II Am Well Read

A better way into great books

Great books. Less slog.
More of the good stuff.

We keep the lines worth lingering over and pick up the pace through the parts in between. Start with our six-minute Frankenstein preview.

Friends & Family PreviewTake Chapter IV for a spin

Your reading

Pick up the thread

Well-Read EditionFrankensteinMary Shelley
Well-Read · 325 wpm

Chapter IV

The principle of life

Victor is chasing the secret of life. By morning, the question has already started taking over.

0% complete6 min left in this preview
Begin preview Book details

30 × 30 × 30

The Well-Read 30

Thirty books worth knowing. One month to meet them. Frankenstein Chapter IV is ready now; The Metamorphosis and Moby-Dick are in production; the other 27 are on the list.

30 titlesBy 3030 days
  1. 01The OdysseyIAWR

    The Odyssey

    Homer
    FictionOn the list
  2. 02The SymposiumIAWR

    The Symposium

    Plato
    PhilosophyOn the list
  3. 03MeditationsIAWR

    Meditations

    Marcus Aurelius
    PhilosophyOn the list
  4. 04The Art of WarIAWR

    The Art of War

    Sun Tzu
    PhilosophyOn the list
  5. 05The PrinceIAWR

    The Prince

    Niccolò Machiavelli
    Politics & societyOn the list
  6. 06EssaysIAWR

    Essays

    Michel de Montaigne
    EssaysOn the list
  7. 07The Communist ManifestoIAWR

    The Communist Manifesto

    Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
    Politics & societyOn the list
  8. 08On LibertyIAWR

    On Liberty

    John Stuart Mill
    Politics & societyOn the list
  9. 09Civil DisobedienceIAWR

    Civil Disobedience

    Henry David Thoreau
    Politics & societyOn the list
  10. 10The Souls of Black FolkIAWR

    The Souls of Black Folk

    W. E. B. Du Bois
    Politics & societyOn the list
  11. 11A Room of One's OwnIAWR

    A Room of One's Own

    Virginia Woolf
    EssaysOn the list
  12. 12The Federalist PapersIAWR

    The Federalist Papers

    Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
    Politics & societyOn the list
  13. 13On the Origin of SpeciesIAWR

    On the Origin of Species

    Charles Darwin
    Science & psychologyOn the list
  14. 14Relativity: The Special and General TheoryIAWR

    Relativity: The Special and General Theory

    Albert Einstein
    Science & psychologyOn the list
  15. 15The Interpretation of DreamsIAWR

    The Interpretation of Dreams

    Sigmund Freud
    Science & psychologyOn the list
  16. 16Civilization and Its DiscontentsIAWR

    Civilization and Its Discontents

    Sigmund Freud
    Science & psychologyOn the list
  17. 17The Varieties of Religious ExperienceIAWR

    The Varieties of Religious Experience

    William James
    Science & psychologyOn the list
  18. 18The CrowdIAWR

    The Crowd

    Gustave Le Bon
    Science & psychologyOn the list
  19. 19FrankensteinIAWR

    Frankenstein

    Mary Shelley
    FictionRead now · Chapter IV
  20. 20Pride and PrejudiceIAWR

    Pride and Prejudice

    Jane Austen
    FictionOn the list
  21. 21Moby-DickIAWR

    Moby-Dick

    Herman Melville
    FictionIn production
  22. 22Madame BovaryIAWR

    Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert
    FictionOn the list
  23. 23Notes from UndergroundIAWR

    Notes from Underground

    Fyodor Dostoevsky
    FictionOn the list
  24. 24The Picture of Dorian GrayIAWR

    The Picture of Dorian Gray

    Oscar Wilde
    FictionOn the list
  25. 25Heart of DarknessIAWR

    Heart of Darkness

    Joseph Conrad
    FictionOn the list
  26. 26DublinersIAWR

    Dubliners

    James Joyce
    FictionOn the list
  27. 27The MetamorphosisIAWR

    The Metamorphosis

    Franz Kafka
    FictionIn production
  28. 28Mrs DallowayIAWR

    Mrs Dalloway

    Virginia Woolf
    FictionOn the list
  29. 29PassingIAWR

    Passing

    Nella Larsen
    FictionOn the list
  30. 30As I Lay DyingIAWR

    As I Lay Dying

    William Faulkner
    FictionOn the list

The Well-Read promise

We skip the slog, not the good stuff.

Every shortcut still points back to the book. The famous lines stay exactly as written, and the original is always one tap away.

See how an edition works