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Post by Aradia on Oct 29, 2001 21:29:34 GMT -5
So when you kick back to read, what do you prefer the most? Fiction or non fiction? Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mysteries, Horror, Romance, Self Help, History, Cooking, etc? And do you read magazines, newspapers and/or books? How long does it take you to finish a good book if you had time to read it (assuming no job, school, kids, lover pulls you away from said reading material)? For me these days it's the newspaper and magazines, primarily. My book reading time is used up here online But when I wasn't internet addicted I read primarily Fantasy novels and cooking magazines. I will occasionally branch out and read history if related to the Medieval era, as it's useful for more background behind the works I read in graduate school (I have a Master's in Medieval Literature). I even read some Renaissance history from time to time because it's so damned interesting, despite being a little late for me I was particularly enamoured with Henry the 8th and his 6 wives for a while, and that's definitely out of my usual time period.
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Post by Maigan on Oct 29, 2001 22:57:58 GMT -5
I usually rotate between heavy and lighter reading. Like serious novel then crime etc. So now reading a Lescroart (crime/courtroom) and then the new Margaret Attwood then a Bernard Cornwell (fiction about the grail quest).
I will also be reading a non-fiction a bit at a time - all these to do with child psychology.
Don't really have a favourite genre (but loathe those womens romance books). If it's well written and especially got a good twist or says something - I'll read it.
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Bex
Slave
just when things were getting interesting too
Posts: 38
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Post by Bex on Oct 30, 2001 0:27:25 GMT -5
anything that catches my interest. i have a slight book habit. as in, if i go into a bookstore, i'll bring home as much as i can carry, usually. i try to stick to the second-hand bookstores. much easier on the wallet.
i enjoy science fiction and fantasy, but that's mostly limited to books published 20 years ago or more, since it's usually swiped from an extensive collection put together by my parents. dark fantasy i have to buy for myself, so it's far more recent. more short stories than novels, as my reading time was extremely broken-up for years (while riding public transit, between classes, etc.). my SF taste runs to the political, sociological, and psychological, but that really just describes the stories that become my favorites after i've read them.
mythology and folklore is fascinating. religion ties into that. and philosophy, and sociology, and psychology. then there's that whole daunting "classics" category. and poetry. cooking, gardening, pets (lots on dogs lately, because i'm researching getting a puppy, but fish are a constant obsession). i've also been reading a few sections at a time of a huge book on extinct animals. children's books. collected volumes of comic strips like "pogo" and "bloom county."
i like to at least flip through every magazine that comes into my house, and my mother's house, and keep up with one local daily newspaper and a few entertainment weeklies. i also collect a few comic book titles, but only pick up the file every 4-6 months or so, since i buy them in another city. better to have lots at once anyway, so as to really get into them for a couple of hours.
i once mentioned reading an article in a fashion magazine to a creative writing class. prof and peers seemed mildly shocked. so dreadfully un-academic, you see. i think they all secretly disapproved of my habit of writing comic-book-inspired poetry, as well. but you can find something interesting almost anywhere, if you're willing to look.
get the general idea?
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Zoras
Minion
Burn with the Dragon's soul
Posts: 203
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Post by Zoras on Oct 30, 2001 6:44:00 GMT -5
Fiction: Definitely fantasy is my favorite genre, although I occassionally delve into the realms of science fiction and works which are regarded as 'high quality'. I also try my hand occassionally at writing my own fiction, though because they often straddle the fence between fantasy and erotica, they can't find their way to the usual markets. Magazines: I read anything that catches my interest really, from Dragon to Time to Cleo to National Geographic. Playboy and its friends aren't sold here in Singapore. Pity. Non-fiction: I love reading about mythology, ancient history, biology, medicine, philosophy, psychology, sociology, religion, cosmonology, sexology and the occult. These days however, I rarely get the time to go out and fuel my appetite for books, so I read whatever comes to hand. I didn't used to read newspapers, but I started about 2 years back.
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Post by Kothoses the Tyrant on Oct 30, 2001 10:25:07 GMT -5
Books wise I like My Sci Fi and Fantasy setting novels, I also read some techy nerdified books, to keep my knowledge levels of my specialist subject, plus anything involveding Psycic phenomenom PAranormal activities, UFO's, Dream investigations and Self discovery stuff also has an interest for me.
Magazines, Mainly techy mags again to keep my self upto date with the new advancements ( I still get a LOT of I.T. professional MAgazines)
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Post by Palin the Wizard on Oct 30, 2001 13:48:09 GMT -5
I read mainly fantasy, crimies and history. And, of course, some cartoon magazines (Spider-man, X-men and so forth). I rarely read anything else, except when I've got a project for school *sigh*. My teacher can dig out the books I find the most boring! Irritating, quite frankly...
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Post by Melusine on Oct 31, 2001 8:46:33 GMT -5
I read all kinds of English prose, plays & poetry. Start with Beowulf, through Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Milton, Donne, Jonson, Herbert to Pope, Tennyson, Keats, Wordsworth, Blake, Coleridge, Shelley, Wilde, Yeats, William Morris, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Geoffrey Hill.... Iain Banks, Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, Salman Rushdie, Michael Ondaatje, Kazuo Ishiguro, Roald Dahl.. Tad Williams, Clive Barker, Robert Jordan....
etc etc etc
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Post by Solaufein_Xiltyn on Oct 31, 2001 18:44:04 GMT -5
Forgotten Realms fantasy
Star Trek Sci-Fi
None Fiction could be anything that attracts my attention
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Post by Billy_Yank on Oct 31, 2001 20:31:32 GMT -5
Fiction: SF, Fantasy, Alternative History, "War Fiction" (Harold Coyle, Stephan Coonts)
Non Fiction: Military History, Egyptology, Current Military
Magazines: National Geographic, KMT (Egyptology for laymen)
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Lord Bane
Peasant
D?faitiste Extraordinaire
Posts: 63
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Post by Lord Bane on Nov 1, 2001 5:20:57 GMT -5
Fantasy (Jordan, Williams, Pratchett and dozens of others), and Vance's SF are the favorites. Next to that I try to read the newspaper daily, and weekly magazines that give background on the news etc. Nothing extraordinary really
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Post by IceAngel on Nov 1, 2001 9:43:53 GMT -5
Aradia! Great topic!
I've pretty eclectic reading tastes. I enjoy science fiction (Love the old timers- Asimov, Clark etc) and Fantasy, (just started reading Forgotten Realms books -my first was The Simbul's Gift-fitting as Memnoch nicknamed me after the Storm Queen! LOL) but also enjoy historical mysteries, gothic mystery/modern (ok.. I'll admit I don't read this as often as I used to and I've gotta have daylight or lots of lamps on! LOL ), good old-fashioned mysteries (ie, not blood-soaked dna-based crime novels) , romance novels- yup gimmee a good bodice ripper too.. LOL, adventure/suspense (like Tom Clancy etc).
I also love Shakespeare and many of the classics that Melusine mentions. When in the mood, I will re-read the Bard's plays or some Milton, Coleridge, Tennyson etc. I like the poetry of Robert Frost but am in general not a big modern poetry reader.
Other reading materials may include magazines (PC Magazine, Archaeology, Consumer Reports etc) and occasionally the Sunday paper.
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PixieChic
Slave
The Horns Hold Up the Halo O>:)
Posts: 22
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Post by PixieChic on Nov 1, 2001 20:22:28 GMT -5
I enjoy horror and fantasy, although I will read just about anything except romance novels, like Maigan I just love reading in general, but I usually lean towards reading fiction in my free time rather than nonfiction. I have been picking up some nonfiction as of late...it's been a couple of years since I graduated from college, so I'm starting to get back into reading religion and philosophy again. I have been reading The Two Towers, Leaves of Grass, and some short stories and poetry by Poe lately. I have so many books that are just begging to be read right now....I need to devote more time to reading!
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Post by Feraess on Nov 5, 2001 6:19:56 GMT -5
Oh, definately fiction to relax. Reading text-books isn't my idea of relaxation...
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