Favorite Writers / Books ?

[smc]

I am a voracious reader. I read a lot of classics, and to the degree possible I always read in the original languages if they are ones I know. I love to read poetry, especially German poetry of the Romantic and Late Romantic periods and American poetry of the twentieth century. On the rare occasions when I "allow" myself to read something purely for fun, it is usually a novel suggested by a friend or colleague. Right now, I am reading the Harry Potter books ... a summer reading "project" that just feels right, since I missed out on the Pottermania that swept through people younger than me. I'm in the middle of the second book, and enjoying it immensely.