Hiatus

Toll Free Books is going on hiatus for an undetermined length of time. Much as I enjoy sharing my favorite discoveries from the public domain, putting together a number of posts for each month has taken away from the time required for my regular work as an author, and it's become a little bit stressful. So I've decided to take a break, at least for a few months.

I would like to start Toll Free Books up again at some point if possible, but I don't know yet when that time will be. In the meantime, be sure and browse the nearly one hundred posts already included in the site index!

The Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories

Amazon | Project Gutenberg
From black cats to baseball, detectives to dance contests—all are found in this collection of short stories packed with Wodehouse's trademark hilarity and a dash of romance and heart.

Kathleen by Christopher Morley

Amazon | Project Gutenberg
In this delightfully funny novella, a group of high-spirited Oxford students collaborate on a serial story based off a stray letter found by one of them, signed "Kathleen." When they decide to track down the real Kathleen and her family—and make it a competition among themselves to do so—hilarity ensues!

Jimsy, the Christmas Kid by Leona Dalrymple

Amazon | Project Gutenberg

"Say," he said kindly, "don't you worry none about that there Christmas tree an' no holly. We'll have a thump-walloper of a day, anyhow!"

It is conceivable that Abner Sawyer's experience with thump-wallopers had been limited.

A stiffly-starched, elderly bank president agrees to host an orphan boy from the city for Christmas—and finds himself more and more bewildered at the boy's cheerfulness and liking for everyone and everything, and at the changes he effects on the household and on the banker himself.

Beasley's Christmas Party by Booth Tarkington

Amazon | Project Gutenberg
When a quiet, well-respected politician suddenly begins behaving very strangely, his political opponents believe they've found a perfect way to discredit him—but what they discover when they spy on his Christmas Eve party takes them by surprise!

My review of this book.

The Romance of a Christmas Card by Kate Douglas Wiggin

Amazon | Project Gutenberg
In this lovely holiday novella, Christmas cards illustrated by a minister's warm-hearted wife find their way into the right hands to restore the happiness of two troubled families.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Amazon | Project Gutenberg

"Bah!" said Scrooge. "Humbug!"

Perhaps the most beloved Christmas novel ever, Dickens' classic tale of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and his visitation by the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future is a must-read for the holiday season.

Wild Card Wednesday: Two Sweet Shorts

Today, a special feature: two obscure but delightful short stories by American authors, discovered in the public-domain treasure trove of the Internet Archive. Ebooks from this site are converted from scans and are frequently filled with typos, but still readable if you make want to make the effort! However, the stories can also be read online, similarly to Google Books.



Twenty-Three and a Half Hours' Leave by Mary Roberts Rinehart
In this delightfully funny story set during World War I, a young sergeant makes a rash bet that he will have breakfast with the general, plunging himself and his outfit into a series of comic mishaps. (There is also a 99-cent edition on Amazon that looks to be well-formatted.)



The Spring Concert by Booth Tarkington
Springtime, a band concert, and a bit of matchmaking, all wrapped in Tarkington's lovely nostalgic descriptions of times gone by.