solomon,' 'The Bluest Eye,' and other works.
Though Jane Austen never admitted it herself, for centuries scholars have speculated that Irishman Thomas Lefroy was the inspiration for Mr. Darcy.
Henry David Thoreau’s account of his time in the woods is much more than just fodder for motivational posters—it’s a work of transcendentalist philosophy that shaped how people see the natural world today.
In literature, 'canon' refers to source material that establishes the characters, relationships, and events of a fictional universe. 'Headcanon,' however, describes fans’ imagined explanations for what happens between the lines, or off the page entirely.
If Jane Austen had written 'Pride and Prejudice' today, she might have titled it 'Being Arrogant and Jumping to Conclusions' instead.
The ‘Ratatouille’-esque story is about a French chef who seeks a Michelin star with the help of his taste-testing cat Apollo.
More than 200 years after her death, English novelist Jane Austen continues to be celebrated for her sharp, biting prose on love's various entanglements.
Anyone who has ever read Jane Austen’s 'Pride and Prejudice' has surely conjured up their own idea of what Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy would look like in real life. But a couple of academics and one illustrator are here to dash your dreams.
Some readers call them comic books. Others call them graphic novels, which just might be code for "expensive comic book." Is there more to it?
Anything with J.K. Rowling's name on it is sure to catch the attention of the legion of Harry Potter fans. So why did the author use a pseudonym for her latest book series?
Aspiring witches and wizards are getting a collection of 81 clothing items inspired by Harry Potter from Mini Boden.
Daniel Radcliffe is a fantastic actor, but many may not have looked too far beyond that. Here are eight facts every Potter fan should know about the Harry Potter star.
Ernest Hemingway was a titan of 20th-century literature. (He was also allegedly a KGB spy, but he wasn't very good at it.)
Like any real-life legend, there are many myths surrounding the life and work of Hunter S. Thompson. But in Thompson’s case, most of those stories—particularly the more outlandish ones—are absolutely true.
The very English vandal has a distinctive way of ripping the books’ pages and also has a favorite genre: true crime.
'A Song of Ice and Fire' author George R.R. Martin isn't letting the negative reaction to the final season of 'Game of Thrones' change how he's planning to end the book series.
Every other page in the 'Harry Potter' book series is loaded with Latin—here are some of our favorite nods.
If you want to live like Harry Potter did at the most miserable stage of his life, there's a house with its own cupboard under the stairs for sale in San Diego.
You’ve probably read (and re-read) 'Charlotte’s Web' and 'Stuart Little,' but E.B. White wrote books, essays, and poems for both children and adults.
You may think you don't have time to read, but setting a goal of just a handful of pages a day can have benefits that can last a lifetime.