title_body: What is the most readable font for an ebook? Occasionally when I download works from Smashwords there are several different fonts used in one work (seen in independent works that have not been professionally edited).  This mix match of fonts styles can make reading kind of bumpy, but it got me thinking, if the transition is difficult, is it because one of the fonts is less readable then another?
  
  Is there any indication that any font style is more readable than another? If so does it very by device/screen type? Or is it just a matter of familiarity?
upvoted_answer: Generally speaking serif fonts are considered easier to read in long bodies of text, even if there are no definitive studies about why they should be preferred over sans-serif fonts.  
  
  
  
  Usually it is considered that serifs help the eye to go from a letter to another, creating something like a natural flow between words, but I personally think that this is a somewhat personal preference. In printed paper (books, newspapers, and so on) I have always seen serif fonts, while for web content (blog posts, forums, articles) sans serif seem to have the largest share.
  Despite this, ebooks seem to largely follow the standards of printed paper, not of digital content: maybe because of something like a tradition, maybe because eink devices try to offer a look and feel resembling printed paper.
  
  Anyway, any ereading device has at least some basic font customizing options, so in the end it is all in the hand of the single end users and their personal preferences.