About 59 minutes
Wikkey A Scrap — Reading Companion
Young Readers Enchanted Adventures
13,530 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #23195
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Start with a reading choice
Three of the shortest recorded reading commitments in this catalog. Times are estimates, not quality ratings.
About 75 minutes
Owen's Fortune; Or, "Durable Riches" — Text and Context
Young Readers Enchanted Adventures
17,212 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #36493About 110 minutes
The Pearl of Lima: A Story of True Love — Story, Setting & Ideas
Technology Airships Imagined Futures
25,131 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #27894Search the excerpts stored with this catalog
99 of 99 catalog books have a stored excerpt with a Gutenberg source record. Search covers these excerpts only, up to 6,000 characters per book. A missing match does not mean the phrase is absent from the full work.
Read a catalog excerpt example: Ben Hadden; or, Do Right Whatever Comes Of It — Story, Setting & Ideas
There was belonging to Sandhills, the little hamlet about which I have spoken, as fine and bold a set of fishermen as any to be found on the British coast. There were from fifteen to twenty families. The largest family was that of old John Hadden. He had eight sons and several daughters: three of his sons were away at sea--two of these were on board men-of-war, and the third was on board a trading-vessel; four followed his calling as fishermen, and formed part of the crew of the lugger of which …
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Compare two books and their available excerpts
| Book | Recorded words | Estimated minutes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikkey A Scrap — Reading Companion | 13,530 | 59 | Gutenberg #23195 |
| Owen's Fortune; Or, "Durable Riches" — Text and Context | 17,212 | 75 | Gutenberg #36493 |
| The Pearl of Lima: A Story of True Love — Story, Setting & Ideas | 25,131 | 110 | Gutenberg #27894 |
How these choices and excerpts are prepared
Choices use stored catalog measurements. Estimates vary with reading speed. A shared category is a catalog label, not a claim that two books have the same argument or literary quality.
Search reads excerpt text stored with this catalog and links to its associated Gutenberg record. The connection is stored in the site database; this tool does not recheck that every excerpt is word-for-word identical to that external record. Excerpt search does not cover every chapter and does not verify historical publication dates.
Catalog snapshot checked: 2026-09-25. Coverage: 99 public books, 99 available source excerpts.
Do more with this book catalog
This catalog holds 99 public-domain books spread across four categories, from tales of young readers to stories of exploration and imagined futures. The tools on these pages help you find a book that fits your interests, compare similar titles, and plan your reading time.
Each tool draws on the book's own metadata, such as subjects, word count, and reading estimate. Browse the finder to narrow by theme or category, use the compare tool to see how books differ, or check the reading tool for time and structure details. Start with the cards below to see what each tool offers.
99
books in this catalog
4
catalog categories
99
books with reading-time data
Made for this collection
Ways the catalog data becomes useful
Find Your Next Read
Search by subject, category, or length to uncover books that match your curiosity. With 99 titles, the finder helps you sort through options like adventure, friendship, or Christian life to pinpoint a story you'll enjoy.
Compare Similar Books
See how two or more books stack up by word count, reading time, and subject focus. This tool makes it easy to decide between a quick read and a longer commitment, or between historical fiction and a science-adventure.
Plan Your Reading
Estimate how long a book will take based on its median reading time. Check the number of text sections and average sentence length to gauge the style and pacing before you dive in.
Choosing and Planning with the HAUFU Tools
The HAUFU Public Domain Literature Library offers four tools that work together: Book Finder, Compare Books, Reading Tracker, and this hub. Each serves a distinct purpose, but they are most useful when used in sequence. The hub links them so you can move from discovery to comparison to a reading plan without losing your place.
None of these tools rate literary quality. They are designed to help you match a book to your available time, your tolerance for long chapters, and your interest in particular subjects. For a catalog of 99 titles, that practical information can be more useful than a general sense of what a book is about.
Start with the Finder
The Book Finder is the entry point. You can filter by category, length, estimated reading time, chapter rhythm, sentence flow, and subject. The catalog is divided into four categories: Young Readers Enchanted Adventures (37 books), Historical Psychological Social Fiction (23), Technology Airships Imagined Futures (20), and Exploration Survival Adventure Tales (19). If you know you want a school story, for example, you might start with the Exploration Survival Adventure Tales category, which includes Betty Lee, Sophomore — Edition Insights, a book with 22 text sections and a word count of 52,219.
The Finder also lets you indicate a preference for popular or hidden-gem books. No-preference choices do not penalize a book, so you can leave a criterion blank if it does not matter to you. The goal is to narrow the list to a few candidates that fit your constraints.
Compare Before You Commit
Once you have two or three candidates, use Compare Books to see them side by side. The comparison includes word count, estimated reading time, text sections, sentence flow, chapter rhythm, subjects, and page information when available. These metrics are descriptive, not evaluative. A book with many text sections may be easier to pause between chapters, while a book with long sentences may require more sustained attention.
For instance, if you are choosing between a 50,000-word book and a 100,000-word book, the difference in estimated reading time can be significant. The median reading time for the catalog is 248 minutes, but individual books range from 75 to 1,360 minutes. Knowing that a book is a marathon rather than a quick read can shape your decision.
Plan with the Tracker
After you select a book, the Reading Tracker helps you set a daily page goal and estimate when you will finish. Progress is recorded in pages, not sections or minutes. The initial page estimate is based on a words-per-page value of 250, but you can adjust the total page count to match your own edition. The tracker stores your history in the browser, so no account is needed.
Use the Tools Together
The three tools are most effective when used in order: find, compare, track. The hub keeps them accessible so you can return to the Finder to adjust your criteria, or to Compare to revisit a decision. The tools are designed to support your reading choices, not to replace your own judgment.