NAME: Serial Reader — Classic Books in Daily Bits
WHAT: Read a library of classics in bite-size pieces.
COMPATIBLE WITH: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with iOS 8.0 or later
HOW MUCH: Free (premium upgrade $2.99)
WHAT’S GOOD: If you’ve never found the time to read classic literature such as “Pride and Prejudice,” “Les Misérables” or “War and Peace” — or just found it too daunting — this is the app for you. Select a book — or books (there are more than 150 and new ones are added weekly) — and you will receive a daily snippet of it to digest. Installments take less than 20 minutes to read and vary in size depending on the book and where a logical break would occur. Books can be read vertically or horizontally on your device. You can adjust font type and size, column width and even the color of the type and screen background. You also can select what time segments arrive each day. As you scroll through the pages, the app tracks the percentage of the section you’ve completed. If you just can’t wait for the next chapter, you can purchase the premium edition which allows you to read ahead.
WHAT’S NOT: We wish the app was a bit more intuitive. Trying to return to the home screen was confusing; you must either tap or scroll back through the pages you’ve read, then tap the screen (sometimes repeatedly) until the header appears with an arrow. The prompt to buy premium appears every time you scroll past the last page of an installment.
BOTTOM LINE: Classics can become more comfortable in small chunks.
