Who likes to read books? What kind of books do you read? Why do you read, to escape or for knowledge?

Question

What is your favorite book and why?

Answer 1

How grand/great to see how many of us there are in here...my avatar's name could be used by all of us! I am a "split-level" reader...go for the fast-food writing like Danielle Steele and Patterson and Koontz and King, and then dive into the classics I skated/skimmed as a schoolkid.. re-reading Dickens, Tolstoi, Thackeray, Hardy, Austen as a Big Grownup is an astonishing experience...how much more there is to be found when your mind is tuned by time!

Reading for me is like breathing...no day without it. I once got stuck on a cattle-ranch for a couple of weeks longer than my supply of reading could cover and wound up begging around the bunk-house for anything with print in it...True Western Detective, True Western Romance, etc., on up to the backs of cereal boxes [no lie, they used to have puzzle page stuff on 'em] and cookbooks. Moral: when traveling, take 6 more books along than you think you'll need!

Answer 2

I am and always have been an avid reader...usually have at least 2 going at a time.

I love just about everything; history, government, good fiction, historical novels, well-written mysteries.

I loved "Path Between the Seas" about the idea and building of the Panama Canal....

Loved "Undaunted Courage" about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Loved "Killer Angels" and all the books in that series.

Love James Patterson, Michael Connolly, John Le Carre, Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Stephen King - so many others.

I can't understand or relate to people who don't read - for pleasure or knowledge or something.

Answer 3

I love to read books. I started loving books when my mother used to read me stories from Childcraft Books. When I was young, no television. As a teenager, my girlfriend and I would take a trip to the library every week and rent all sorts of interesting books. It opened up worlds of enjoyment for me. I learned a lot. I began to get very interested in English History because of fictional books I read.
Now, I enjoy reading C.S. Lewis books, mysteries. I find romance books dull and boring, but I sure liked them when I was young. I can remember Peyton Place being the forbidden book and everyone was reading it in high school.

Books are great entertainment and a wealth of knowledge. Fiction is usually based on real characters that the writer has known and then added a bit of spice.

I read for pure pleasure and find it increases my knowledge. Example: Jurassic Park.

I forgot to mention some authors I enjoy.
Sandra Brown, Patricia Cornwell, Jonathan Kellerman, James Patterson, Frank Perretti, Michael Crighton Anita Shreve, Nora Roberts, and many others. Patterson and Kellerman are my favorites.

Answer 4

Ditto to everything written before my answer. I have always been an avid reader. If I don't have a good book I will read the cereal box.
I take my grandkids to the library every other week and I usually get myself 6 books. I purchase others when in Sams or Walmart. I'd love to have a room just to devote to a libtrary. My books are like old friends to be revisited periodically. Two of my 3 girls are readers also. That is one of the best gifts I think I could give them. Love mysteries but love lierature period.

Answer 5

My favorite books are diaries of people who crossed the
plains in wagon trains during the great migrations heading
west. There's much to be learned from them regarding the
indians and hardships that you won't find in a textbook. I
know more now than I did in school from reading them and
learning about historical events from people who were there.
I have done alot of research on western history concerning
some gunslingers and western women of the mid to late
1800s. And books on western towns has always been an
attraction as well.
I've been continuing on with research regarding the early
start of the Christian religion and the background of Christ
that was omitted from the New Testament.
I also enjoy autobiographies of people in entertainment
back when I was young. The ones where some were in
vaudeville first before moving on with the times. Or in early
television or movies.
I also enjoy a good who done it. There is one popular
woman author I've read several books of. But I'm drawing a
blank at this late hour and can't remember her name.

Answer 6

I read every day. If I am not working around the house, on the computer, or taking care of my grandsons, then I am reading....sometimes even WHILE I am doing those other things!

I can not give you a "favourite" book because I like way too many to try to list them. They ALL have their merits in my eyes and are equally valuable to me because of that.

As to the type of books I read...almost every category of fiction has passed by my eyes through the years. But I think I would have to say my favourite of those is science fiction.

But I also read non-fiction. Biographies and books on psychology. Mythology and Astrology. I have an extensive collection of books on North American Indians. And one of my special loves is the History of the Second World War.

I read to absorb. I have a vivid imagination so most books become movies playing in my mind as I read. And although I love the way the written words are formed together to make a story, to have that story teach me something I never knew before is a bonus.

Answer 7

I am always reading a book, I love Jean M Auld's Earth Children series, I also like Crime with a dash of the Supernatural thrown in, like The Dresden Files or The Blood Ties series.
I read to escape for a wee while.

Answer 8

I have always loved to read. My mother was a teacher and said she got tired of telling me the words when I was trying to read the newslpaper comics. I was three when she started teaching me to read. After that, she only had to look behind the nearest book to find me. I still read, though lately I've begun "reading" books on tape as I commute quite a distance to work. I read all sorts both fiction and nonfiction. About the only thing I don't read is horror, although I have read two of Stephen King's books. I also write, so reading is a necessity as well as pleasure.

Answer 9

Have always loved reading. When I was young Charles Dickens was my favourite and I read all his books except Pickwick Papers. Also loved Dumas and most of the classics. Now I'm not so keen on novels, prefer what is true - history, biography, true crime etc.
I read when I was young because I just loved the way the authors wrote. Each sentence of Dicken's was a work of art!! I read now because I'm interested in learning - and it has always been a wonderful escape.

My all time favourite was The Onion Field - by Joseph Wambaugh

Answer 10

I LOVE to read. I was unable to learn in school, so at home my grandmother taught me. She taught me not from a reader, but by using the original Shakespeare, the Bible, and Charles Dickens. Sixty three years later I'm still a book-a-holic. I read many types of books, from fantasy-science fiction by Terry Brooks, to philosophy/religion, to quantum theory. Just got through reading two books by Annie Proulx, a Pulitzer Prize winner:That Old Ace in the Hole and The Shipping News. I recommend them highly. Proulx is such a fine writer that she interests the reader in uncommon subjects such as the tough, brave, and ornery people who are fighting to survive in the Texas Panhandle and Newfoundland. She is also the author of the book Broke Back Mountain. Much more to say, but my current reads are: Parallel Universes, by Fred Allen Wolfe, and Bloodshot ( a novel) a forensics novel set in Scotland. Of course ( ha ha) I also read trash, such as anything about the unfortunate Anna Nicole. Yes, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Like junk food for the brain, which it is. As a child, my favorite books were Mistress Masham's Repose, by E.B. White, and Alice in Wonderland. The most fascinating book I've read recently is Myst, a fantasy which is based on the computer game. A terrific book, and well worth re-reading. So MANY pages;so little time.Oh I read both to escape and for information. Thanks for a great question on one my favorite subjects!