:hi: Hello back!
- I like to read entertaining books - ones that spend more time on action. Don't take that to mean that I can't read dense books, or that I'm shallow, reading-wise - I just like it when stuff happens in books. I can still appreciate the nuances and such. Three of my favorite books at the moment are "America: The Book" by Jon Stewart et. al, "The Pirates! in an Adventure with Communists" by Gideon Defoe, and "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay. I like the first two because they're hilarious in a surprisingly smart way (with inside jokes for their more nerdy readers), and I like the third because I find the lead character to be fascinating, and his narration is so much fun to read.
Oh! You mentioned periodicals too. Well, the magazines I most enjoy reading are fashion magazines (b/c a friend of mine and I have a traditions of writing silly comments in the margins and then exchanging them, reading them and laughing a lot), as well as fluff like Entertainment Weekly. I subscribe to The Economist, but sometimes it feels like a chore to read, even if it is interesting. I like The Atlantic a lot, too, and from the times I've read GQ, I've thought that if I were a man, I'd subscribe. If only there were an equally smart female version...
I also read the New York Times online every day, and sometimes The Guardian, when people send me articles.
- I like gifts that I need, and/or gifts I could use, and that could save me trouble/money. I, unlike many, actually really like getting gift cards, as long as they're to stores that I go to. Even if it's a cop-out, it's a useful cop-out. This also includes clothes, etc. But I dislike getting gifts where it seems like someone thought "Hey! She's a girl, so of COURSE she'll like THIS!", e.g. Bath and Body Works lotion. I like it when you can tell that thought has actually been put into the gift, or that the person went "Hey, she likes this sort of thing, so I'll buy it for her".
Hope that helps