Ever since I got my first PDA, I have been a big fan of eBooks.  I apparently have some kind of deep-seated fear about being stuck somewhere and bored to tears, and having a small library in my pocket goes a long way towards making me feel prepared for just about anything.

So, when I was planning my switch over to the iPhone, one of the first things I was concerned about was the availability of a good eBook reader.  I have tons of books in tons of different formats, and it was important to me that I would be able to read them on the iPhone without having to jump through a lot of hoops.

The app that caught my eye after the release of the app store was Stanza.  It promised support for almost every kind of eBook file one could imagine (txt, html, doc, lit, pdf, etc.) and retails for the low, low price of free.  It was the first app that I downloaded in anticipation of purchasing my iPhone…I wanted it ready to rock and roll when I brought my shiny new baby home!

Stanza has two components–the iPhone app, which lets you read books as well as download them OTA from various sources, and the desktop app, which lets you read books on your computer as well as share them over Wi-Fi for download to Stanza on the iPhone.  Right now the desktop app is in Beta and also free.

From the get-go, Stanza was great.  It reminded me a lot of my favorite eBook reader on the Windows Mobile platform, uBook.  I loaded the iPhone up with some books and have used it to read on an almost daily basis since getting my iPhone back in August.  It allows you to fully customize your reading experience with font size, colors, and more.  I prefer my reader to have a black background with white text, which is less hard on my eyes.

Recent updates to Stanza have been amazing.  Books now have cover art associated with them–if your book doesn’t have cover art, all you have to do is tap a few buttons and Stanza loads cover art for you directly from the Internet.  You can even choose from different covers if it brings up a selection.  The covers appear as small thumbnails next to the titles when the phone is in portrait mode, and in landscape mode you can browse your library in a Cover Flow-esque setup.

You can also now purchase and read anything from the eReader/Fictionwise catalog directly from Stanza.  I had some old books purchased from eReader that I hadn’t read, and I used Stanza to download them and put them into my book library.  This is a huge boon for me because I don’t like having multiple applications that serve the same function.  Now I don’t need eReader!  This also means that I’m no longer jealous of the Kindle owners who can buy a book from just about anywhere–now, so can I!

Random House also offered a selection of free eBooks this week, again directly accessed through Stanza on the iPhone.  I must confess, they all looked so good I downloaded every single one!  Who doesn’t love free?

Once Stanza is out of Beta, it will reportedly cost somewhere in the vicinity of $15 (I assume for the desktop application).  I personally can’t wait to give Lexcycle some of my hard earned cash, because they deserve it for writing such fantastic software.  Stanza may very well be my favorite iPhone app…it has a coveted spot on the front page!

For more information on Stanza, please visit http://www.lexcycle.com.