Witness the optimism that occasionally sets upon me:

Read 12 free e-books in 2011 on an e-reader? From she who does not own any dedicated e-book reader nor any device that renders pleasurable reading experiences?

Bah. Bring it on.

Will I also write reviews? From she who, all her reading life, hesitates to recommend books to others, fearing they would come back to her and tell her what horrible taste she has?

Okay.

This is my e-reader, btw. It’s not a Kindle, or an iPhone.

Meet my mobile phone of 3 years. It has a screen that’s 3 cm x 4 cm (less than 2 inches either way). It can make calls, send SMSes, survive falls, browse Facebook, and yes, allow me to download and read e-books.

Excerpt from Henrik's Ibsen The Dollhouse as seen on my tiny screen of a phone :(

Henrik Ibsen

About 2 years ago, I installed a Java app from BooksInMyPhone on my phone. So far I have managed to read 1.5 e-books on it, the first being “The Dollhouse” by Henrik Ibsen, as shown above, and the second is “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” by Harriet Jacobs, a much longer and depressing read that I can’t quite finish.

Why is taking up this challenge laughable for me? Well, I barely even finish 12 books a year anymore. Also, real books trumps a tiny phone screen any day, except when I am doing a lot of walking, but even when I don’t have a book in my handbag, I reach more willingly for a restaurant menu or my friends’ statuses on Facebook than to fire up “Life of a Slave Girl” on my phone. (Yes, I should just give up on that particular read.)

Wish me luck ๐Ÿ˜€

(Original challenge found via When She Reads. Thanks for sharing, Lisa.)

To keep up with the progress, click here:
Posts tagged 12 e-books in 2011.