Ideas & stories, unsummarized
Before the bestseller, there was Seneca.
Big ideas and great stories, word for word from the original books. Not summaries.
Each card is a real passage, often a complete letter or story you can read in about two minutes. Swipe to the next. When one hooks you, tap Keep reading and the whole book opens.
5,630 books. Every one free to read.
How it reads
Not a summary. Not a snippet. A complete 2‑minute piece.
Swap ten minutes of doomscrolling for Marcus Aurelius, Poe or Austen.
The library
Ideas that lasted. Stories that still grip.
Ideas
The Stoics and the sages in their own words: Seneca's letters, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Confucius and Lao Tzu. Strategy and power from Sun Tzu and Machiavelli. Work, money and habits from Benjamin Franklin. Thoreau and Emerson on how to live.
Stories
Poe's tales of terror. Dracula and Frankenstein, the originals. Sherlock Holmes. Austen, the Brontës and Dickens. Fairy tales, poetry and short stories.
5,630 books. Every one free to read.
Stoics or spooky? Pick your mood.
Start with Stories, Ideas or Both, then pick one or more moods. Change them any time.
Ideas
- Big ideas
- Stoics & sages
- Habits & mind
- Work & money
- Strategy & power
- History
- Poetry
Stories
- Spooky
- Mystery
- Adventure
- Love stories
- Funny
- Sci-fi & strange
- Fantasy
- Sad & beautiful
- Short stories
Free
Every book is free. Really.
All 5,630 books, the feed, Lines you loved and quote cards are free. You don't have to pay for anything to read.
- Lines you lovedSave the passages that hit.
- Copy with citationEvery line keeps its book and chapter.
- Quote cardsShare a line as an image, cited, in story or square format.
- Welcome backPick up where you left off.
- A daily goalSet your minutes for the day and keep a weekly streak.
- Year in ReadingAt the end of the year, look back on what you read.
- Your own EPUBsImport them and read them the same way.
Premium
Premium, if you want more.
$19.99 a year, or $2.99 a month
New subscribers get a 7-day free trial. If notifications are on, we remind you 2 days before you're charged. Cancel anytime in your App Store or Google Play subscriptions. You never pay for the books.
- Read aloudA natural voice that follows the words and keeps going with the screen locked.
- Explain thisPlain-English help with any passage. AI, only when you tap it.
- Previously on…Spoiler-free recaps when you come back to a book.
- Offline downloadsKeep whole books on your phone.
- Study modeVocab review, chapter quizzes and reading plans.
- Your EPUBs everywhereYour imported books, on all your devices.
- Fonts & themes, and quote card stylesMore typefaces, colours and paper, and more ways to share a line.
- Highlight exportSend your lines to Readwise or Notion.
- Year in Reading, deluxeDeeper stats and reading trends.
Questions people ask
Is it just quotes?
No. Each card is a real passage, often a complete letter or story, and Keep reading opens the whole book.
Is it a summary or an AI rewrite?
No. Every word is the author's, from the original book. No summaries, no rewrites, no commentary. AI only appears in optional Premium helpers, like Explain this and recaps, and only when you tap them.
Isn't old English hard?
Two minutes at a time makes it easier. Stuck on a line? Explain this puts it in plain English (Premium).
Will I get charged?
Not for reading. Premium is optional. New subscribers get a 7-day free trial, and if notifications are on, we remind you 2 days before you're charged. After that it's $19.99 a year or $2.99 a month, through your App Store or Google Play account. Cancel anytime in your store subscriptions.
Why pay for books that are in the public domain?
You don't. The books are free here too. Premium pays for the extras.
Two minutes. One complete piece.
Seneca to Sherlock, in the authors' own words.