Public Domain Day is here! Public Domain Day is here! Nothing exemplifies the New Year’s spirit of rebirth and renewal like classic books, films, characters, and sound recordings ascending into the public domain for use in derivative works. The Duke University of Law publishes a fairly comprehensive list every year. Click the link above or these below for more information about what’s available. I’ve also included a reading list for several of the released books. Maybe you’ll be inspired to take Tintin or Popeye someplace new. Explore and Enjoy!
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Reading List
| No. | Book | Desc. | Store |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  | The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury is a groundbreaking work of American literature, acclaimed for its innovative narrative techniques and profound exploration of human nature. First published in 1929, this novel is a cornerstone of modernist fiction and a powerful depiction of a Southern family’s disintegration. |  1.99  0.0 |
| 2. |  | A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway ''A Farewell to Arms'' is Hemingway's classic set during the Italian campaign of World War I. The book, published in 1929, is a first-person account of American Frederic Henry, serving as a Lieutenant ("Tenente") in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army. It's about a love affair between the expatriate American Henry and Catherine Barkley against the backdrop of the First World War, cynical soldiers, fighting and the displacement of populations. | 0.99 0.0 |
| 3. |  | A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf A Room of One’s Own was published in 1929 and is based on two lectures given by the author in 1928 at two colleges for women at Cambridge. In this famous essay, Woolf addressed the status of women, and women artists in particular. In this essay, the author also asserts that a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write. According to Woolf, women’s creativity has been curtailed due to centuries of prejudice and financial and educational disadvantages. | 0.57 0.0 |
| 4. |  | Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett This gritty, fast-paced detective novel helped define the hard-boiled crime genre. The story follows the Continental Op, an unnamed, tough, and unflinching private investigator who is sent to the corrupt mining town of Personville — or "Poisonville," as the locals call it. Hired by a local newspaper editor to clean up the town, the Op quickly finds himself embroiled in a violent web of power struggles, corruption, and revenge as he sets out to rid the town of its criminal overlords. | 0.99 0.0 |
| 5. |  | The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett Detective Sam Spade is a private eye with his own solitary code of ethics. When his partner is killed during a stakeout, he is drawn into the hunt for a fantastic treasure with a dubious provenance—a golden bird encrusted with jewels. Also on the trail are a perfumed grifter named Joel Cairo, an oversized adventurer named Gutman, and Spade’s new client Brigid O’Shaughnessy, a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift at the drop of a dime. | 10.99 0.0 |
| 6. |  | Cup of Gold (Steinbeck's first novel) by John Steinbeck The novel begins with young Henry on a Welsh farm, listening to Dafydd, an old farm hand who became a pirate and returned to tell of his adventures. The old farm hand tells Old Robert (with Henry listening) his colorful tales of the Caribbean, then leaves by morning. Those stories encourage Henry to leave home to seek his fortune. Henry becomes a famous pirate captain with two goals: to capture Panama from the Spanish, and to win the heart of the Red Saint (La Santa Roja). When Morgan captures Panama, the Red Saint is waiting inside the city. The city is easily taken, but the Red Saint puts up a fight. After Morgan and his crew raids the city, they leave with riches and no Red Saint. Morgan ends his career as a pirate and is knighted by the English King, who places Morgan in charge of disciplining other pirates. | 2.49 0.0 |
| 7. |  | A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes Richard Hughes's celebrated short novel is a masterpiece of concentrated narrative. Its dreamlike action begins among the decayed plantation houses and overwhelming natural abundance of late nineteenth-century Jamaica, before moving out onto the high seas, as Hughes tells the story of a group of children thrown upon the mercy of a crew of down-at-the-heel pirates. A tale of seduction and betrayal, of accommodation and manipulation, of weird humor and unforeseen violence, this classic of twentieth-century literature is above all an extraordinary reckoning with the secret reasons and otherworldly realities of childhood. | 10.99 0.0 |
| 8. |  | Laughing Boy: A Navajo Love Story by Oliver La Farge Laughing Boy is a model member of his tribe. Raised in old traditions, skilled in silver work, and known for his prowess in the wild horse races, he does the Navajos of T’o Tlakai proud. But times are changing. It is 1914, and the first car has just driven into their country. Then, Laughing Boy meets Slim Girl—and despite her “American” education and the warnings of his family, he gives in to desire and marries her. As Laughing Boy and Slim Girl settle away from traditional villages—their different upbringings clashing within both their relationship and the ever-encroaching culture around them—each of their worlds are thrown into a heart-wrenching turmoil of love, honor, hope, and heritage. | 1.99 0.0 |
| 9. |  | Rope by Patrick Hamilton This is actually a play. The BBC broadcast it as a radio play with Adam Baring and the great Alan Rickman who was amazing in everything. Synopsis: Believing they have committed the perfect murder, two students throw a macabre dinner party, where the guests include the victim's father. Will anyone see through their terrible vanity? Alan Rickman and Adam Baring star in this electrifying drama, famously adapted as an Alfred Hitchcock film. | 14.23 0.0 |
| 10. |  | All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque One by one the boys begin to fall.. In 1914 a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their schoolmaster to troop off to the 'glorious war'. With the fire and patriotism of youth they sign up. What follows is the moving story of a young 'unknown soldier' experiencing the horror and disillusionment of life in the trenches. | 0.99 0.0 |
| 11. |  | Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie The Seven Dials Mystery is a classic Agatha Christie whodunit filled with intrigue, humor, and unexpected twists. The story follows the young and spirited Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent, who stumbles upon a mysterious death at a country house party. What initially seems like an accident quickly turns into a complex web of secrets when Bundle uncovers a sinister conspiracy involving a secret society known as the Seven Dials. | 2.99 0.0 |
| 12. |  | Good-bye to All That by Robert Graves Good-Bye to All That is the compelling autobiography of poet, novelist, and classicist Robert Graves, offering a candid account of his life, from his early years in England to his harrowing experiences as a soldier in World War I. Originally published in 1929, the memoir is celebrated for its frank and unflinching look at the trauma of war and the profound disillusionment it left in its wake. | 0.99 0.0 |
| 13. |  | Is Sex Necessary? Or, Why You Feel the Way You Do by E. B. White and James Thurber The first book of prose published by either James Thurber or E. B. White, Is Sex Necessary? combines the humor and genius of both authors to examine those great mysteries of life—romance, love, and marriage. A masterpiece of drollery, this 75th Anniversary Edition stands the test of time with its sidesplitting spoof of men, women, and psychologists; more than fifty funny illustrations by Thurber; and a foreword by John Updike. | 14.99 0.0 |
| 14. |  | Letters to a Young Poet (only the original German version) by Rainer Maria Rilke Letters to a Young Poet has been treasured by readers for nearly a century. Rilke’s personal reflections on the vocation of writing and the experience of living urge an aspiring poet to look inward, while also offering sage wisdom on further issues including gender, solitude, and romantic love. Barrows and Macy’s translation extends this compilation of timeless advice and wisdom to a fresh generation of readers. | 8.99 |
| 15. |  | A Preface to Morals by Walter Lippmann First published in 1929 and now public domain in the US. After an eloquent and moving analysis of what he sees as the disillusion of the modern age, Lippmann posits as the central dilemma of liberalism its inability to find an appropriate substitute for the older forms of authority - church, state, class, family, law, custom - that it has denied. Lippmann attempts to find a way out of this chaos through the acceptance of a higher humanism. | 0.99 0.0 |
| 16. |  | The Roman Hat Mystery (Debut Novel) by Ellery Queen Despite the dismal Broadway season, Gunplay continues to draw crowds. A gangland spectacle, it’s packed to the gills with action, explosions, and gunfire. In fact, Gunplay is so loud that no one notices the killing of Monte Field. In a sold-out theater, Field is found dead partway through the second act, surrounded by empty seats. The police hold the crowd and call for the one man who can untangle this daring murder: Inspector Richard Queen. With the help of his son Ellery, a bibliophile and novelist whose imagination can solve any crime, the Inspector attacks this seemingly impenetrable mystery. | 7.99 0.0 |