Library of Alexandria

Browse a ready-made shelf of the library: the free books, the easy, medium or challenging reading levels, the lost books, the titles with a 15-minute summary, or the most popular titles. Returns up to 8 titles at a time, with a cursor for the next page.

Continue from a quote: get the address of the page on libraryofalexandria.com where the person writes the message, sees the proof and pays. Nothing is ordered or paid through the assistant, and no card or address is asked for here.

Explain a saying or idiom: what it means, where it comes from, and which titles of the library use it. A phrase that is not in the collection gets the closest phrases that are.

Find where a quotation comes from: give at least six words of it and get the title, chapter and paragraph of the open texts of the library that contain it, with the address to read it there. It answers only for texts that are open and never returns the words of the book.

Get the catalogue facts of one title: title, subtitle, author and original title in the chosen language, the cover picture address, the print editions, and the title page address in each language in which libraryofalexandria.com has the page (a language without a page there is not listed, so the list can be shorter than the languages of the catalogue). `url_language` says when `url` is in another language than the one asked.

Get the reading facts of one title: its reading level, word count, estimated reading time at three paces, page counts of the print editions, audio length, number of chapters, year of first publication, and whether a 15-minute summary is open. Facts that are not known yet are listed as not available yet.

List the chapters and their access for the signed-in member. Only open titles are shown, and no chapter text is returned.

Get the summary of one chapter, act or section of a title, or, without a number, the list of its chapters with their titles. Each summary is a few hundred words at most and points to the next one. A title whose chapter summaries are not open yet says that they open here soon.

Get the page where a person can add their own cover picture to a printed copy. Uploading a cover opens here soon; until then the answer points to the page where the personal message is written.

Get the listen page address of an open title for the signed-in member. No audio is returned, and access is checked by the listen page.

Read the plan and daily words left for the signed-in member. Passages come only from titles open to you, within a daily word limit.

Check where a printed order stands. Today the answer points to the e-mail of the order and to the account on libraryofalexandria.com; tracking through an assistant opens here soon.

Read a located paragraph with nearby paragraphs for the signed-in member. Access is checked again and each passage is limited to 400 words.

Get the print editions of one title (standard and large print; paperback or hardcover) with the normal price in US dollars where it exists, ISBN-13 and page count where known, and the address of each product page.

Get the publisher's standard description, the languages of the catalogue and the address of the terms page.

Read the free opening of one title: the first chapter of its text, in pages of at most 400 words. Pass 'page' for the next page; every answer says how many pages there are and where the text continues. Until the text is open the answer says that it opens here soon.

Read the 15-minute summary of one title: the first key idea in full, with its heading, and the headings of the other key ideas, which open in the library. Choose a key idea with 'part'. A title or a language whose summary is not open yet answers that it opens here soon.

Get the study guide of one title: its main themes, symbols, setting and recurring motifs, each in a few sentences, with the address of the full study guide. A title or language whose guide is not open yet says that it opens here soon.

List the titles on the free shelf, optionally for one language and one subject, with the address of each reading page.

List the saved books of the signed-in member with their reader addresses. Returns at most 50 books at a time and never returns book text.

Get a chapter address for the signed-in member to open in the reader. Only open titles are linked, and the reader checks chapter access.

Prepare a printed copy of one title with a personal message page, as a gift or for yourself: get the normal price of the paperback, hardcover or large print edition, the total for the number of copies, and the address of the page on libraryofalexandria.com where the message is written and the order is placed. Shipping and tax are shown at checkout.

Read one chapter of a title on the free shelf, in pages of at most 400 words. Chapter numbers are those of the reader's contents list; without 'chapter' the first chapter of the text is read. Every answer points to the next page. Until the text is open the answer says that it opens here soon.

Recommend classics: give the title of a book you liked, or its id, and get the books its readers also enjoyed; or give a topic or a mood and get titles that match it. Filter by reading level or by the free shelf.

Search the catalogue of Library of Alexandria Press by words from a title or an author's name, or by a topic word, in any language of the catalogue (Chinese in simplified and traditional characters). Returns up to 8 titles with id, title, subtitle, author, language, whether print editions are available, and the address of the title page on libraryofalexandria.com. Pass the asker's language so titles and authors come back in it.

Find paragraphs by keywords in chapters open to the signed-in member. Returns at most five short snippets, within word and reading limits.