Some books never go out of style. We've been reading -- and enjoying -- Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austen, and other classics of popular fiction for decades. What makes these books so good? And why do we enjoy our romances, science fiction, mysteries, and westerns so much? What's behind the appeal of popular fiction?

The following books are completely free to read in their entirety from June 14, 2002, through June 21, 2002, with a free trial account.

Classics of Popular Fiction
  The Return of Sherlock Holmes
       by Arthur Conan Doyle
  Pride and Prejudice
       by Jane Austen
  Tarzan of the Apes
       by Edgar Rice Burroughs
  The War of the Worlds
       by H.G. Wells

The Appeal of Popular Fiction
  Dangerous Men & Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance
       edited by Jayne Ann Krentz
  Classic Cult Fiction: A Companion to Popular Cult Literature
       by Thomas Reed Whissen
  Aliens: The Anthropology of Science Fiction
       edited by George E. Slusser & Eric S. Rabkin

Toni Morrison

The Right to Die and Euthanasia

Middle East Conflict

Mothers and Motherhood

Anti-Vietnam War Protest and the 1960s

Stress

Baseball and the Business of Sports

Presidents in Times of War

The Olympics and Sports

National Freedom Day

"I have a dream..."

The Lord of the Rings and J.R.R. Tolkien

It's Cramming Season!

Witchcraft and Harry Potter

Broadcast News

Veterans Day

Religion of the Middle East

Psychological Effects of Terrorism

Terrorism on Sept. 11, 2001

Planet of the Apes

Labor Day

The Berlin Wall