Reading for pleasure or reading to learn?

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Lately I've appreciated reading for pleasure more, it's essential to "read to learn" as part of my university course and whilst reading about law is fairly interesting, it's a drag. You could sit there for hours looking over a case and still not know what you're looking for. Personally, I don't think anything beats a good novel if the author can absolutely nail it, I prefer leaving it to the imagination when you're reading descriptive narratives

[Terra Branford]

I read for both, though mostly for pleasure.

I read educational books all the time, and barely have books for pleasures. The books I do own for reading pleasures instead of educational, I re-read a hundred million times and it never gets boring xD

[Valvalis]

I actually get a lot of pleasure from reading educational books Some of my favorites are Helge Ingstad's nonfiction works about the Norse Greenlanders--while reading through "Land Under The Pole Star" I threw Moya Brennan's "Two Horizons" album on repeat and ate that stuff up--the way he described the Greenland settlements, it feels like you're actually there I'm a huge history nerd, I know it, but it's so fucking awesome

I do read fantasy and sci fi novels for pleasure sometimes, like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Douglas Adams stuff, but since I've been writing my own fantasy series for the last ten years and I'm assuming at this point that it's going to take at least another twenty to finish all the books, I don't have all that much time to read for pleasure, unfortunately :/ Most of the historical stuff I read, even though I choose it on my own, is pertinent to my other potential future career, of doing archaeological field research in the above subjects that I mentioned.

[RapidBlaze]

I read for pleasure, but somehow, I always manage to learn something. I read a book called 'The Gate of Hell' or something similar and I managed to learn an equation. It was just one of those random things. But yeah, for whatever reason you read for, you will always learn something.

[Liebchen]

I have always preferred reading for pleasure, myself. Reading for educational purposes seems forced and then you end up not liking it...especially if its a book or topic that you are not particularly fond of...and then I think thats why some people have come to hate reading so much.

I've been reading for educational purposes for too long. I do like reading my nursing books for the most part, however not all topics are as enjoyable for me as others. I'm looking forward to the day (December 2011 = Graduation ) when my reading for educational purposes days are over. After I graduate, I'm going to ask for a kindle as my graduation/Christmas present and load it up with books that I actually want to read. I can't wait.

[ElvenAngel]

I read for both no problem. I love a good novel but I'll pick up any science, literary essay or informational book anytime, but only on certain subjects. You won't catch me reading up on mathematics or something, hahaha...

[George Costanza]

I like reading for pleasure but not trash. I only like reading novels that are intelligent thought provoking etc. Authors who have a particular world view or who are making some sort of social comment. That being said I have a penchant for murder mystery tpe books, but good stuff, not the kind of shite you'd see in a Jerry Bruckheimer film. I do quite like reading for education as most history books have one or two great lines that manage to amuse me. Also I mean proper history books, not popular history books because they're almost worthless.

[Stories]

If I want to immerse myself into a storyline, I play a video game, or watch something. The rare times that I want to read are mostly educational, such as my random interest in the Tarot Cards (due to Persona 3, to be honest). And Mythology.

But I love just looking through the Smithsonian Handbooks. For some reason, it's just so interesting to me.

[Stock Choengroux]

I prefer reading to learn. I'm not into novels (some exceptions, of course), as I find myself falling asleep when I read them. However, give me a book like Griffiths's Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, and I'll eat it up.

[Lirael]

Usually, I'd prefer to read a novel; I love to get lost in a different world with dynamic characters! However, I like educational books too. I love to learn! The best books are those which provide the context for a piece of Literature! I love to ponder over what could have inspired the writer, to note where and how he twisted a piece of history, and consider how his novel may have been received.