A modern commonplace book · 1,150 books and counting

Big books, distilled❦

The world's best non-fiction, re-told in our own words — a handful of key ideas per book, minutes per idea. Read on the bus, keep what sticks, and buy the books that earn your shelf.

Start reading — it's free Browse the shelf

1,150 books · 29 categories · minutes per idea · progress that follows you

01
Pick a book
A shelf of 1150 classics and modern essentials — history, science, philosophy, psychology — every one re-told in our own words, never the author's text.
02
Read it in minutes
Each book becomes 8–10 key ideas, one idea per screen, story-style. Swipe through an idea over coffee; finish a book on a commute.
03
Keep what sticks
Your progress follows you across devices. Save books to your library, finish at your own pace — and when a book deserves more, we point you to the real thing.

Fresh on the shelf

Browse all 1150 books →

You're Not ListeningKate Murphy9 ideas · 9 min You Just Don't UnderstandDeborah Tannen7 ideas · 7 min You Are a BadassJen Sincero9 ideas · 9 min Writing Down the BonesNatalie Goldberg8 ideas · 8 min Why Don't Students Like School?Daniel T. Willingham12 ideas · 12 min What Color Is Your Parachute?Richard N. Bolles7 ideas · 7 min Verbal JudoGeorge J. Thompson7 ideas · 7 min Venture DealsBrad Feld & Jason Mendelson9 ideas · 9 min

Sparks✦ the anti-reel

Scroll Sparks →

Short, high-value ideas from the community — one per screen, every one reviewed by an editor before it's published. Worth the scroll. No autoplay, no guilt.

Psychology

You are not the voice in your head

The observation that cracks rumination open: thoughts arrive; you don't send them.

Wisdomly Editors · 1 min Productivity

Eat the frog is bad advice for makers

The most-quoted productivity rule quietly assumes you're a manager. Most creative work disagrees.

Wisdomly Editors · 1 min Art

Hokusai's 30,000 attempts

The Great Wave was made by a 70-year-old who considered everything before age 50 a warm-up.

Wisdomly Editors · 1 min

Our own words, always

Wisdomly is not a shortcut past reading — it's a map of what to read next. We re-express each book's ideas and arguments in our own words, never the author's text, and every book page nudges you toward the real thing. The authors did the work; we're the margin notes.