Free books again

Edited in 2022 to add: This is an old post. If you want free books, see my current version of the free-books list.

I’m leaving the old version below, for historical purposes only.


More books! Free to a good home. Let me know if you want any of these.

Also some VHS tapes. (At the end of this post.)

This list contains about 50 new items since the previous list I posted (in November). A total of about 260 items here (minus however many have been claimed since I posted this). (As of 26 May, there are 214 items left on the list.)

Almost everything here has spent at least a couple weeks in my Little Free Library, so don’t worry that you would be taking something away from someone else who might want it. These items fill an entire bookcase in my house, so you would be doing me a favor by taking them off my hands.

I’ll edit this post to remove items as they’re claimed.

Provenance and recommendations

Some of the items here were my father’s; some were donated to my Little Free Library; some are books that Kam is giving away; some are books or other items that I no longer want, or that I have duplicates of.

The only ones that I can personally recommend (in the sense of saying that I like them) are the few that I’m only giving away because I have a duplicate. About half of the books on this list are books that I haven’t read and that I know nothing about; and of the ones that I have read or (more often) skimmed or glanced over in passing, I didn’t like most of them enough to keep them. (But you may love them! Different people have different tastes.)

So I’m sorry to say that I can’t give recommendations.


Books

Alphabetical by author’s or editor’s last name (or by relevant magazine title). Separated into groups for ease of scanning.

MMPB means “mass market paperback.” Sf means “speculative fiction”—which is to say, science fiction or fantasy.

Most of the books on the list are in fair to good condition, but some have soot-damaged covers. If you want more info about anything here, just ask.

Links for speculative fiction books go to ISFDB. Links for other books mostly go to the Doghouse book database. In both cases, the links may not show the same edition or the same cover as the version of the book that I’m giving away.

I’ve included my best guess about genre for on some of these books, but I could be wrong about those. If you’re looking for a particular topic or genre or type of book, like travel or dog or mystery or memoir or nonfiction, try searching in this page. (But not all of the books are labeled.)

Note: Some of the book titles listed here are marginally NSFW. I’ve rot-13ed those titles. Some of the content of some of the books is also NSFW, but I haven’t marked those books.

A–B

The Dancer from Atlantis, by Poul Anderson (Hardcover)
Sf novel.
Flowers in the Attic, by V. C. Andrews (MMPB)
Novel.
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great Science Fiction Stories, Volume 2, 1940, ed. Isaac Asimov (MMPB)
Sf stories by Leiber, Sturgeon, van Vogt, Asimov, et al.
The Devil’s Other Storybook, by Natalie Babbitt (Trade Paperback)
Stories by the author of Tuck Everlasting.
One, by Richard Bach (MMPB)
Novel.
Paradise Parade, by Anne Baker (MMPB)
Novel.
Color for Your Home, by Christine E. Barnes (Trade Paperback)
Home decorating.
The X-President, by Philip E. Baruth (Trade Paperback)
Advance Reading Copy of a satirical science fiction novel involving Bill Clinton and time travel.
The One Year Bible for Children, by Gilbert Beers (Hardcover)
Great Sky River, by Gregory Benford (Hardcover)
Galactic Center Saga series, #3.
Sf novel.
A Pedigree to Die For, by Laurien Berenson (MMPB)
Melanie Travis mystery series, #1.
Dogs.
This Is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes, by Marilyn Berger (Hardcover)
Biography.
Beyond (MMPB)
Reprinting sf stories from Beyond Fantasy Fiction. Bradbury, Pohl, Fredric Brown, Sturgeon, et al.
Fair-Weather Friends, by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Trade Paperback)
Good Girlz series, #5.
YA Christian novel.
Scarlet Feather, by Maeve Binchy (MMPB)
Novel.
Ley Lines and Ecology: An Introduction, by William Bloom and Marko Pogacnik (Chapbook)
Mysticism.
The Princess and the Captain, by Anne-Laure Bondoux (Trade Paperback)
Secondary-world YA adventure fantasy?
The Starcrossed, by Ben Bova (MMPB)
Satirical sf novel based on Bova’s and Harlan Ellison’s experiences with the real-life TV show The Starlost.
Moon Handbooks Tennessee, by Jeff Bradley (Trade Paperback)
Travel.
My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Trade Paperback)
Novel.
The Cat Who Turned On and Off, by Lilian Jackson Braun (MMPB)
The Cat Who... mystery series, #11.
The Cat Who Moved a Mountain, by Lilian Jackson Braun (MMPB)
The Cat Who... mystery series, #13.
Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, 1590-1642: The Beginnings of the American People, by Carl Bridenbaugh (Trade Paperback)
Nonfiction.
MacPerl: Power and Ease, by Vicki Brown and Chris Nandor (Trade Paperback)
Programming.

C–E

Undercurrents, by Stella Cameron (MMPB)
Romance.
The Chocolate Bear Burglary, by JoAnna Carl (MMPB)
Chocoholic Mysteries series, #2.
The Chocolate Mouse Trap, by JoAnna Carl (MMPB)
Chocoholic Mysteries series, #5.
New Writings in SF 6, ed. John Carnell (MMPB)
Sf anthology.
Into the Unknown, ed. Terry Carr (Hardcover)
Sf stories by Ballard, Borges, Bradbury, Ellison, Silverberg, et al.
The Picture Dictionary of Flowers, by Richard Carrington and Mary Eden (Hardcover)
The Cross-Country Quilters, by Jennifer Chiaverini (Trade Paperback)
Elm Creek Quilts series, #3.
Novel.
Eggs in Purgatory, by Laura Childs (MMPB)
Cackleberry Club mystery series, #1.
Tai-Pan, by James Clavell (MMPB)
Novel.
Skeen’s Leap, by Jo Clayton (MMPB)
Sf novel.
A Tail of Two Murders, by Melissa Cleary (MMPB)
Dog Lover’s Mystery series, #1.
Hounded to Death, by Melissa Cleary (MMPB)
Dog Lover’s Mystery series, #3.
Skull and Dog Bones, by Melissa Cleary (MMPB)
Dog Lover’s Mystery series, #4.
Old Dogs, by Melissa Cleary (MMPB)
Dog Lover’s Mystery series, #9.
And Your Little Dog, Too, by Melissa Cleary (MMPB)
Dog Lover’s Mystery series, #10.
Versatile Vizsla, by Marion I. Coffman (Hardcover)
Dogs.
Bones: Buried Deep, by Max Allan Collins and Carolyn Haines (MMPB)
Bones series, #1.
Dead Secret, by Beverly Connor (MMPB)
Diane Fallon series, #3.
Deadly Image, by Edmund Cooper (MMPB)
Sf novel.
The Middle Place, by Kelly Corrigan (Trade Paperback)
Memoir.
The Countryman, Spring 1984 (Trade Paperback)
What’s So Great about America, by Dinesh D’Souza (Trade Paperback)
Wikipedia says D’Souza is “an Indian-American far-right political commentator, provocateur, author, filmmaker, pardoned felon and conspiracy theorist.”
The Forsytes, by Suleika Dawson (Trade Paperback)
Historical fiction, continuing John Galsworthy’s Forsyte Saga.
Samuel R. Delany, by Seth McEvoy (Trade Paperback)
Quasi-biography.
Destinies: The Paperback Magazine of Science Fiction and Speculative Fact, Summer 1980, Vol. 2, No. 3 (MMPB)
Sf stories by Barnes/Niven, et al.
Skin Deep, by Peter Dickinson (Trade Paperback)
James Pibble mystery series, #1.
Also published under the title The Glass-Sided Ants’ Nest.
The Ruins of Earth, ed. Thomas M. Disch (MMPB)
Sf (and non-sf) stories by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Philip K. Dick, Harry Harrison, J. G. Ballard, Daphne du Maurier, Fritz Leiber, and others.
The Word of God: Or, Holy Writ Rewritten, by Thomas M. Disch (Trade Paperback)
Sf, sorta kinda.
House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III (Trade Paperback)
Novel.
Dirty Tricks, by George Alec Effinger (Hardcover)
Sf stories.
The Monk of Mokha, by Dave Eggers (Hardcover)
Nonfiction.
Tales from the Bed: A Memoir, by Jenifer Estess (Hardcover)
Memoir/biography about a woman dying of ALS.

F–H

Who Are We Now?, by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (Trade Paperback)
Poetry.
The Night People, by Jack Finney (Hardcover)
Novel.
Sugar Cookie Murder, by Joanne Fluke (MMPB)
Hannah Swensen Mystery With Recipes series, #6.
Margot Fonteyn: Autobiography, by Margot Fonteyn (Hardcover)
Autobiography.
A Natural History of Frk, by Adrian Forsyth (Hardcover)
Nonfiction.
Bring the Rain, by JoAnn Franklin (Trade Paperback)
Novel about dementia.
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, by Sir James George Frazer (Hardcover)
Nonfiction (though with dubious sourcing.)
In Conquest Born, by C. S. Friedman (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Express Yourself with Color, by Better Homes and Gardens (Trade Paperback)
Nonfiction.
The Golden Children's Bible (Hardcover)
Saraband of Lost Time, by Richard S. Grant (MMPB)
Sf novel.
A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the rise of the slave trade to the age of revolution, by Toby Green (Hardcover)
Nonfiction.
A Friend Is Someone, by Suzanne Grenell (Trade Paperback)
Enjoy the Hummingbirds, by Oliver Griswold (Chapbook)
Nonfiction.
Infinite Dreams, by Joe Haldeman (Hardcover)
Sf story collection.
There Is No Darkness, by Joe Haldeman and Jack C. Haldeman II (MMPB)
Sf novel.
The Star Kings, by Edmond Hamilton (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Hidden Arizona, by Richard Harris (Trade Paperback)
Travel.
Best SF: 1968, ed. Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss (MMPB)
Sf stories by Sheckley, Asimov, Kit Reed, Lieber, et al.
Best SF: 1971, ed. Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss (MMPB)
Sf stories by Sheckley, Clarke, Barthelme, Disch, Blish, Aldiss, Spinrad, et al.
Plants That Never Ever Bloom, by Ruth Heller (Hardcover)
Memoir from Antproof Case, by Mark Helprin (Hardcover)
Novel.
A Soldier of the Great War, by Mark Helprin (Hardcover)
Novel.
Child’s Play, by Reginald Hill (MMPB)
Mystery.
Seabiscuit: An American Legend, by Laura Hillenbrand (Trade Paperback)
Nonfiction (racehorse).
Code of the Lifemaker, by James P. Hogan (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Sleep No More, by Greg Iles (MMPB)
Mississippi series, #4.
Suspense.
Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush, by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose (Trade Paperback)
Birds of Prey, by Judith A Jance (MMPB)
J. P. Beaumont series, #15.
Thriller.
The Treasure, by Iris Johansen (MMPB)
Romantic suspense.
Fires of the Past: Thirteen Contemporary Fantasies About Hometowns, by Anne Devereaux Jordan (Hardcover)
Fantasy anthology.
Invitation to FORTH, by Harry Katzan (Hardcover)
About the FORTH programming language.
The Royals, by Kitty Kelley (Hardcover)
Biography.
The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity: How Modern Culture Is Robbing Billions of People of Happiness, by Matthew Kelly (Trade Paperback)
Stay Tuned for Murder, by Mary Kennedy (MMPB)
Talk Radio mystery series, #3.
O Jerusalem, by Laurie R. King (MMPB)
Mary Russell series, #5.
Mystery novel (including Sherlock Holmes).
Pigs in Heaven, by Barbara Kingsolver (Hardcover)
Novel.
The Poisonwood Bible [copy 1], by Barbara Kingsolver (Trade Paperback)
Novel.
The Poisonwood Bible [copy 2], by Barbara Kingsolver (MMPB)
Novel.
Prodigal Summer: Large print edition, by Barbara Kingsolver (Trade Paperback)
Shopaholic Ties the Knot, by Sophie Kinsella (Trade Paperback)
Shopaholic series, #3.
Novel.
Satan’s Angels Exposed, by Salem Kirban (Trade Paperback)
Conspiracy theory.
Your Heart Belongs to Me, by Dean R Koontz (MMPB)
Thriller/horror.
Forever Odd: An Odd Thomas novel, by Dean R. Koontz (MMPB)
Odd Thomas series, #2.
Thriller/horror.
Who's Who in Greek and Roman Mythology, by David Kravitz (Hardcover)
Mythology.
The House in November, by Keith Laumer (MMPB)
Sf novel.
The House in November and The Other Sky, by Keith Laumer (MMPB)
Two short sf novels.
The Invaders, by Keith Laumer (MMPB)
Novelization of sf TV series.
On the Intelligentsia, by V. I. Lenin (MMPB)
Nonfiction.
Bandits, by Elmore Leonard (Hardcover)
Sadly unrelated to the movie of the same title.
Windows 10 All-in-One for Dummies, by Woody Leonhard ()
Computers.
English on the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands, by Daniel Long (Hardcover)
Linguistics.
Bloodhounds, by Peter Lovesey (MMPB)
Peter Diamond mystery series, #4.
Die in Plain Sight, by Elizabeth Lowell (MMPB)
Rarities Unlimited (romance/mystery?) series, #3.
Jedi Eclipse, by James Luceno (MMPB)
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series, #5.

M–O

The Plague and I, by Betty MacDonald (Trade Paperback)
Autobiography.
Other Times, Other Worlds, by John D. MacDonald (MMPB)
Sf stories by the author of the Travis McGee mysteries.
The Light Ages, by Ian R. MacLeod (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Back on Blossom Street, by Debbie Macomber (MMPB)
Blossom Street series, #4.
Novel. (Flower shop/knitting. Romance?)
Marry Me at Christmas, by Susan Mallery (MMPB)
Fool's Gold series, #19.
Romance novel.
Jack the Bodiless, by Julian May (Hardcover)
Galactic Milieu Trilogy, #1.
Sf novel.
Acorna’s World, by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir, by Frank McCourt (Trade Paperback)
Memoir.
Terminal Café, by Ian McDonald (Trade Paperback)
Sf novel.
The Snow Leopard's Tale, by Thomas McIntyre (Trade Paperback)
Short novel.
Eccentric Lives and Peculiar Notions, by John Michell (Trade Paperback)
Mini-biographies.
Black Spring, by Henry Miller (Hardcover)
Short stories, possibly semi-autobiographical.
Lords of Corruption, by Kyle Mills (MMPB)
Thriller.
A Nervous Splendour: Vienna 1888/1889, by Frederic Morton (Trade Paperback)
Nonfiction.
At Large, by Lynne Murray (MMPB)
Josephine Fuller mystery series, #3.
The Borzoi College Reader, ed. Charles Muscatine and Melanie Griffith (Hardcover)
Anthology.
A Penny Urned, by Tamar Myers (MMPB)
Den of Antiquity Mystery series, #7.
Splendor in the Glass, by Tamar Myers (MMPB)
Den of Antiquity Mystery series, #9.
The Cane Mutiny, by Tamar Myers (MMPB)
Den of Antiquity Mystery series, #13.
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Crime, by Tamar Myers (MMPB)
Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery With Recipes series, #2.
The Last Bathing Beauty, by Amy Sue Nathan (Trade Paperback)
Novel.
High Sorcery, by Andre Norton (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Perilous Dreams, by Andre Norton (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Galactic Derelict, by Andre Norton (MMPB)
Time Traders series, #2.
Sf novel.
The Norton Anthology of Poetry Revised Shorter Edition (Trade Paperback)
Poetry.
Salsa Nocturna: Stories, by Daniel José Older (Trade Paperback)
Sf short story collection.

P–R

The Body in the Bouillon, by Katherine Hall Page (MMPB)
Faith Fairchild mystery series, #3.
The Body in the Bog, by Katherine Hall Page (MMPB)
Faith Fairchild mystery series, #7.
This Is My Hair, by Todd Parr (Hardcover)
Picture book.
The Chef, by James Patterson and Max DiLallo (MMPB)
Mystery.
The Message Remix: Purple Pocket Edition, by Eugene H. Peterson (Hardcover)
A Christian Bible in modernized English.
Fortune’s Hand, by Belva Plain (MMPB)
Novel.
The Beiderbecke Affair, by Alan Plater (MMPB)
Novel.
The Annals of the Heechee, by Frederik Pohl (Hardcover)
Sf novel.
Assignment in Tomorrow, ed. Frederik Pohl (MMPB)
Sf stories by Sturgeon, Kornbluth, Bradbury, del Rey, Bester, Vonnegut, Jack Williamson, Fredric Brown, Farmer, et al. Book is in poor condition, but readable.
Bungalow Details: Interior, by Jane Powell (Hardcover)
Home decorating.
Basics, by Tom Powell (Small Paperback)
The Well of the Unicorn, by Fletcher Pratt (MMPB)
Sf novel.
The Discovery of the Orgone: The Function of the Betnfz, by Wilhelm Reich (Trade Paperback)
Selected Writings: An introduction to orgonomy, by Wilhelm Reich (Trade Paperback)
Frk-cby, by Wilhelm Reich (MMPB)
Bare Bones, by Kathy Reichs (MMPB)
Temperance Brennan (forensic anthropologist) series, #6.
Mystery.
Suite 606, by J.D. Robb, Ruth Ryan Langan, Mary Blayney, and Mary Kay Mccomas (MMPB)
Paranormal romance/suspense, maybe?
Swiftly, by Adam Roberts (Hardcover)
Sf story collection (not to be confused with the same author’s novel by the same title).
The Memory of Whiteness, by Kim Stanley Robinson (MMPB)
Sf novel.
The Hanging Valley, by Peter Robinson (MMPB)
Inspector Banks mystery series, #4.
Late Night VRML 2.0 with Java, by Bernie Roehl, Justin Couch, Cindy Reed-Ballreich, Tim Rohaly, and Geoff Brown (Trade Paperback)
Programming.
Giants in the Earth, by O.E. Rolvaag (MMPB)
Novel.

S–T

Skippyjon Jones ¡Ay Card-Ramba!, by Judy Schachner (Trade Paperback)
On the one hand, cute brief picture-book story with some bits in Spanish. On the other hand, the whole premise of this series (English-speaking Siamese cat likes to pretend that he’s a Mexican chihuahua and say things in mock-Spanish) is racist and appropriative.
Bungalow Colors: Exteriors, by Robert Schweitzer (Trade Paperback)
Home decorating.
This Loving Torment, by Valerie Sherwood (MMPB)
Historical romance.
City Come A-Walkin’, by John Shirley (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Sweetheart, Indiana, by Suzanne Simmons (MMPB)
Romance.
The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes, by Elissa R. Sloan (Hardcover)
Novel.
Skylark Three, by E. E. “Doc” Smith (MMPB)
Skylark series, #2.
Sf novel.
Skylark of Valeron, by E. E. “Doc” Smith (MMPB)
Skylark series, #3.
Sf novel.
Skylark DuQuesne, by E. E. “Doc” Smith (MMPB)
Skylark series, #4.
Sf novel.
Alice in Puzzle-Land, by Raymond M. Smullyan (Hardcover)
Logic puzzles.
The Love-Girl and the Innocent, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (MMPB)
Play.
Astoria: Astor and Jefferson’s lost Pacific empire: a tale of ambition and survival on the early American frontier, by Peter Stark (Trade Paperback)
Nonfiction history/“true adventure.”
The Great Vegan Grains Book: Celebrate whole grains with more than 100 delicious plant-based recipes, by Celine Steen (Trade Paperback)
Cookbook.
Dog Eat Dog: A very human book about dogs and dog shows, by Jane Stern (Trade Paperback)
Dogs.
An Invitation to Wines: An Informal Guide to the Selection, Care, and Enjoyment of Domestic and European Wines, by John Storm (Trade Paperback)
Nonfiction.
Chang and Eng, by Darin Strauss (Trade Paperback)
Novel.
Moondust, by Thomas Burnett Swann (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Jarhead: A Soldier’s Story of Modern War, by Anthony Swofford (Trade Paperback)
Memoir/military nonfiction.
The Steps of the Sun, by Walter Tevis (MMPB)
Tevis is best known as the author of the novel The Man Who Fell to Earth.
Policeman Mike’s Brass Buttons, by Ruth Tooze (Hardcover)
Picture book.
Venus on the Half-Shell, by “Kilgore Trout” (Philip José Farmer) (MMPB)
Sf novel.
The Zimmerman Telegram, by Barbara W. Tuchman (MMPB)
History (WWII).

U–Z

The Unknown Five (MMPB)
Reprinting sf stories from Unknown Worlds. Asimov, Sturgeon, Bester, et al.
The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik Van Loon (Hardcover)
History.
Players of Null-A, by A. E. Van Vogt (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Worlds in Collision, by Immanuel Velikovsky (Trade Paperback)
Pseudoscience.
Lincoln: A Novel, by Gore Vidal (Hardcover)
Novel.
Vox Compact Spanish and English Dictionary, by Vox (Trade Paperback)
Translation dictionary.
Murder at the Quilt Show, by Aliske Webb (Trade Paperback)
Mystery.
Pie, by Sarah Weeks (Trade Paperback)
Middle-Grade mystery novel.
The True Detective, by Theodore Weesner (MMPB)
Mystery.
A Rumor of Dragons, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Trade Paperback)
Sf novel.
Sarah’s War, by Eugenia Lovett West (Trade Paperback)
Historical fiction.
The Pocket Book of Modern Verse: English and American poetry of the last hundred years from Walt Whitman to Dylan Thomas., ed. Oscar Williams (MMPB)
Poetry.
Wilhelm Reich in Hell, by Robert Anton Wilson (Trade Paperback)
Play.
Castleview, by Gene Wolfe (MMPB)
Sf novel.
Nightside the Long Sun, by Gene Wolfe (MMPB)
Book of the Long Sun series, #1.
Sf novel.
The End of the World, ed. Donald A. Wollheim (MMPB)
Sf stories by Heinlein, Dick, Clarke, et al.
The Bomb Vessel, by Richard Woodman (Trade Paperback)
Nathaniel Drinkwater series, #4.
Napoleonic Wars historical fiction.
The Corvette, by Richard Woodman (Trade Paperback)
Nathaniel Drinkwater series, #5.
Napoleonic Wars historical fiction.
Willow Brook Road, by Sherryl Woods (MMPB)
Chesapeake Shores series, #13.
Romance novel.
Shoot First, by Stuart Woods (MMPB)
Stone Barrington series, #45.
Mystery/thriller.
The Winds of War, by Herman Wouk (MMPB)
Historical fiction (WWII).
Chocky, by John Wyndham (MMPB)
Sf novel, by an author better known for The Day of the Triffids.
Waging Heavy Peace, by Neil Young (Hardcover)
Neil Young’s autobiography.
Thérèse Raquin, by Émile Zola (MMPB)
Novel.

Blu-ray

Watership Down (1978) Blu-ray (REGION B!!!)
Note: This Blu-ray WILL NOT PLAY in standard US Region A Blu-ray players. It will presumably play in Region B players or regionless players.

VHS tapes

I like all of these, but can no longer play them, and I’ve upgraded to DVDs and Blu-rays for most of them.

Cutthroat Island
The English Patient
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Heathers
In & Out
My Best Friend’s Wedding
My Fair Lady
Singin’ in the Rain

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