Find Books by Topic
Search for books on any subject to discover the best titles for learning, research, or leisure reading.
Book Search
Millions of books and free ebooks
Search a massive catalog of books by title, author, subject, or ISBN. Get cover images, descriptions, and publication details. Browse trending titles, explore author bios, and read full text from 60,000+ free public domain ebooks.
Search Books
Search for books by any query including title, author, or topic. Returns matching books with cover images, authors, publication year, and page counts.
Returns: List of matching books with title, authors, cover image URLs, publication year, page count, subjects, and work keys for detailed lookup
Parameters
query *stringSearch query — can be a book title, author name, topic, or any combination
limitnumberMaximum number of results to return (1-50, default 10)
pagenumberPage number for paginated results (default 1)
sortstringSort order for results — "title" (alphabetical), "editions" (most editions), "old" (oldest first), "new" (newest first)
languagestringFilter by language using a 3-letter ISO 639-2 code (e.g. "eng", "fra", "spa", "deu")
Example
Search for books about machine learning
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"tool": "book-search",
"skill": "search_books",
"input": {
"query": "machine learning"
}
}' \
https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/callGet Book Details
Get full details for a specific book by its Open Library work key. Returns the complete description, subjects, cover images, publication date, and related links.
Returns: Complete book details including description, subjects, subject places and times, cover image URLs, first publish date, and related links
Parameters
work_key *stringOpen Library work key (e.g. "OL45804W") — obtained from search_books results
Example
Get details for "The Lord of the Rings"
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"tool": "book-search",
"skill": "get_book_details",
"input": {
"work_key": "OL27448W"
}
}' \
https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/callLookup ISBN
Look up a book by its ISBN (10 or 13 digit). Returns the specific edition details including title, publisher, page count, publish date, and cover image.
Returns: Edition details including title, publishers, publish date, page count, cover images, physical format, and work key for further lookup
Parameters
isbn *stringISBN-10 or ISBN-13 of the book (hyphens are stripped automatically)
Example
Look up a book by ISBN-13
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"tool": "book-search",
"skill": "lookup_isbn",
"input": {
"isbn": "9780261103573"
}
}' \
https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/callSearch by Author
Search for books by a specific author name. Returns all matching books by that author with cover images, publication years, and subjects.
Returns: List of books by the specified author with titles, cover image URLs, publication years, page counts, subjects, and work keys
Parameters
author *stringAuthor name to search for (e.g. "J.R.R. Tolkien", "Stephen King")
limitnumberMaximum number of results to return (1-50, default 10)
Example
Find books by J.R.R. Tolkien
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"tool": "book-search",
"skill": "search_by_author",
"input": {
"author": "J.R.R. Tolkien"
}
}' \
https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/callSearch by Subject
Find books in a specific subject or topic area. Uses the Open Library subject catalog to return curated book lists for categories like fiction, science, history, and more.
Returns: List of books in the specified subject with titles, authors, cover image URLs, publication years, and edition counts
Parameters
subject *stringSubject or topic to browse (e.g. "science fiction", "biography", "artificial intelligence")
limitnumberMaximum number of results to return (1-50, default 10)
Example
Browse science fiction books
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"tool": "book-search",
"skill": "search_by_subject",
"input": {
"subject": "science fiction"
}
}' \
https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/callGet Author Details
Get detailed information about an author by their Open Library author key. Returns biography, birth and death dates, photo, and their top works with publication details.
Returns: Author details including name, biography, birth/death dates, photo URLs, total works count, and top works with titles and publication dates
Parameters
author_key *stringOpen Library author key (e.g. "OL34184A") — found in search results or author URLs
Example
Get details for J.R.R. Tolkien
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"tool": "book-search",
"skill": "get_author_details",
"input": {
"author_key": "OL26320A"
}
}' \
https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/callTrending Books
Discover trending and popular books on Open Library. Returns books that are currently being read, wishlisted, or talked about, with daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly trends.
Returns: List of trending books with titles, authors, cover image URLs, publication years, edition counts, and reading activity stats (already read, want to read, currently reading)
Parameters
periodstringTrending period — how far back to look for trending activity (default "daily")
Example
Get today's trending books
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"tool": "book-search",
"skill": "trending_books",
"input": {}
}' \
https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/callSearch Free Ebooks
Search over 60,000 public domain books from Project Gutenberg. Find free ebooks by title, author, or topic with download links in multiple formats including plain text, HTML, and EPUB.
Returns: List of matching free ebooks with titles, authors, subjects, download counts, and download links in HTML, plain text, EPUB, Kindle, and cover image formats
Parameters
query *stringSearch query — can be a book title, author name, or keyword
languagestringFilter by language using ISO 639-1 code (e.g. "en", "fr", "de")
topicstringFilter by topic or bookshelf category (e.g. "children", "history")
sortstringSort order — "popular" (most downloaded), "ascending" (A-Z), "descending" (Z-A)
limitnumberMaximum number of results to return (1-32, default 10)
Example
Search for Shakespeare works
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"tool": "book-search",
"skill": "search_free_ebooks",
"input": {
"query": "shakespeare"
}
}' \
https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/callRead Ebook
Fetch the actual text content of a free ebook from Project Gutenberg by its book ID. Use this to read, summarize, analyze, or quote from public domain books.
Returns: The book text content with title, authors, format, character count, truncation status, and a URL to the full text for reading the complete work
Parameters
book_id *numberProject Gutenberg book ID — obtained from search_free_ebooks results
formatstringText format to fetch — "plain_text" for raw text or "html" for formatted HTML
max_lengthnumberMaximum number of characters to return (default 5000, max 50000). Longer books are truncated with a link to the full text.
Example
Read the beginning of Frankenstein
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"tool": "book-search",
"skill": "read_ebook",
"input": {
"book_id": 84
}
}' \
https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/callQuick Start
MCP (Claude Code)
claude mcp add --transport stdio \
--env TOOLROUTER_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY \
toolrouter -- npx -y toolrouter-mcpREST API
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{"tool":"book-search","skill":"search_books","input":{}}' \
https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/callUse Cases
Research Business Books
Find and evaluate business, leadership, and management books for professional development and organizational learning.
Search Papers by Topic
Find relevant academic papers on any research topic across millions of scholarly publications.
Geocode Addresses to Coordinates
Convert street addresses into precise latitude and longitude coordinates for mapping and spatial analysis.
Workflows
Book Club Organizer
Find books, research discussion topics, and create promotional graphics for your reading group.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I search books by title, author, subject, or ISBN?
Yes. `search_books` handles broad queries, `search_by_author` and `search_by_subject` browse by category, and `lookup_isbn` is best when you already know the exact edition.
How do I get full book details after a search?
Use `get_book_details` with the Open Library work key from search results. It returns the description, subjects, cover images, publication date, and related links.
Can I read free public domain ebooks here?
Yes. `search_free_ebooks` finds Project Gutenberg titles, and `read_ebook` fetches the actual text so you can read, summarize, or quote from it.
Is there a way to browse popular or author-specific books?
Yes. `trending_books` shows popular titles by period, and `get_author_details` gives author bios plus top works with publication details.