Although I do read fiction (mostly Stephen King), I am fascinated by other people's life stories.

I've had a fixation on tall, thin, brainy, emotionally unavailable men ever since.

I love mysteries too!!

A hint of the paranormal is always good, too.

My all time favorite might be Cadfael, but I also like a lot of the "witchy" ones.

On edit: should have included the "Miss Silver" series, that really introduced me to the genre.

I love to read and read almost anything. I read every day. I also like political books like Sen. Frankens books occasionally.

I also like biographies and political books (from the left, of course!).

Just about anything by James Michener (currently re-reading The Source, timely). Also, Herman Wouk's Winds of War and War and Remembrance are compelling.

Back in the early '90s when I was essentially bed-bound for months, a friend brought a box of books he'd purchased at a yard sale. It was a series about the country's westward expansion, and each book was named after a state. In one of the books the author wrote about a family's journey in a covered wagon, wherein one of the children riding in the back begged her father to stop the wagon so she could get out and claim the prairie dog puppy that was running after them. Ye gods.

.

Indeed they are. I learned way more about WW II from those books than I ever did from any history class.

I thought Robert Mitchum and Polly Bergen were woefully miscast as Pug and Rhoda Henry in the TV miniseries. Wouk made mention so often of Pug being short and stocky, and Rhoda being taller than her husband that Mitchum and Bergen just did not fit the visual. I think Carroll O'Connor would have been good in that role.

done to the book,

I'm a science geek.

especially historical characters of the New World. It is fascinating, terrifying and real and surreal how we actually came to this point in time.

I lived through half of it, but wasn't paying much attention, lol. There's so much to learn about how we got here!

Not the current administration's version of fictional science.

I love Cozies. Usually read them at bedtime. Right now I am reading Vicki Delaney and one of her Sherlock Book store mysteries with Gemma as the lead. I am in love with David Rosenfelt and his Andy Carpenter character along with his beloved Golden Retriever, Tara. Next on my bedside table is Flop Dead Gorgeous.

For daytime reading now it is Michael Connelly’s, The Waiting with Bosch and Ballard.

Also, reading Henry V by Dan Jones. One of my favorite kings. The other being Richard III. 📖📚📚

Used to be Science Fiction. Some Fantasy.

My preference anymore is for standalone books and not series. I got a real taste for Day 1 scenarios (often this is horror SF like zombie outbreak, alien invasion, kaiju, etc).

I prefer true monsters and not human monsters.

Sometimes mystery or true crime. I like most of John Grisham's legal stuff. Sometimes lightweight chick lit/romances. Historical fiction. Biographies.

Not much into horror/scary stuff. Never read any Stephen King and probably never will.

Also. I am a re-reader. I'm a pretty fast reader, and if there's a story I've really enjoyed, I always find some details I didn't recall or notice in the first read thru.

I know a lot of people think re-reading a book is a waste of time because, "You already know what happened." My counter to this is that most people have no problem seeing a favorite movie more than once, or listening to a favorite song again and again and again. Why should it be different with books? Some authors are such superb wordsmiths that I just really enjoy re-experiencing the skillful way they put words together. It's like the words feel good rolling around in my brain.

there might have been things that I missed.

Just a couple months ago, I finished a book on Glynn John's, the legendary producer. Enjoyed it greatly.

With an emphasis on the scientific aspect.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the "Ell Donsai" and Laurence Dahners' other series.

David Collins' "The Artifact" series.

Skyler Ramirez "The Worst..." series.

Nathan Lowell's recent series, while fiction, reveal some of the development and implementation issues surrounding rapid adoption of new technologies, which are very real to this career-diagnoser of why new tech sometimes fails. His "Traders tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper" series are perfect for any teen starting out in Sci-Fi.

I've never understood why people lump Sci-Fi and fantasy together. I couldn't care less about fairies, unicorns, or other BS I've encountered in the very few fantasy novels I've mistakenly started.

I'm not fond of endless wars either. Give me more realistic Sci-Fi, such as the authors mentioned above, and I'm really happy.

I like reading novel series where you follow the main characters through different stories. Authors like John Sandford, James Patterson, Lee Child, Douglas Preston& Lincoln Child, C.J. Box, and Michael Connelly.

I like the older science fiction writers like Issac Armstrong, Ray Bradury, and Ben Bova.

pass through stones to a different time. Waiting on the last book--number 10 in the series.

and horror.

and Russian literature.

preferably history!

Last edited Tue Oct 14, 2025, 09:50 PM - Edit history (1)

…but especially love literary and historical fiction.

The Source by James Michener.
Master and Commander.
Shaka Zulu
Shogun

Just a few examples out of many.

I was never a huge fan of fantasy but I absolutely love the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett.

I like book series in sci/fi, like The Expanse series (S.A. Corey) and the Honorverse & Safehold (David Weber). Fun to read, like popcorn in binders. I also am a fan of history, especially lately.

I like other genres, of course, such as non-fiction, biography, science, historical fiction, and history. I like fast-paced thrillers, but less lately.

...books about art history, artist biographies (especially Marcel Duchamp), art movements, such as dada/surrealism and pop-art, plus the contemporary(?) "art movement" pop-surrealism, if that's still a thing, cuz its been around for like 30 years.

Mark Ryden being a great example of that.

I read many of the greats Clark, Asimov, Bradbury, Simak, Sturgeon. Then the "New Wave" came along in the ?70's - read more short storiy anthologies than novels. 80's David Brin's Uplift Universe, Lost track of novels in the 90's onward till about ?2018 try to read more re ebooks/library (not too successfully yet). Oh I kept looking at the SF section at B&N (until a yr or two before covid) through all that time. So there's authors I know of '90s+ but not read. Competing interests with modest $ was an issue (still is, even more so)
Actually I just remembered I had started checking out SF anthologies from the library in 2017+ then waylaid by covid.
.
Haven't read the Latin authors that made the Magical Realism more known?
Read Forever by Pete Hamill, and Shoeless Joe Jackson (just finished) but the movie Field of Dreams (a favorite!) is considered MR which I saw in the movie thearter.

I might be interested in some Historical Fiction. I read an SF 2nd of 2 novels by Connie Willis - about WWII London which was SF bc there were time traveling historians visiting the period.
I just recently finished Kindred by Octavia Butler. A 1976 early 20's Black woman is repeatedly pulled back into slavery time in ?Virginia.

Re SF Maybe I should look up Best SF novels of the 90's, the 00s etc

Legal Thrillers