AMC released an unusual trailer for the final episodes of Breaking Bad, as star Bryan Cranston read “Ozymandias” by the great poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley.

We’ve embedded the video above–what do you think? If you want to explore more Shelley poetry and essays before the final episodes begin this weekend, we’ve collected a long list of free books by the author. Open Culture has more about the poem:

It seems perfectly in character, then, that the show’s producers would tease the final season with the ominous and dusty clip above, with Cranston reading Percy Bysshe Shelley’s sonnet “Ozymandias,” a poem about the hubris of another desert tyrant—well-known for his megalomaniacal folly—Ramesses II (also known by a transliteration of his throne name, Ozymandias).

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What book did you read while coping with a breakup? During one particularly lonely breakup years ago, I read Herman Melville‘s Moby Dick in an unhinged reading marathon.

No one will ever include this book on a list of breakup books, but it is the perfect thing to read with a broken heart. The book will fill your lonesome hours with a compelling story, make you forget about love and relationships, and, most importantly, drag you into an obsessive, turbulent and self-destructive universe that mirrors your own state of mind.

Follow this link to download a free copy of Moby Dick to save for your next breakup.

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One reader created a massive chart collecting and comparing the top 100 books mentioned across eleven different top 100 lists. Joseph Heller, Vladimir Nabokov and  F. Scott Fitzgerald led the rankings, appearing on ten out of the eleven lists.

You can explore the complete list at the Scribd link embedded below (along with how many times the individual books appeared on the eleven different lists). Below, we’ve also linked to free samples of the top ten books on this list. Check it out:

This post linked to 10+ “Top 100″ book lists from sources such as TIME magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Modern Library, etc. They were all in such different formats, and such different ways of being presented that I wanted to amalgamate all of these into one master “list” in order to compare them (thirteen lists in total since I also added in the first 100 of the Reddit’s 200 favorite books). I have since thrown this into a pdf file on Scribd if anyone is interested. My next step was to compare each of these and see what books are most recommended in top lists … I made one giant list that combined 11 “Top 100″ Book Lists.

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The Man Booker Longlist has been revealed for 2013. While a number of the titles will be released later this year, we’ve collected free samples of many of the books on the list.

The shortlist will be revealed on September 10th and the winner announced on October 15th.

If you want more free book samples, we made similar literary mixtapes linking to free samples of the most overlooked books of the year, the ALA Youth Media Award winners, the 2012 Man Booker Longlist, the Best Horror Novels of the Year, the LA Times Book Prize nominees, and the Nebula Award nominees.

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Ever wish you could read like Bill Gates? Follow the links below to read free samples of his summer reading list.

The entrepreneur invited his fans to read along with him on the beach. His reading list opened with The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? by Jared Diamond, and you can post your review on his site:

It’s crazy that I haven’t read this one yet. Diamond’s best-known book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, had a profound effect on the way I think about history and why certain societies advance faster than others. In this new book, he draws on his personal experiences with cultures in the Pacific Islands to talk about what traditional societies can teach us about child rearing, dispute resolution, and other areas. Even if I disagree with some of what he says, I know it will be interesting and well worth the read. In fact, I’d like to invite you to read it along with me. I’ll be posting my review of The World Until Yesterday in about two weeks. If you’re interested, you can read it at the same time and post your comments.

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“What book did you read that you felt genuinely made you smarter?,” one Reddit reader asked. Readers responded with a huge list of books.

Below, we’ve linked to free samples of the most popular books on that list (with some free eBooks as well).

Add your favorites in the comments section, we’d love to expand the list some more…

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PEN has released the shortlists for the 2013 PEN Literary Awards, revealing the nominees for ten different prizes this year.

Below, we’ve collected free samples of all the nominated books, a great way to explore the best books of the past year.

If you want more free book samples, we made similar literary mixtapes linking to free samples of the most overlooked books of the year, the ALA Youth Media Award winners, the 2012 Man Booker Longlist, the Best Horror Novels of the Year, the LA Times Book Prize nominees, and the Nebula Award nominees.

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What books scared you as a kid?

Video blogger Vsauce created a great video called “Why Are Things Creepy?,” exploring the nuances and science of scariness (video embedded above). Along the way, he cites the great Stephen King and shares a few scary books.

Below, I collected free samples of books that scared me as a kid. Add your suggestions in the comments section–we’ll keep building our list.

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With F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s The Great Gatsby on top of bestseller charts and in movie theaters this week, one reader wondered: What contemporary books will we remember in 100 years?

Reddit readers from around the globe offered suggestions about the books that they think will be read for another century. Below, we’ve created one of our literary mixtapes–linking to free samples of the suggested books.

What books would you add to this sprawling list? If you want to know why we still remember The Great Gatsby, read Haruki Murakami’s inspiring essay about the book.

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The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators has released the winners of the Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards, collecting the best kid’s books from around the globe.

Below, we’ve linked to free samples of all the winners. Here’s more about the awards:

The Crystal Kite Awards are given by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators to recognize great books from the seventy SCBWI regions around the world. Along with the SCBWI Golden Kite Awards, the Crystal Kite Awards are chosen by other children’s book writers and illustrators, making them the only peer-given awards in publishing for young readers.

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