Who reads books?

[Radiant Hero]

I thought that it would be interesting to see what people like to read on this forum, since what we mostly talk about is games (which can become mundane after some time). Who is your favorite author? What is your favorite literary genre? Hate reading altogether?
I just finished reading "The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao". I was a big fan of Junot Diaz's "Drown", which is a collection of short story that are loosely related to each other. Overall I thought that "Wao" was a good read that reflected the hardship living in Santo Domingo during the Trujillo era. I am now reading "Foundations of Despotism:Peasants, the Trujillo Regime, and Modernity in Dominican History."
Fave Authors: Albert Camus, Franz Kafka, Raymond Carver, Amy Hempel.

[zarathstra]

I'm currently reading Poison Sleep by TA Pratt. Good urban fantasy if you're into that. It reminds me a bit of the Harry Dresden books.

I'm a huge sci-fi and fantasy fan, as far as non-fiction goes, and I love a good history book.

Favorite authors are a mixed bag: Eric Flint, Larry Niven, Arthur C. Clarke, Jim Butcher, Terry Pratchett, David Weber, H.G. Wells, and on and on...

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Timeline by Micheal Chrichton along w/ the Jurrasic Park's are awesome. Currently reading NEXT by him, interesting stuff.

[Hatta]

Most of my favorite books were written by people like Douglas Hofstadter, Richard Feynman, George Gamow, Daniel Dennett, Roger Penrose, etc. In other words, science/philosophy non-fiction. I also enjoy textbooks sometimes. Terse, information dense prose keeps my interest because I like learning.

Personally, I can't stand fiction. Don't see the point in it at all. Why do all that reading if you're not going to learn anything? I enjoy fictional video games because they're interactive. I enjoy fictional TV programs because I can just zone out and enjoy. Fiction occupies this weird no mans land where it requires some effort on my part to read, but
there's no participation to keep me interested.

There is a tiny bit of fiction I do like. George Orwell is pretty good, but his novels were political essays in disguise. I like his non-fiction essays even more than his novel(la)s. Lewis Carroll is pretty awesome too, but then his books are crammed with math jokes.

The worst is poetry. Pretentious garbage. Can't stand it at all. Except for poems like Jabberwocky, or the works of Dr. Seuss, that don't pretend to be anything more than funny rhymes. Those I don't mind so much.

[Jmenglan]

Not really a big fan of fiction anymore but I love central european history from about 1815-1948, especially German military history from the same time period.

[RadarScope1]

I'm pretty well right there with you, Hatta. I like to learn something about the world when I read.

Recently I've read Freakanomics and the Post American World, both of which were very interesting, especially Freakanomics. I'm not a numbers person and this book is written for a mass audience but is not "dumbed down."

I like history books, especially American history. Getting ready to start reading Team of Rivals, about Lincoln's cabinet. I'm also interested in reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

[lordofduct]

Well I just came off of a palahniuk & vonnegut Jr kick which went on for about 2 years.

I just read "Oryx & Crake" by Margaret Atwood as my break away from it. Really good dystopian future kind of stuff.

Now I'm rereading "The Life of Pi" for the fun. I really hope the movie rendition gets done still, they were going to have Jean-Pierre Jeunet do it.

From there I still have a handful of P.G. Wodehouse to get back to. I got about 8 of them 2 years ago and only read half of them... wants to get back.

I also want to check out some more Margaret Atwood, my mother says I should read "The Handmaid's Tale". Sounds really cool.

[Gamerforlife]

I'm not much for fiction these days. When I do read, which isn't often, it is usually self help books or any kind of book that can teach me something. Basically, I tend to only read stuff that is actually useful. I have good fiction books lying around that I keep saying I'm going to read, but I never commit. I get my fiction fix from movies, games, tv, etc. I do like to read the occasional comic book or graphic novel though, but I don't read regular novels at all anymore. I like my stories with pretty pictures

I read a lot of fiction books and novels when I was younger though. There was some Shakespeare I liked in high school and some other stuff. When I was really young I read of lot of Hardy Boys books for some reason

[Radiant Hero]

I'm pretty well right there with you, Hatta. I like to learn something about the world when I read.

Recently I've read Freakanomics and the Post American World, both of which were very interesting, especially Freakanomics. I'm not a numbers person and this book is written for a mass audience but is not "dumbed down."

I like history books, especially American history. Getting ready to start reading Team of Rivals, about Lincoln's cabinet. I'm also interested in reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

So many people have recommended Freakanomics to me. They all say it is a good read

[RackGaki]

I do a lot of reading, but very little fiction. Last fiction I read was by Douglas Adams and Philip K. Dick.

Last nonfiction I read were Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose," Lao Tzu's "Dao De Jing" and Friedrich Nietzsche's "Beyond Good & Evil." I'm mostly interested in economics, philosophy, and select history. Someday I will get all the Time Life WWII books I used to have as a kid!

I don't really count my manga or art books as reading material, but I have a small collection of those as well!