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Your favorite genre of book

Classics, literary fiction modern and postmodern.
Philosophy, focused on philosophy of science and Kant.
Mystery has a warm place in my heart, I consumed these massively when a teenager.
 
Obscure books, anything over 100 years old. even with plenty reasons not to go I made point of visiting Manchester's ancient library - With a first edition of Nostradamus' Prophecies. It's the size of a paving stone and three times as thick. I would pay a king's ransom to have it to myself prettymuch for a while - (the whole library).
 
My first love is nonfiction about Natural History, and particularly like when it also involves the human element like John McPhee's great trilogy of American geology: Basin and Range, Rising from the Plains, and In Suspect Terrain.

Other than that I also enjoy good SciFi for entertaining reading.
 
Gerald Wilgus said:
Nice. Some great history. Not about Oregon, but two books I enjoyed were: Men to Match My Mountains, and Nothing Like It in the World. Both about aspects of the American West.
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That sounds really neat. I like books about physical trials in the West. White Fang is a good one.
 
I have more than one favorite.

• non-fiction
Science, Adventure, History, Food/Cooking

•fiction
Mystery/Crime, Fantasy
 
When I was little, I just read everything I could get my hands on. It was all about children's books and young adult books, and I was getting into fairly typical tween girl type series like "Sweet Valley Twins" and "Baby Sitters Club", and any book about horses, as I was horse crazy for a time. Then I became obsessed with fantasy, classics, and old British literature, Arthurian stories, etc. Aside from fiction, I was always fascinated by books on world religions. Now, I still read a lot of books on religious/spiritual studies - the rest is mostly history that I would like to read, but I haven't had much time. Looking forward to a time that I can really explore our own bookshelves - we have enough of a library that nothing else is coming in for a good long time. I underline through my non-fiction books and write notes/thoughts in the them, I like to keep my books and keep returning to them over the years. I really like well illustrated children's books, fairy tales, etc. I like books with nice pictures on architecture and art and landscapes, especially desert landscapes. And if there is quirky young adult fiction that could be enjoyed by adults, I would go for that. But I can really only think of two examples, "Coraline" and "Stranger Moon". I'm just not familiar enough with that kind of literature anymore.

I think I used reading as a major source of escapism in the past - which was helpful and beneficial in one way, but I think it is now a challenge to stop seeking an escape in my own mind, I would rather just be present and learn to calm down, be less hypervigilant - I am in a totally different life situation now than when I was growing up, but I still try to escape. I don't relate to the characters the way I used to, though. Back then, the fictional characters in books were my family, friends, and society - those were the people whom I could safely observe, analyze, explore, and mentally "engage" with, not the people around me. I did have a good set of oddball friends until I graduated high school - most of them were also avid bookworms.

Now I wear reading glasses. I keep cheap, hideous readers all over the house since I can't keep track of just one pair. Sometimes I have a pointless worry that I will lose my vision before I can finish reading everything on our bookshelves. Not that I want to lose my vision at all, of course. o_O
 
I enjoy scifi, primarily procedural. Reading the Expanse series, but really enjoyed the trilogy starting with The Three Body Problem.

Then there is nonfiction. I enjoyed John McPhee's Basin and Range, In Suspect Terrain and Rising from the Plains. Histories like Men to Match My Mountains or Nothing Like It in the World.
 
Mystery, scifi, fantasy
And any book related to a skill I am learning or present interest. Thisvcan be anything at all but usually caft related. Soap making, weaving, spinning (wool), shoe making, book binding, tailoring, enamels on glass and copper, etching, color theory etc.

Presently I am reading The Elephant Whisperer (an autobiography)
 
DogwoodTree said:
Spiritually-based (usually Christian) self-help books...not the kind that says, "Just think happy and all will be well", but the kind that really digs into the meaning of life and why it hurts so much and who we are and how to get through it and learn from it all.
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I just read two back to back that I really enjoyed. Jesus for President by Shane Claiborn & Chris Haw was the better of the two, but I benefitted from Reenacting the Way (of Jesus) by Paul Penley.

What are your favorite Spiritually-based titles?

My current favorite genre, however, is what I call Non-Fiction Novels. They are well-research non-fiction written so well that they read like novels. Some of my favorites have been in medical (She Has Her Mother's Laugh on genetics), history (Under a Wild Sky - JJAudobon Bio), and natural history (The Secret Life of Snails).
 
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MicroWeiss said:
Keith, if I didn't like 1984, would I like the Speed of Dark? 1984 was atmospheric, but I didn't like the grimy atmosphere. uck. It's kind of like that Ayn Rand book, Atlas Shrugged, so dreary.

I like short stories. Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, and more recently a guy named Douglas Smith got my attention. Kurt Vonnegut was amusing, but I didn't discover him until later. If I found his work in my teens he might have become an icon to me, who knows.

Psychology. Freud is fun. I also enjoy biographies from that perspective, getting inside someones head, living vicariously.
Classical fiction. I try to be well read.
How-to books. I'm not very crafty, but I like new ideas.
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I think we have similar taste in book genres! Have you read Educated or The Glass Castle?
 
Keith said:
I've found dystopian to be the best for me. It's intriguing somehow.

I'VE READ
1984 (twice)
The Speed of Dark (I'd recommend it to anyone with ASD)
Animal Farm

Almost done with Brave New World.
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I think I'm an interesting case. I highly dislike most contemporary adult fiction (I think because I tend to feel like those novels have ZERO characters that are likeable or relatable to me, but I'm not really sure), but I enjoy contemporary YA and even the occasional children's/middle reader. So that is about 30% of my book diet. Then maybe 20% of "classic literature" (Austen, Fitzgerald, the stuff you have to read in high school). Then 50% classicS (with an S) as in Homer and Virgil and Sophocles.
 
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