Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling is the just-released report from the commission appointed by President Obama and -- who'd have guessed -- it actually reads more like a best-seller than the work of a committee. The New York Times called it "riveting and chilling," while Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune blogged that " it's enough of a page-turner that you almost wonder whether the Commission hired Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm) as a ghostwriter."

So how can you actually get a copy?

For $39, you can order a printed version (paperback) from either the Government Printing Office or Amazon.com. Probably won't be signed by the authors, though.

For $10, Amazon.com will sell you a black-and-white Kindle edition, but you'll miss some fantastic photos and graphics.

Or, for free, you can download the 17MB pdf from the Commission's website and try to read all 350+ pages on your computer.

But so far, the best and easiest way we've found to read the report for free, is to use an iPad and Apple's free iBooks app. Here's how we did it.

Anyone else have ideas for easy ways to read Deep Water without spending $39 or $10? Let us know in the comments.

--Jim Bradbury