No. For the most part I separate the author from their work. The exceptions would be non-fiction books. I will look up those authors to get an idea of how serious to take the topic they are writing about. There has only been one author I looked up to get personal incites about, Ayn Rand. The only reason I looked her up was first to find some redeeming quality or reason for your writing style and philosophy. Then it just turned into animosity ammo to argue against her proponents.

Exactly. I’m currently reading “Stolen Focus” by Johann Hari. He talks about this very thing. It’s pretty interesting so far.

That’s a great breakdown.

I think the problem lies in how most information is communicated, electronically. I think this mode of transmission conditions people to react very quickly. This quick reaction does not bode well for any sort of in depth discussion, on any topic, let alone a very complex topic.

I’ve only read “Dark Matter” and it was very ‘meh’. The premise was interesting, but the execution was closer to terrible than it was good. I don’t know if his other works are similar.

Sounds like you may be more visually inclined. I have a very high auditory inclination. So audiobooks work great for me.

Why would reading a little everyday be a bad habit? In my opinion, it is a good habit to be consistently reading something everyday.

I consume more books through audible than I do physical books right now. But I usually go in waves, switching back and forth between physical and audiobooks.

Those three books are some of my favorite whodunits. I love all the characters and their development through out the books.

For reasons you described that is why I’m picky about magical realism. So far the only series that I think have addressed the issue well have been The Dresden Files and the Harry Potter series.

What ruins my suspension of belief is when authors do such terrible research into widely accessible information. Like first aid, basic emergency medicine, basic firearm safety, fundamental urban combat movement, etc… all of these are easy to find and easy to portray correctly. But too many times authors just phone things like that in. The example that comes to mind of some of the most egregious lack of research in those regards is “Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch.

I randomly found this book at a used book store and figured I would give it a whirl. I too thoroughly enjoyed the book. I was impressed with how much I was sucked into his story. I know I missed some details about things reading it as an American, but it was still great. I enjoyed it so much it made me check out “Slade House” as well. Also, just as good.

I will pause on sections and think about it for a bit, if I feel I need some notes I’ll jot them in the margin. Sometimes I need to reread that section or paragraph, then make notes. I guess I just read the book twice on one reading.

Fiction - fantasy, sci-fi, whodunits, horror. I generally don’t get into the sub-categories of those genres

Non-fiction - this is quite a broad spectrum, but mostly psychology, neuroscience, evolution, religion, biographies, physics, astrophysics, biology, history, philosophy. Pretty much anything that I can understand and interests me.

Yes, every book can be beneficial to read. As long as you have the ability to read beyond the words.

For example; I only used to read non-fiction. I thought fiction was just as worthless as prime time sitcoms. A mindless escape from the world. But my wife finally convinced me to read some fiction. After I began reading fiction, it helped me connect lots of the things I’ve been reading about to actual human beings. It definitely helped me become more empathetic to others. It also helped me integrate the information from non-fiction books into my daily life.

Most of the fiction I read is fantasy, sci-fi, and whodunits.

Everybody has their styles they enjoy more than others. But I do feel it is not good to completely disregard fiction. Fiction is great for helping give perspective. Maybe look for the “popcorn” type books? The ones that don’t really have plot twists or any big surprise. Or just read the spoilers about the crazy plot twists? Mysteries aren’t for everyone.

For years I only read non-fiction, I enjoyed learning pieces of many different things. But I lacked the context to put them together. My friends started calling me the “parade of facts”. Reading fiction has helped me put these “facts” into better context. It also helped me realize most people don’t like listening to a parade of facts. But in the end, what you read is up to you.