Sound advice: Great e-books are just a free app away

Q Do you have any advice regarding e-book readers?

A I have not tried them, but the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook have received strong reviews across the board. Of course, Apple's iPad makes a great e-book reader, too.

You don't have to have a dedicated e-reader to enjoy e-books. What's more, you don't even have to spend money to get top-quality reading material from some of the finest writers the world has ever seen. I strongly suggest that readers interested in trying e-reading visit Kobo (www.kobobooks.com), where you will find free, high-quality e-reader applications for your electronic device as well as tons of free books to put on it.

Kobo is a joint venture of several large booksellers from around the world. Kobo offers free e-reader apps that work on iPhone; BlackBerry, Android and Palm Pre smart phones; iPad and Windows and Mac computers. An application for Samsung's Galaxy tablet is in the works. Kobo also offers a Kobo-branded wireless e-reader for $149.

I installed the Kobo e-reader on my Droid by searching under Kobo at the Android market, and downloaded Kobo for my iPad through iTunes. The Kobo interface is powerful, user-friendly and attractive. The iPad application includes the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary and has the ability to highlight text and create notes in the margins.

Books as well as newspapers and magazines are available for sale on the Kobo website. What I find so appealing about Kobo and what makes it such a great way to try e-reading is all the free books available -- 1.8 million, according to iTunes.

I didn't verify that number, but there were lots of classics such as "Dracula," "Don Quixote," Sun Tzu's "The Art of War," compilations of fairy tales from Ireland and Japan, poetry from Walt Whitman and T.S. Eliot, as well as titles on science, world religions and humor. Buying these books at used-book stores, even at half-price or less, seems silly when I can download and read them for free without having the physical clutter to haul around, store and eventually clear out when I am done with it.

I wasn't expecting much out of the e-reader for my Droid phone but was pleasantly surprised. The interface is nearly identical to the iPad application, operation is fast and sure, and the text is easy to read. You do have to turn the pages more often because the screen is small, but it is a small price to pay for the ability to carry lots of books with you wherever you go.