Read .pdf/.txt files with ease?

I've already read most of the threads discussing reading .pdf files and such on the impression, yet I'm still having trouble grasping which method is easiest... I downloaded "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown (around 1,000 kb I believe), and lo and behold it sort of froze, not the phone, but the book itself; I couldn't even read the first page, even after I chose the "first page" option on the tab menu...any simple solutions? Without conversions?