Bestsellers
Find out about the latest bestsellers from many well known resources.
ebooks Fiction Literature Bestsellers
Guides
Links
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Google Play
Enjoy millions of the latest Android apps, games, music, movies, TV, books, magazines & more, including the Overdrive Media Console and Hoopla apps. -
iTunes App Store
Browse and download apps to your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch from the App Store, including the Overdrive Media Console and Hoopla apps. -
Kindle App Store
Instant access to thousands of the most popular free and best-selling apps and games, including the Overdrive Media Console and Hoopla apps. -
NOOK Store
Your one-stop-shop for all things NOOK.
New York Times - Bestselling Fiction by Bestsellers
Bestselling fiction titles, updated every week! This list includes bestselling fiction for the week of September 15, 2019.
New York Times - Children's Bestsellers (30 items)
Bestselling Children's titles, updated every week! This list includes bestselling children's fiction, children's series, and Children's Picture Books for the week of September 15, 2019.
New York Times - Bestselling Nonfiction (10 items)
Bestselling nonfiction titles, updated every week! This list includes bestselling nonfiction for the week of September 15, 2019.
Poetry in Translation (6 items)
Take pleasure in reading poets from other languages and cultures.
Poetry - Novels in Verse (19 items)
Poetry with special appeal for tweens and teens.
Poetry - Great Contemporary Poetry (5 items)
Selections from the Literature Department.
Award Winners (20 items)
Award-winning Bestsellers, fiction and nonfiction
Library Reads: Favorite of Favorites 2016 (10 items)
Librarians across the country have chosen their ten favorite books published in 2016.
Oprah's Book Club (73 items)
Bestselling selections from Oprah's Book Club.
Electronic Resources
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Academic OneFile *
Find peer-reviewed, full-text articles from journals in the areas of the physical and social sciences, technology, medicine, engineering, the arts, literature, and more. More than 18,000 peer-reviewed journals and more than 9,200 in full text.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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America's Historical Imprints
Explore centuries of history in unprecedented ways. Includes books, pamphlets, & other scarce material on culture and daily life. Includes: American Broadsides and Ephemera and Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans & Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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BookFlix *
Bookflix pairs classic storybooks with related nonfiction books - all in streaming format - to build a love of reading and learning.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Books & Authors *
Books & Authors answers the question: What Do I Read Next? Explore authors, genres, books, and topics to discover books that match your interests. Search over 240,000 fiction and non-fiction librarian-recommended titles.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Contemporary Authors *
A bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Dictionary of Literary Biography
Biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures. Includes more than 16,000 articles and thousands of images.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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eBooks from Overdrive
Available in a variety of formats including epub and pdf, here you will find the Library's Overdrive ebook collection.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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eBooks on EBSCOhost (formerly NetLibrary) *
Approximately 17,000 electronic books in all subject areas from careers to classics to Cliffs notes.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Freading
Downloadable ebooks for Free Library of Philadelphia library card holders.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Free Library Podcasts
The Free Library Podcast is an easy way to participate in the author events and lectures that take place at the Central Library. Visit Author Events for upcoming events and information.
Available To: Unrestricted, free web resource
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Gale Literary Sources (formerly Artemis)
Cross-search all of Gale’s literature databases from a single digital space. Includes Dictionary of Literary Biography, Something About the Author, LitFinder, Literature Criticism Online, and Literature Resource Center.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Gale Virtual Reference Library
Fully searchable database of over 260 reference titles developed by Gale and other publishers.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Hoopla
Stream movies, TV, music, and audiobooks directly to your computer or mobile device
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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InfoTrac Student Edition *
Content for high school students from magazines, journals, newspapers, reference books, and rich media (images, audio, video) covering a range of subjects, from science, history, and literature to political science, sports, and environmental studies.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Kids InfoBits *
Students in K-5th grade will find kid-friendly content covering topics such as animals, arts, geography, health, literature, people, social studies, technology, and more! Includes more than 16,600 images and over 600 high-quality educational videos.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Literature Criticism Online
This extensive compilation of literary commentary represents a range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across regions, eras, and genres. Covers Children’s, Classical, Contemporary, Drama, Poetry, Shakespearean, and more.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Literature Resource Center
Access to biographies, bibliographies and critical analysis of authors from every age and literary discipline
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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LitFinder *
Find the sonnets of Shakespeare, the poetry of Angelou, presidential speeches, and short stories by Poe. Discover full-text literature from more than 150,000 poems, 7,100 short stories & novels, 3,800 essays, 2,400 speeches, and 1,250 plays.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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NewsBank Hot Topics
Trending news and hot topics for your next assignment! Hot topics covers Current Events, Business & Economics, Civics, Government, & Politics, Social Issues, Science, Technology & Health, Sports, Arts & Literature, and People in the News.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
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Overdrive Kid's eReading Room
Download ebooks and audiobooks for readers ages 0-12.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.
Upcoming Events
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Creative Writing Club
Need an outlet for your writing skills or share a poem? Come join us for our weekly writing group! Program for teens… more details
Mon, September 23, 2019 3:30 PM
Parkway Central Library
1901 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
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Banned Together: 2019 Censorship Cabaret Philadelphia Premiere!
Banned Together: A Censorship Cabaret is back for its fourth year in a row and appearing for the first time in… more details
Mon, September 23, 2019 7:00 PM
Parkway Central Library
1901 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
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E-Gadget Helpdesk
Get answers about the ins-and-outs of your devices, how to connect with Wifi, manage passwords, install programs,… more details
Tue, September 24, 2019 4:00 PM
Kensington Library
104 West Dauphin Street
Philadelphia, PA 19133-3701
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Ann Patchett | The Dutch House
SOLD OUT! BUT--you can still buy tickets for Ann Patchett's event with the Open Book Bookstore… more details
Tue, September 24, 2019 7:30 PM
Parkway Central Library
1901 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Blog Posts
Changes to ebook Lending Coming to a Library Near You
As you may have read in the news, recent changes in the publishing industry will soon impact library customers’ access to some newly released ebook titles. Macmillan Publishers—one of the "Big 5" book publishers in…
ebooks digital media
Happy Birthday, Agatha Christie!
In the course of a casual conversation with a new acquaintance this summer, chatter turned—as it inevitably does, when one of you works in a library—first to books, then to mystery novels, and then to my minor obsession with…
fiction author birthdays
Fall 2019 Author Events: Cultural Connections
During this fall season of Free Library Author Events , we’re seeing a lot of cultural connections between our authors and speakers. Let’s talk about the events taking place two days in a row, both off-site at the same…
Poetry author events sports pop culture fiction nonfiction
Celebrate National Read a Book Day!
Today is National Read a Book Day , and as a book lover and Free Library staff member it’s my sworn duty to encourage everyone I meet today to pick up a book, so expect some recommendations here. Reading can be so much more than…
Holidays reading fiction nonfiction
Remembering Toni Morrison, 1931–2019
When I first read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison , at 15 years old, I knew it would haunt me. The story fed my soul—I was shocked at its lovely, yet stinging taste, but realized I had always been craving it. Never had my struggle…
podcasts African American author events remembrances literature
George Orwell in Context
Talking animals, pigs rising to power, a full-fledged government on a farm, and a revolution against an alcoholic farmer serve as the backdrop of George Orwell’s 1945 novel Animal Farm . Confused? Trust me, there’s…
author birthdays literature
ReJoyce! Bloomsday Returns to The Rosenbach
The Rosenbach 's annual Bloomsday festivities will be held on Sunday, June 16, falling on Father’s Day this year! What is Bloomsday? Bloomsday is an annual event where the world celebrates Leopold Bloom’s…
Rosenbach Bloomsday literary history literature
We Celebrate Him: Walt Whitman at 200
I celebrate myself — When lilacs last — I contain multitudes — O Captain! my Captain! What other U.S. poet’s work can be recognized by so few words—and by so many people—as that of the self-proclaimed…
music Rosenbach author birthdays literature
Are You an N.K. Jemisin Fan Yet?
In my version of a perfect world, there are two kinds of fiction readers: Those who have already read (and loved) multi-award-winning author N.K Jemisin 's work and those who will. Soon. If you find yourself in neither category (!),…
recommendations fiction
The 2019 Pulitzer Prize Winners Are...
The winners of the 2019 Pulitzer Prizes were announced at Columbia University in New York City on Monday, April 15. The Pulitzers recognize achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition,…
awards music fiction nonfiction newspapers
The Mystery of Missing Persons
Many things go missing – overdue books, keys, socks in the dryer – but none of those can compare with the gravity of when a person simply disappears. Approximately 90,000 people are missing at this very moment in the United…
history fiction nonfiction law literature
Book Donation to Recognize and Celebrate Polish Literature
The Free Library was fortunate to recently receive a donation of books by Polish authors that were translated into English, along with books in Polish for both adults and children. The books were donated by the Polish Book Institute , a…
Children's books Poetry history fiction literature
The 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist Announced
The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the UK’s most prestigious annual book award celebrating & honoring women’s fiction. Founded in 1996, the Prize was set up to celebrate originality, accessibility, and excellence in…
awards fiction Women's History Month
Immersive Multimedia Experience Breathes New Life into the Frankenstein Mythos
Even if you’ve never read Mary Shelley ’s groundbreaking novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus , you’ve certainly heard of the stiched-together monster the teenage mother invented during a drizzly 1816 summer…
Events at the Library history literature
Not a Black Friday Shopper? We’ve Got You Covered!
If the idea of heading out into the world at some ungodly hour to fight crowds and spend money makes you queasy, and you’re choosing to celebrate today as Buy Nothing Day rather than Black Friday, fear not! The Free Library has…
databases ebooks Holidays languages reading digital media digital learning
Break Out Your Garlic Necklaces and Wooden Stakes for Bram Stoker's Bday!
by Michelle Sheffer Today marks Irish writer Bram Stoker ’s 171st birthday. Author of Dracula —the inspiration for many a nightmare and pop-culture meme over the past two centuries—Stoker compiled and wrote his iconic…
Rosenbach author birthdays literature
Shakespeare In the World Lecture Series
The Fool in King Lear advised "Speak less than thou knowest" – but it's good the speakers at this year’s Shakespeare in the World lecture series aren’t following his advice. If you’re …
Shakespeare lecture series literature
Join The Rosenbach for a Marathon Reading of Moby-Dick!
If you’ve ever joined our friends at The Rosenbach for Bloomsday , you know how fun (and slightly surreal) it can be to hear a book read aloud over an extended period of time. Well, the next Bloomsday may be several months off…
Rosenbach literature
An American Author in Paris
"For two centuries," writes The New Yorker essayist Adam Gopnik in the preface of his 2004 collection Americans in Paris: A Literary Anthology , "Paris has been attached for Americans to an idea of happiness, of good…
podcasts recommendations nonfiction literary history literature
