Jennifer Egan

Illustration by Kagan McLeod

Ink and Paper (a.k.a. the old-fashioned way)
Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Good Squad is a winner any way you can get it, but the tried-and-true book version (Anchor) doesn't distort the PowerPoint chapter the way some e-readers do.

Illustration by Kagan McLeod

iPad or Nook
Everybody loves Keith Richards's edgy voice, which echoes through his Rolling Stones memoir, Life, but admit it: What we also want is a good look at the spectacular photo inserts. Any e-reader will reproduce them, but even the old black-and-white images look better on a color device.
Mark Twain

Illustration by Kagan McLeod

Kindle
Unless you have a very big tote bag (and Michelle Obama arms), save your strength and read Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 on your Amazon device: 760 pages and $22 as a book, it costs $10 in digital form and increases your load not an ounce. Bonus: It's searchable.
Dorothy Parker

Illustration by Kagan McLeod

Audio Player
If reading the wickedly witty prose of the doyenne of the Algonquin Round Table is great, hearing it is even better. Download The Dorothy Parker Audio Collection to your iPod for nearly six hours of killer quips read by actors including Alfre Woodard and Shirley Booth.