That's right, folks, you can now download public domain books for free from Google's book search.
As the nice people at Dover Thrift Editions wring their hands, I have to wonder (again): Could I really ever read a book on a PDA? (Because there's no *way* I would ever actually print out an entire book on 8.5×11" paper!)
I caught my cousin reading a book on a PDA once, and she used to hold serious competitions with me over who brought a bigger book on family vacations. But that was a few years ago and I don't think I've seen her without a dead tree edition since. I guess it couldn't hurt to give it a shot if I can get my act together with my hand-me-down PDA.
I tried to read a downloadable book last year. It was Dostoevsky's The Idiot, which I have tried to read in the past. I didn't have any better luck after switching to e-book than I had had in the past. Then again, the Project Gutenberg version had an even worse translation than I had read before.