The iPhone doesn’t have a real e-Book reader (at least none that don’t require jailbreaking). Reading scanned images isn’t much fun either.

In the meantime, there’s an easy built-in way to get there — good old PDF attachments:

• Download an E-book as a PDF file. Multiple small chapters work best. There are a few free classics available at Planet PDF. Here’s one I’m currently reading: The Future of Reputation.
• Email each chapter as an attachment to an email account you can check on your iPhone. A .Mac address or anything with IMAP support works best.
• When the chapter shows up, click on the download button.
• Enjoy.

The easiest way to read is in landscape mode (tilted sideways) after adjusting the zoom so it fills the screen. You page by flicking up.

The nice thing is that fonts, images, and most page-formatting is retained and scale up very nicely. I actually like being able to read a book using the printed font instead of a fake e-book smoothed one.

The one hassle is bookmarking where you left off so you can return to it. But then again, balance that against the convenience of being able to read a book on a nice screen when you’re stuck somewhere.