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Nintendo’s 100 Classic Books is coming to DS this Sunday, packing a pocketable library of classics for $19.99. Ten additional books will be available via a free WiFi download… which is like another 10% bonus.

The “postage stamp-sized game card” (remember, we’re talking to casualies here) has bookmarking features, font size options and the synopses for each book. If you’re unsure where to start, the software will make suggestions of books you may like, based on a brief questionnaire. Users can rate books they’ve read to form recommendations for others. Plus, you can share demos with other DS users, which I guess amounts to a free chapter? WILL BABY MOWGLI BE OKAY, I MUST KNOW!

The entire list of all 100 is right here. The ten free bonus books available on WiFi are listed here and include “Treasure Island,” “Twelfth Night” and “Round the World in Eighty Days.” Nintendo’s press release is very careful to avoid gamer phrases like “downloadable content.”

I’ve read novels on iPhone, so I’m not at all opposed to the concept. And, aside from getting free ePub books online (which we all know the DS audience is NOT going to do), it seems pretty hard to beat this deal. “A Tale of Two Cities” for twenty cents? Absolutely.

100 Classic Books Turns the Nintendo DS System into a Portable Library of Books

Readers Get 100 Novels at Once – All for Just $19.99

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Have you ever carried 100 books in your pocket? On June 13, people who own any one of the Nintendo DS™ family of systems can buy 100 Classic Books, a compilation of some of the greatest works of classic literature. But the best part is that the entire collection is available at a suggested retail price of just $19.99. And users with broadband Internet access can wirelessly download 10 additional books at no extra charge.

The postage stamp-sized game card includes a variety of books for all different ages, including seven separate works by Charles Dickens. There are novels that people can enjoy on the beach, such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice; adventure and mystery novels that can be devoured during summer travels, such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle or Bram Stoker’s Dracula; and books that kids can read at home, such as The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling or Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

“100 Classic Books transforms your Nintendo DS system into a portable library,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Readers of any age will enjoy exploring the many worlds, characters and adventures created by these icons of literature.”

Readers hold their Nintendo DS systems sideways like a book. To turn the page, they just swipe the touch screen with the stylus or a finger. The settings can even be flipped for left-handed users. A virtual bookmark lets readers return to where they left off. Up to three bookmarks can be used to mark a reader’s place in three different books. Large and small fonts are available. Each book includes a biography of the author and a synopsis of the plot and characters.

People who aren’t sure which book they want to read can answer a series of questions about their preferences, and the software will recommend some books they might like. Once a book is finished, readers can rate it in different categories and upload the results wirelessly to a central database using Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection. Then other readers can see which books have been rated “funniest” or “most exciting.” Readers can also share demos of select books with other Nintendo DS owners who want to sample some literature for themselves.

For more information about 100 Classic Books, visit www.100classicbooks.com.