Books: what's your favorite genre?

[reyd reid reed]

Me? I'm all over the place. It really depends on my mood, but I'm partial to humor and suspense. Most of the time. I'll read just about anything, though.

[RebelOne]

1. Suspense and anything by Stephen King and Dean Koontz. n/t

[reyd reid reed]

5. Do you think

that they've grown as writers? I think that Koontz has, in particular. He's gotten more character-driven through the years. King's growth has shown, most obviously, in the final Dark Tower book. Aside from that, I think I prefer some of his earlier stuff...and his short fiction. What do you think of the Odd Thomas books? Of "Lisey's Story"?

[RebelOne]

45. Unfortunately, I have never read any of the Dark Tower books.

I tried to read the first one and just could never get past the first couple of chapters. I have not read "Lisey's Story" yet. But Koontz' Odd Thomas books were exceptional. I hope he writes a fourth one. The ending in the third one left it open for another book.

[tool_of_the_people]

2. Non-Fiction

True crime and biographies.

[reyd reid reed]

6. Any favorites? nt

[tool_of_the_people]

18. Anything by Diane Fanning

Just finished Libby Holman: Body and Soul by Hamilton Darby Perry (it's not new, but new to me. Nice piece on the death/murder of Z. Smith Reynolds.

[skygazer]

3. I mostly read nonfiction these days

And I read about anything - political, historical, obscure oddball (one of the best books I've read in the past few years was about rats). Just lately, I've been reading one book about genetic anthropology, one about European royal houses prior to WWI and Wicked (again).

For fiction, I'm all over the place, too. My criteria for a book is that it's well written and a good story. So it can be about any genre.

[reyd reid reed]

8. I'll read some non-fic

but it's got to be something that really grabs my attention. I used to love to read biographies...I've wandered away from them, though.

[skygazer]

11. My problem with biographies

Only focusing on the one person, you get a limited view of the era. I guess I'm more interested in the era than the individuals. Not that I haven't read some very good biographies - I just like my history a little broader.

If that makes any sense. :hi:

[reyd reid reed]

14. Makes perfect sense...

history and learning about a specific era is fascinating and you can get *some* of it from a good biography but you're right...it's a very narrow picture.

[cobalt1999]

44. same here.

Mostly non-fiction (primarily history & science), but occasionally I love a good non-fiction. It's tough because there are so many gems out there, but finding them is work.

*edit for spelling*

[Wetzelbill]

4. Same here

I love Latin American Literature. American Indian Literature. I read quite a bit of nonfiction stuff on politics, sometimes history. I like biographies and autobiographies, however, I truly turn my nose up at ghostwritten autobios. I'll read them if I am interested in the person, but if it says "John Doe with ....." I figure a lot of it is pure shit.

I read a decent amount of poetry as well. A lot of American Indian and Latin American stuff too. I'm a Blackfeet Indian, so I read Indian literature because of that, but I am compelled by Latin authors, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Pablo Neruda, Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, etc. I find similarities in our cultures and so on.

My guilty pleasures are James Patterson thrillers and pro wrestling biographies. Mick Foley, who writes his own books himself, is a fantastic writer. His bios are far and away the best wrestling ones out there. Worth it for any serious reader to check out. He's a good liberal too.

[reyd reid reed]

13. Patterson is one of my guilty pleasures, too...

I haven't read his latest, but he's good for a fun, fast read. Emphasis on fast.

I don't read much poetry -- I have to confess that, for the most part, I just don't 'get it'. Every once in a while a poem will touch me, but mostly I'm lost.

Who are some of your favorite Latin American and Native American lit authors?

[Wetzelbill]

22. Patterson is fun because

He's the literary equivalent of going to McDonald's. Sometimes you just don't feel like cooking, and you need something fat and satisfying even without much nutritional value. Patterson is fast, fat and satisfying and you don't have to go completely crazy thinking about it all too much. :)

Poetry is an acquired taste. It takes finding poets you can identify with somewhat. It's hard to get into for a lot of people, because good poetry is dense and rich. You have to read it and break it down to get it. It's one of those things where if you read a poem 30 times, you understand it and learn more each time. Try Billy Collins. He's a great poet, but believes in writing poems that people can understand easier. He's a former U.S. Poet Laureate. Here is a link:

http://www.poetseers.org/contemporary_poets/poet_laureates/billy_collins/billy_collins_poems/?searchterm=Billy%20Collins

My favorite Latin American author is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I also like Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, Helena Maria Viramontes, Isabel Allende, Michelle Serros, Mario Suarez and, of course, Pablo Neruda.

My favorite Indian author is James Welch, who was a childhood friend of my father. Other than that I like Sherman Alexie, Sherwin Bitsui (a Navajo poet and good friend of mine), Joy Harjo, N.Scott Momaday, Leslie Silko, D' Arcy McNickle, Luci Tapahonso etc. Too many to list, in all honesty. My professor, Tom Holm, just wrote a few books, but I haven't read those. I'm sure I'll like them though. Out of all of them Sherman Alexie is definitely the most famous, he's appealing especially for readers who like more contemporary type work. Welch is an L.A. Times book Award winner for "Fools Crow" and Momaday won the Pulitzer Prize for "House Made Of Dawn." Those are probably the two best books ever written by Indian authors.

[deepthought42]

7. Fantasy. Some Sci-Fi.

Occasionally some chick lit for some light reading, and some humor. Lately I've been reading a little of everything, including some Fiction.


It doesn't help having an employee discount at Borders... :freak: lol

[reyd reid reed]

15. Heh...if I worked someplace like Borders

I'd be in real trouble.

:hi:

[deepthought42]

25. Oh, I'm in big trouble...lol

I'm running out of space to buy books... Of course after this past weekend I'm reluctant to set foot in there again...until I have to work that is! lol

[femmocrat]

9. Non-fiction, mostly political.

I rarely read fiction, although I just finished The Glass Castle. I feel like life is too short and time too scarce to waste it on fiction, unless it is literature. If I'm going to take time to read, I want to learn something!

[reyd reid reed]

17. You can learn from good fiction, though.

As long as it's well-researched, you can learn from it. The trick is to learn what's been researched and what's been manufactured out of whole cloth. Sometimes it's hard to tell.

I enjoy fiction for the break. For the entertainment value. Much better than what's usually on tee vee.

[skygazer]

19. Well, to be fair, you can learn a lot from good fiction

I'm mostly a non-fiction reader myself so I understand where you're coming from. But good fiction is always a window into the human condition, what makes us tick. Good fiction forces you to think about larger issues and ponder deep questions and it does it while entertaining with a good story.

The difficult part is finding it because fiction is so mass-marketed that so many of the gems escape notice.

[TZ]

10. Sci Fi and Fantasy

are what I read most. Occasionally a science biography or some other non-fiction by someone I find intelligent and interesting. And......well......occasionally I will read some romance..because I still have that fantasy of my "knight in shining armor" finding me....:blush:

[reyd reid reed]

20. I'll read the occasional fantasy

but not often. I've never really gotten into science fiction...what are some of your favorites?

[TZ]

32. In fantasy

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, unending as it is. I also love Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" (and now her son). Piers Anthony both sci-fi (Bio of a Space Tyrant) and fantasy Xanth and Incarnations of immortality are my favorites. I also love the Dune series and even like the prequels written by by Frank Herberts son (many Dune fans don't seem to like them).
On the "it started so great why did ya have to screw it up so bad" was Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series. The first 3 or 4 were some of the best fantasy novels ever but then he starting inserting a neocon like political agenda (including one book "Naked Empire" which was bascially a rant agaisnt anti-Iraq war protestors) that just totally screwed it up!:grr:

[Tikki]

12. Bios and autobios, true crime and I love to read well written Sci-fi.

Tikki

[reyd reid reed]

21. What is it about science fiction

that gets your attention and holds it?

[Tikki]

37. I always feel like I'm in on some amazing secret when I....

read a good Sci-fi story.



Tikki

[reyd reid reed]

38. Who are some of your favorite authors?

What titles?

[Tikki]

42. My all-time favorite Sci-fi is a campy...

little story written in the late 60's...."The Butterfly Kid"....Chester Anderson.
Rare and a little pricey to buy, but your local library should be able to find a copy for you to read.

David Brin, 'The Postman'; Robert Heinlein, 'Stranger in a Strange Land'; Philip Dick, 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'
Walter Miller, 'A Canticle For Leibowitz'; Neal Stephenson 'The Diamond Age'; many others...and my props to Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and
Edgar Rice Burroughs who all got me started at a very young age.



Tikki


edit to correct the title

[applegrove]

16. I like those books like the orchid thief or into thin air that take a passion

and develve deep into the personalities of the participants.

[BarenakedLady]

23. Satirical fantasy

Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, et al.

Also general fiction, humorous autobiographies (David Sedaris types), and horror.

[reyd reid reed]

26. The only Pratchett that I've read

was something about "Wee Green Men". Tickling trout and little men who carried the sheep and I forget what else. I'd picked it up, hoping it would appeal to my daughter.

It didn't. I enjoyed it, though.

:hi:

[BarenakedLady]

31. Ach the "Wee Free Men"

That was a good one!

:thumbsup:

Inspired me to write a silly short story way back when.

[reyd reid reed]

33. Yeah...that's the one!

:D

[Deja Q]

24. The how-to books with pictures.

:evilgrin:

[reyd reid reed]

27. How to what?

O8)

[redqueen]

28. Same here, depends on my mood.

I like fictionalized history, sci fi/fantasy and horror the best, though.

[reyd reid reed]

29. What are you reading now?

:shrug:

[redqueen]

30. The Subtle Knife by Pullman

Yes, it's for teens... I don't care... it's so well-written and I love it. :)

I'm taking a break from Mason & Dixon (Pynchon) which was murdering my brain. :P

[reyd reid reed]

34. He's tough...

Best taken in small doses, I think. Some of the most entertaining things I've read have been written for the YA market. They're picky, y'know.

[JitterbugPerfume]

35. I really don't have a favorite genre

I go between non-fiction, fiction and sci fi equally


Recently I have read Kurt Vonnegut, Studs Terkle, Phillip K Dick and Douglas Adams


Variety is the spice of life (trite but true)

[reyd reid reed]

36. Very true.

Do you find it depends on your mood or do you just read what's handy?

[JitterbugPerfume]

40. most of the time

I am reading from different genre in the same time period

The Good War(Terkle)is very intense , so I read some Vonnegut and Adams at the same time .It is kind of a balancing act.


I get a lot of priceless "suggestions" for reading material right here at DU . There are so many really smart and well informed people here that it would be a shame not to use them as a source.

[raccoon]

39. Mysteries, especially historical mysteries.

Falco mysteries--set in ancient Rome

Ursula Blanchard mysteries--set in Elizabethan England

Brother Cadfael--set in 12th century England

[JitterbugPerfume]

43. Brother Cadfael was on PBS a few years ago

and I really loved it! I would love to read some books about him

any suggestions ?

[raccoon]

46. So far, I've read the first 3 of the series, and #15.

As in many series, the first ones are better.

1. A Morbid Taste for Bones (written in 1977, this episode is set in 1137)
2. One Corpse Too Many (1979, set in August 1138)
3. Monk's Hood (1980, set in December 1138)
4. Saint Peter's Fair (1981, set in July 1139)
5. The Leper of Saint Giles (1981, set in October 1139)
6. The Virgin in the Ice (1982, set in November 1139)
7. The Sanctuary Sparrow (1983, set in the Spring of 1140)
8. The Devil's Novice (1983, set in September 1140)
9. Dead Man's Ransom (1984, set in February 1141)
10. The Pilgrim of Hate (1984, set in May 1141)
11. An Excellent Mystery (1985, set in August 1141)
12. The Raven in the Foregate (1986, set in December 1141)
13. The Rose Rent (1986, set in June 1142)
14. The Hermit of Eyton Forest (1988, set in October 1142)
15. The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988, set in December 1142)
16. The Heretic's Apprentice (1990, set in June 1143)
17. The Potter's Field (1990, set in August 1143)
18. The Summer of the Danes (1991, set in April 1144)
19. The Holy Thief (1992, set in August 1144)
20. Brother Cadfael's Penance (1994, set in November 1145)

[Dragonbreathp9d]

41. The genre of good