I'd love to have a 19th Century Russian book club where all the members had to act like the pretentious minor noblemen they were reading about.
Criticism starts - it has to start - with a real passion for reading. It can come in adolescence, even in your twenties, but you must fall in love with poems.
The word philosophy sounds high-minded, but it simply means the love of wisdom. If you love something, you don't just read about it; you hug it, you mess with it, you play with it, you argue with it.
I read all of the books by Tolkien, including 'The Hobbit,' when I was in my twenties, and his deep love of nature and all things green resonates deeply with me.
Reading poetry gives me a sense of calm, well-being, and love for humanity - the same stuff more flexible women get from yoga.
People forget that writers start off being readers. We all love it when we find a terrific read, and we want to let people know about it.
I love conventional apocalypse movies. In movies, I like to be with the president, or the scientist trying to solve the problem, but that's not the kind of fiction that I like to read.
We would all love to walk up to someone and shoot them in the head, there's no doubt about that. We're too civilised to admit it, but we're happy to read about it.
I think, because I've been working for a while, I've been working since I was ten, I had the fortune of reading a lot, a lot of scripts.
I had the advantage of reading the book, and when the script was first submitted to me, it was just another gangster story - the east side taking over the west side and all that.
It sounds so geeky, but I really do like studying and reading, and if I'm not working on 'Harry Potter,' then my greatest relaxation is to sit with a book.
When you're comfortable, you're more confident - I really believe that. If you're walking around in a dress or a pair of shoes that are uncomfortable, it reads all over you.
Professional reviewers read so many bad books in the course of duty that they get an unhealthy craving for arresting phrases.
I really did try to write it so that an educated public that cares about issues like this doesn't have to be a lawyer and can read it and understand it.
Writing is literally transformative. When we read, we are changed. When we write, we are changed. It's neurological. To me, this is a kind of magic.
The vast majority of free verse is ghastly. Utterly ghastly. No one reads it. No one listens to it.
I always loved reading. Growing up, my favorite book was 'A Child's Garden of Verses,' by Robert Louis Stevenson.
In fourth grade I had a high school reading level, but I didn't want to go to school and I didn't feel I belonged there.
I've learned to develop a thick skin, but you're bound to be affected when you read something bad about yourself in the paper and it's rubbed in your face over and over.
Bercelak’s kin kept themselves busy by sharpening weapons, reading, talking, or setting things on fire with small bursts of flame.
I believe if more American children read the Ten Commandments and are taught what they mean, they will predictably engage in less crime.
