What genres/subgenres do you prefer? Which authors do you love? Who can't you stand?

~L

I read nearly everything, from classics to fantasy to (yes, I'll admit it) silly romance novels, to crime/thrillers.

For the most part I tend to avoid horror as I have an over active imagination and it gives me nightmares.

I read a lot of fantasy/science fiction obviously. Favourite authors are Frank Herbert, Philip Pullman, Terry Brooks, and... can't think of any others at the moment.

Recent reads that I really enjoyed? The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas, and, surprisingly, The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Makes Twilight look like child's writing. Oh wait, it IS child's writing.

I've recently decided to work my way through a couple of classics sitting untouched on my shelf. Because I really liked A Tale of Two Cities, and Tess of the D'urbervilles (sp?) and have you guys read Dracula? It was awesome.

*EDIT: So if you can advise me on whether to start with Sons and Lovers or Far From the Madding Crowd it'd be great.

If any of you guys are on goodreads, we should be friends. My profile is here. To see a list of books I've read click here.

I tend to read mainly sci-fi and fantasy. My current favorite authors are Elizabeth Bear, Jim Butcher, & Terry Pratchett.

I'm currently re-reading the Alice books, for semi-obvious reasons.

~Lyn, who has more books than furniture, though T. says that's not actually true.

Haven't heard of the first 2 you mentioned. What do they write?

Elizabeth Bear (@matociquala on Twitter) writes space opera and what could probably be called dark contemporary faery - no surprise as to why I like her.

Jim Butcher writes urban fantasy noir - the Dresden Files series - and high fantasy - the Alera series. He & Pratchett are the only authors, currently, who I will buy new & sometimes hardcover.

~Lyn, actively trying to shrink her book collection.

Hmmm... I read mostly speculative fiction with the occassional thriller.

I absolutely love the Dresden Files.

I can't read Dracula any more without noticing the plot holes. I blame Fred Saberhagen.

I read a lot. And own more books than many people can contemplate.

I am the begining of the "You should read this" chain for Jim Butcher among many of my friends. I started with Elasmo, who got darn near everyone else. He's good like that.

I have lots of fantasy, less scifi, and plenty of romance, mostly of the paranormal variety (which I started reading in the late '90's before it became common and wildly popular).

Favorites are definitely Jim Butcher, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Briggs, Terry Pratchett, Simon R. Green, Wen Spencer, Kim Harrison, Emma Bull (cause War for the Oaks is such a seminal work in urban fantasy), Anne McCaffrey, Tamora Pierce, Jane Yolen, Diana Wynne Jones, J.K. Rowling, Holly Black... the list goes on.

Erm, that was just a scan of the shelves I can easily see - the paranormal romance is behind me.

....and you're NOT on goodreads? :P

ooh I'm a fan of Anne McCaffrey too, though most of her stuff is out of print isn't it? I've had to hunt down second hand copies. And I basically grew up on Tamora Pierce, I especially love the Lioness quartet.

J. K. Rowling's kind of an obvious love. It's the only book book I ever wrote fanfiction for. (Bad fanfiction, but not as bad as other stuff I wrote for animes, now THAT was bad).

I loved Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman) especially because he describes London so well, it felt incredibly real to me. Did you read the spin-off story by another author, called Un Lun Dun? Takes the same idea and puts a novel spin on it (thanking Neil in his intro of course). Haven't had the chance to read much else of Gaiman's, other than the Smoke and Mirrors short story anthology.

Favourite books?

One of mine is The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood). The Golden Compass/Northern Lights (Philip Pullman) is another fave.

I may still have a giant stack of Anne McCaffrey, if you're still missing stuff you want to read. Friend's girlfriend's (now-wife) mom bought him a bunch of it, he's not big into fantasy, I got it. Like the wool sweater. Their families gave me so much stuff!

I wrote a 50-word fanfic for HP, and did some yummy RP there

~Lyn, full of books.

OMG I'd love those books. Which do you have? Why are you so lucky?!

A 50 word fanfic?! About what? A couple of my less embarrassingly badly written fics are still up here. I'm ashamed to admit I'm still an avid fanfic reader, probably always will be. My IRL friends think I'm a weirdo.