I used to read a lot, back before the writing bug bit me last summer. I would devour books, one after the other in quick succession. Sometimes up to 200 or so books a year.
This year, I think I've read three books so far. I'm currently reading Existence by David Brin, which I am greatly enjoying, but it's been weeks and I'm only at 10%. I think the only time I read is when I'm in the loo.
What did I use to read, you ask? Well... let me tell you! Wait. It might be easier to tell you what I don't normally read.
First off, I don't really read romance. I've been told on many occasions that I don't have a romantic bone in my body. I don't know if that's true or not, but I just don't get 99% of romance in non-romance books, so an entire book of romance would be lost on me, I think.
I also don't read erotica. I have a book somewhere in my collection that is pure smut. I think it's called Pick Up/Picked up, written in the 70's or 80's, and it's about a guy with a 12 inch cock. I found it in my grandmother's library when I was ten - I figure it belonged to my uncle when he was living there. Anyway... that was good for a few years, and so were the stories in my dad's Penthouses. But then I started having sex... and then the internet happened, and, well, words just didn't do it for me anymore.
(Porn. Porn does it for me. I'm very visual.)
I don't read YA. Twilight is YA right? I know that Hunger Games is (...right?). I didn't really like either. Though, I also have a hard time identifying with books written from a female perspective, and I think both of these were (...right? Sorry - I really don't know/remember much about either).
(And... what the hell is NA?)
I read everything else. On the very top of that huge list of genres are: Sci-fi, fantasy, distopian, and KGB/CIA/military/conspiracy books.
Some of my favourite books?
- Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett (and pretty much everything else I've read from him has been pretty fucking awesome)
- The Charm School by Nelson DeMille (almost anything he writes floats my boat, but this one's my favourite. Up Country is my second)
- The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
- Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice (I know I said above that I don’t really do romance, but I have a thing for opera and the history of the castrati... and the relationship between Tonio and Guido hit something in me. I also rather enjoyed some of her vampire books.)
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by HST
Apart from books, I read medical journals. It's a weird hobby that started years ago when I started researching torture techniques used during the Inquisition. I'm absolutely fascinated by medical procedures, both ancient and new. I've also got a thing for genetic disorders and extreme body modification.
Maybe once I finish Spires, and Sword... and the third book in Baal's Heart I'll get back to reading? Maybe?