I wouldn't count Light Novel as non-manga related, so I voted that I can't remember. It's really been a long time since I've picked up a book that was not a Light Novel.

Over the summer I found joy in the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card but wasn't able to complete the whole thing before returning to college (now my days are filled with unpleasurable but certain interesting readings). Read up to Xenocide. Great science fiction. The concept of philotic rays and faster than light/instantaneous travel across space and time is just fascinating.

Before college, at home, I would read all the time and borrow so many books from the public library (mangas included but a good large amount of novels). Back then it was easier to just scan through the books on the shelves to see which ones are interesting due to the limited selection when one gets to a libraries. These days it's difficult to find a good book without someone's recommendation. I sorely miss those days sometimes when it wasn't strange for someone to just go to a library and look for a book. Everyone at the library now seem to have a purpose to be at the library besides the fun of finding a book to read.

EDIT:
It's be nice to have a follow up poll asking people if they consider fan fiction and fan written stuff as "books." I'd like to see how many voted with and without that thought.

Last edited by mysstris at 6:17 pm, Oct 30 2014

lol I believe that's a school assigned book. At least it was when I was in high school. I never read it though since I wasn't part of that group of classes.

I understand the feeling of not wanting to waste time but with the internet being so large and there being too many books listed, it might be easier to go to a library since they have a limited selection

Once you do that, go to the section of your interest and scan through the spines, look at the titles. I dare say judge the book by its cover too (cover art is there to communicate something about the story hence it will be subject to some sort of judgment whether or not it wants it). After, just read the summary to see if it would interest you. Then you can look up reviews to see if it's actually any good.

I don't do the last part usually when I'm at the library (it's not like I'm buying it). I only look up reviews when I am scanning through book listings on a amazon (when I want to buy). Also there's a better chance to avoid really amateur work in a library like some of those free e-books on amazon.

Take advantage of the library, it's a great resource. It's free (unless they charge for being over due) and I know people who have walked out of the library without even checking the book out (security isn't too tight in some places). Also you might find a decent manga collection too. I know I did and it's constantly growing with a wide array of english published mangas. (metropolitan=city wide library system--one huge main and 10s of branches)

Last edited by mysstris at 11:49 am, Oct 26 2014

I read pretty much all the time, when I'm not at work that is.
Have been reading books since long before it became a requirement at school, my problem was more that I didn't read the books assigned, but the English translations/originals (don't like reading in my native tongue).
Even later at the uni I just ordered the English versions of textbooks (which were often much better).

Used to read a mass-paperback a week (±350pages), but that has pretty much doubled, if not tripled, since I've got my eReader and reading FanFiction became viable (without eye strain).

Last edited by Joentjuh at 12:13 pm, Oct 26 2014

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Who they, what are, and why?
- Manga Cover Database -

I read pretty much every day, sitting with my youngest son while he falls asleep (and then sometimes for a long time after that, if what I'm reading grabs me). Mostly I read novels, often books I've picked up cheap ($1/bag at the library book sale, or from a thrift store) or free (borrowed from the library, or from the book recycling bin at the recycle center). I love digging through piles of books & finding random stuff that looks interesting.

Edit - I also have a Kindle & have gotten a lot of free books for it, some better than others, but lately I've been reading physical books.

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"[English] not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."
-James Nicoll, can.general, March 21, 1992

I'm trying to read at least one book for pleasure in the middle of all my college books. Right now I'm reading "Hunger Games", I started a few days ago.

Ender's Game is awesome! I liked one or two of the sequels but was eventually turned off for a number of reasons. Anyway, I would recommend the spinoff series about Bean - Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, etc..

Now!

Well, non-manga, being Japanese novels. Been reading more of those than manga lately. Also following a few Chinese novels, as well as some fanfics. So strictly speaking, it's been a long time I've read a proper English novel.

I'm in the category of so long ago I don't remember. I was never a big reader. I read a light novel every blue moon. I don't have anything against books. I'm sure if I figured out what genre I like I could easily be an avid reader. But I like the convenience of being a leecher. I know where to go to read manga for free without having to download them. If I wanted to read books for free I'd probably have to download them or I'd actually have to go to a library. Too lazy for that.

https://www.goodreads.com/

you will find plenty of good book there, it easy to find the kind of book you like because you can search genre just like on MU.

Well, I haven't really read many books since I started university. At the beginning I borrowed a few English books from the library. That was great, but after courses started I didn't have any more time for books, manga, tv shows and fanfics. Something had to give, well the other stuff is easily available when I'm in the mood for something.

I don't buy books for pleasure, for me they are a one time deal after finishing reading I read it several times and then I just want to move on to the next book. That's why I always get books from the library, but I don't like the selection from the public library and the books I have touched recently aren't really for my pleasure it's just to train language skills in French, Spanish and Japanese.

To be honest I read a lot, but not books. I read web fiction since the themes I like I can easily find on-line and I can read it on my cellphone, yeah and some translation of Japanese and Chinese books.

Recently I got hooked on LN. Was probably my fifth try or so. There are many interesting ideas, but the execution often turns me off. Generally I don't like the writing style in LN, for me it's just to painful to read. I first struck gold with No Game No Life. I'm glad I can add new stuff to my reading material.

I prefer books to manga, so I read a lot. If it wasn't for libraries and ebooks I would have run out of space to store books a long time ago
In my experience, the people who say they "don't really like reading" just haven't found the right book yet. I've managed to convince several friends that reading doesn't have to be boring

The last things I read, a few months ago, were the Harry Potter series. They were great of course. I've been reading other interesting books since, but they were part of my college program so..

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朝露の少女。

“The longer we live, the more weight we carry in our hearts.”

Of those 75 people using "other", I would bet money than at least 70 of them are running ChromeOS, 3 or so are running OS/2 or its slightly more modern variant, eComStation, and the last stragglers, _if there are any_, are running their own homebrew unix-like OS from scratch. Yeah, that's right, I went there.

(edit: and yes, I know that Chrome uses the Linux kernel, as does Android, but they are not the GNU/Linux operation system, which is what people mean when they say "their OS is linux". The linux kernel by itself is not an OS)