Project Gutenberg offers 75,000+ free, volunteer-proofread eBooks spanning 50+ years, with no fees, no registration, and no app required.
Key Takeaways
Library covers 75,000+ titles focused on public-domain works; browsable by author, title, subject, language, type, and popularity.
Formats include epub and Kindle; readable in-browser or via standard eBook readers without any dedicated app.
Volunteer pipeline runs through Distributed Proofreaders; one page per day is the onboarding ask.
Self-published titles available separately at self.gutenberg.org via the World Library Foundation.
Audio counterpart is LibriVox; Gutenberg links and coordinates with them for recorded books.
Hacker News Comment Review
A Gutenberg developer confirmed active site improvements over recent months with more work in progress, suggesting the codebase and UX are under active development again.
Mobile UX has a known issue: book list elements on the front page are simultaneously horizontally and vertically scrollable, flagged as a concrete fix opportunity.
Notable Comments
@JSeiko: Gutenberg programmer confirms recent improvements and signals more coming soon.
@Falimonda: Front page book lists render with dual-axis scroll on mobile, a specific layout bug worth addressing.
