I Like to Read
I'm a snob like that. (This is more of a joke than anything else since I don't have a degree in anything remotely related to literature. Also, I'll read almost anything. Almost.)
"Reading" is usually the only activity I can write down when I have to list my hobbies. I love when the conversation turns to books because that's the only time when I feel like I'm on solid ground discussing things. (Not really when I'm with people who are well-read, though.)
Authors I love include: Chuck Palahniuk, Christopher Moore, Kurt Vonnegut, Richard Russo, George Orwell, Edith Wharton, Leo Tolstoy, Faulkner, Hemingway and tons of others. I appreciate the amount of research put in by Michael Crichton, Anne Rice and Philippa Gregory. I find Ayn Rand to be overrated on a couple of levels.
I've read some philosophy and some poetry so I have generic favorites along those lines. Most of my taste is a bit low-brow, though.