Serial Reading App

I just heard about this on the Currently Reading Podcast. It’s called Serial Reading (check the App Store) and contains 550 books, all classics in the public domain. The idea is that you can have a “bite-sized” amount of text (e.g., 8 or 9 pages) delivered to you once a day at a specified time. It’s a manageable way to read some of those classics you always meant to without taking time away from your regular reading schedule.

For my first try, I’ve set the delivery for 5:00 AM and, for my first book, chose The Castle of Otranto. I’ve seen the real Castle of Otranto (built in 1480) in Otranto, Puglia in southern Italy and was reminded that I’ve probably never read the Horace Walpole story. However, having read the first installment, it sounds a little bit familiar. I might have read about it, or might have actually read it in some long-ago English class. Incidentally, Walpole’s story makes use of the name but apparently never set foot in Italy.