Free Summary of a Book

Using Summaries as a Study Guide

Many students use a free summary of a book as a valuable study guide for serious literature. For example:

• If you’re having trouble understanding the plot of the book, a summary can help you keep track of important points.
• Summaries often provide a look at literary themes and other issues you may not have considered on your own.
• The study questions provided in many summaries may be a great starting point for your research paper or book club discussion.

However, using a free summary of a book is not without its pitfalls. For example:

• Relying heavily on a free summary may reduce your motivation to read the book.
• The interpretation of literature is highly subjective, so a summary only provides one possible outlook on the topic.
• It can be difficult to determine the qualifications of the person who prepared the summary.

Finding a Free Summary of a Book Online

If you’re looking for free book summaries, turn to SparkNotes, Pink Monkey, and Free Book Notes for study guides on a variety of titles.

SparkNotes

SparkNotes offers free online study guides for people in search of help understanding classic texts such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain or The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Some popular newer titles, such as Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd are also available.

SparkNotes free study guides offer a plot overview, character analysis, theme interpretation, and a comprehensive summary broken down by chapter. The guides also include a list of questions intended to be used as the basis of a research paper or book club discussion.

SparkNotes study guides are prepared by college graduates with extensive literature experience. The company is a subsidiary of the Barnes & Noble publishing group, so writers are subjected to an intensive screening and training process that ensures they understand how to prepare a high quality study guide.

Pink Monkey

Pink Monkey is an educational resource for junior high, high school, and college students, as well as homeschool families in search of literature instructional tools. The site’s design can be a bit tricky to navigate, but you’ll find summaries of everything from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky to Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. Unfortunately, only selected book summaries are available for free — others must be purchased from the site’s online store.

Pink Monkey’s study guides are fairly typical in that they offer a detailed summary by chapter, as well as character descriptions and theme analysis. A limited amount of discussion questions are also provided for selected titles.

According to the Pink Monkey website, study guides are written and edited by selected college professors from around the United States.

Free Book Notes

The aptly named Free Book Notes website contains over 2,500 literature study guides covering everything from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens to East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

To find a study guide on the Free Book Notes website, simply click on the first letter of the book’s title and scroll through the alphabetical listing. Each page takes you to a selection of summaries from several different providers, so you can choose the level of detail that best fits your needs.

Although Free Book Notes offers a fairly impressive selection of literature study guides, it’s best to be cautious when using material from this website. Since the site links to resources from around the web, it’s not always easily apparent who originally wrote the content. In addition, some of the links will also take you to services that charge a fee for their study guides.

Book summaries provide a baseline of necessary points for reports. But, don't hesitate to look for the full book at your local library or discount store. The summary may just peak your interest in reading the book from cover-to-cover.