I posted this in the pro gun forum and then figured maybe I could post it here and find out if anyone else goes through withdrawal when they run out of books.
We have a few nationally known bookstores in the Mpls/St Paul area, Once upon a Crime, Uncle Hugo and Uncle Edgar's, Midway Books. J&J Books in Anoka used to be an almost daily haunt of mine growing up. I was first exposed to Doc Savage and John Carter of Mars there as well as Heinlein, Lovecraft, Micheal Moorecock, Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, Frank Herbert, Jerry Pournelle, Gordon Dickson, John D. McDonald, Lawrence Block, Thomas Perry and at least fifty others. Jean sold out or some such a few years ago but it used to be (and may still be) if you wanted a rare mystery that was the second place you called. I hit Uncle Hugos and Uncle Edgars at least once a month and Once Upon a Crime about the same. Some of my new fav authors are John Scalzi, Randy Wayne White, John Ringo, John Sanford, Richard K Morgan, Barry Eisler.
Books and magazines are a lot like groceries to me I go shopping for them almost daily and I start twitching if I don't have something to read.

I read a lot too. I read pretty much anything I can lay my hands on but my favorite genre is Military History with an emphasis on WW2 and the Napoleanic Wars. I also enjoy techno and espionage thrillers like those by Tom Clancy, Stephen Coonts, Ludlum, WEB Griffin, etc. The era of sailing ships also fascinates me with books by CS Forester, Alexander Kent, etc. Western's are great too. For SciFi, I prefer the combat SciFi books.

I get a lot of books off Usenet and read them (in bed) on my Pocket PC (using Palm's eReader). My wife says she can hear the panic in my voice when I forget to charge it. I also use eReader and Microsoft reader on my PC and laptop.

I'm also a model railroader and a flight simmer so I enjoy reading magazines on Model Railroading in addition to magazines on guns, aircraft, motorcycles, computers and photography. I have way too many hobbies! The Internet was a godsend when it came along, especially the ebook Usenet groups.

I read a little. I'm on a Heinlein kick at the moment. Yet again, and again . . .

I read shampoo bottles if I can't get my hands on a book. I'm that much of an addict.

As of late it's been a re-reading of Vince Flynn's books along with some political process books, but I'll read almost any genre.

-Mark

Dee,
Check out John Ringo, he is a former Army Captain so he is reasonably accurate when discussing logistics or tactics. Scalzi's Old Mans War is different and a very well told tale.

Mark,
I read cereal boxes and coupons in between twitches when I'm out.

Joel,
Heinlein is an author I reread over and over too. I just got done reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress for probably the 15th time in my life and Citizen of the Galaxy before that. I also just reread a bunch of short stories and finally noticed he was a lot more authoritarian or statist in his earlier stuff say up to the mid sixties. Heinlein and Spider Robinson ruined me for polite society.

I have a few smells that make me happy without fail, the smell of a used bookstore, gunpowder, dark roasted coffee, race gas and hot tires.

I grew up on Louis L'Amour and Zane Gray. In high school I got into the Stephen King and John Saul books. In college it was on to Ludlum and Clancy.

I then quit reading voraciously until about 5 years ago. My Dad opened up about his time in the Korean War and that got me interested in reading about it, which led to books about all the other US wars. I also got into fiction again after a friend of mine recommended John Sandford. That lead to Vince Flynn, Lee Child (whom I quit reading after his comments against hunting and in support of PETA) Dean Koontz (love the Odd Thomas series) and lately, Nelson DeMille.

Many of the books I "read" are audiobooks. With an hour or more per day in the car, it's a great way "red".

Now all three of my kids are voracious readers. My wife makes weekly trips to the library for them and I hand off some of my military books to my oldest son. I'm a strong believer of reading to your kids every day until they get to a point where they want to read their own books. Reading is great exercise for the mind that leads to higher performance in any intellectual pursuit.

I read nonstop. I keep a book in the living room, one in each bathroom, one in the bedroom, one in the car, and one at work...all in progress. I have at least 4 linear feet of books on my 'to read' shelf and 30 pages in my amazon wishlist. That's on top of the large list of books I reread every year.

Fantasy and sci-fi play a big role, but there isn't a genre I turn down. When I was growing up, the 'bookmobile' stopped 20 feet from my house. I read the entire thing.

Favorite series: Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. Objectivist fantasy.

My new reading kick is history, in particular the Bill of Rights. I am reading Halbrook's That Every Man be Armed right now which is making me realize just how much better read our forefathers were. I had no idea from high school civics and history that Aristotle and Socrates believed in arming the whole citizenry not to mention Machiavelli, Cicero, Blackstone, Bastiat and the rest nor did I know that sort of history and reading was such an influence on Jefferson, Paine, the Adams and the rest. It's a little humbling and it makes me kinda cranky with my old teachers. Of course in said teachers defense it appears from conversation my 75 year old father in law never learned any of this either in his high school or college.

Lenny,
I learned to read before kindergarten and was voracious in high school I could go through a couple paperbacks a day. Our house rarely had a functioning TV, I still haven't figured out if that was planned or if my dad was just really cheap, so the library and J&J Books were mainstays. I have never been able to get into Stephen King or Dean Koontz. I have read most of the Lee Childs books but they are becoming too formulaic and Reacher is kind of an unrealistic character all around. I could suspend my disbelief for awhile but it is getting harder with each book. You want a good blend of horror and .ahh... mystery, I guess check out the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson, great stuff.
princewally,
I've slowed down some in the last few years but still run through a book or so a week and if I turn off the computational device off the number increases to 4 or 5. I have a couple of feet of books in the to read pile and probably 10 or 12 authors who's stuff gets bought in hardcover.

Thanks, I'm quite familiar with Ringo. I haven't read all his books yet but on the way there. I've read and enjoyed a few of the othe Baen Books guys like David Weber, etc. The only Heinlin that I have read is Starship Troopers and I loved it. I came to science fiction late as the first few that I read turned me off as being too far fetched. I read the entire Reacher series and you're correct in that it was getting stale at the end. I too could never get into Stephen King even though I tried. Never got into any of the Russian authors like Dostoyevsky. Too heavy, I guess. I'd rather read a rollicking good adventure story any day than something serious or philosophical. I enjoyed the Helmsman series too and Cornwell's Sharpe series having reread those many times. I've got a lot of these as ebooks.

One of the conscious decisions that my wife and I made when my daughter was growing up was not to get cable. Even though I love the "Hitler channel" and stuff like Discovery Wings, I'm glad we stuck to it as my daughter was reading complete books by the time she was seven. She still reads all the time and she is in College now. While in high School, she went to State three times for Academic Decathlon and a couple of times for Mock Trial. I attribute most of that to her reading.

My wife often tells people that I would read soup can labels if I didn't have books.

I recommend -

A Man in Full - Tom Wolfe
The Godfather - Mario Puzo
Kane and Able - Jeffrey Archer
The Prodigal Daughter - Jeffrey Archer (this is the continuation of Kane and Able)

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (there are a number of books in this series, check out the one based on the life of Bean)

The complete Mitch Rapp series - Vince Flynn

Night Fall - Nelson Demile (for the conspiracy hungry)

The Five Fingers - Gayle Rivers (fantastic Vietnam era book)
Chickenhawk - Robert Mason (life of the Huey pilot in Nam)

...and only if you've had a dog...
Marley and Me - John Grogan

Just last week, I picked up a half dozen boxes of books at an auction for a dollar. A whole bunch of the late 70's spy novels with the funky 70's artwork on the cover.That will keep me going for awhile.

I like reading more than anything else I have ever done. I have done quite a few things, and will do many more before I die, but I bet I will still like reading best.

Read Jonathon Hoag, last night.

Check out the Bloomington Crime Prevention Associations "Book 'em" used book sale, June 6th through the 20th

http://www.bcpamn.org/Book__em.html

Hardcover is $2
Paperback is $1