Reading/Books

I've been thinking recently about books and reading.  Reading is, by far, one of my favorite things to do.  I am currently reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen and trying to read Inkspell (the sequal to Inkheart) by Cornelia Funke (By the way, Inkheart and Inkspell might be better books in their original language, I don't know, I think they're alright books, but could be a bit shorter).
Books are wonderful escapes.  Getting wrapped up in a mystery, falling in love with characters, of course hating the villian (as we all must), trying to figure out the "twist" in the story before we come to it, all the while still hoping to be surprised, because as we all know, the book is never really good if we're not truly surprised by the way a story is turning out.  I'm not sure who said this, I just read it somewhere, but I agree.  They said "You know you have read a good book when you turn to the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend".  I've read a few of those books, where you feel very sad because you got to the end and although you wanted to know how it ended more than anything else, you didn't want it to be over.
But on the same hand, as good as a novel is, non-fiction are just as good.  Biographies of people that lived durring the world wars, the depression, and people who were excited about the changes going on durring the 1880's.  The history of Europe, the fall of Rome.  Reading about the French Revolution, or about Australia's convict camps.  And history is not all, there are music books which show us how to play music that touches us and makes us happy, sad or calm.  There are cook books, books on just about every animal, science books, math books (ok, can math books really be qualified? I mean c'mon, math?), books about herbs and gardening, about sewing, law, photography, and everything else you can possibly think of. 
Some books touch some people, while others touch other people.  We all have our preferences.  I love history books, biographies, certain romance-ish boks, books that are about Australia, Alaska and Russia.  In general if a book is well written, I'll give it a chance and read it.  Half the time I find a new interest, something to research, to learn about, and it some cases try.
So what are your favorites books and types of books? What are you currently reading?

"A story is alive as you and I are.  It is rounded by muscle and sinew.  Rushed with blood.  Layered with skin, both rough and smooth.  At it's core lies soft marrow of hard white bone.  A story beats with the heart of every person who has ever strained ears to listen.  On the breath of a storyteller, it soars.  Until its images and deeds become so real you can see them in the air, shimmering like oases on the horizon line.
A story can fly like a bee, so strait and swift you catch only the hum of its passing.  Or move so slowly it seems motionless, curled upon itself like a snake in the sun.  It can vanish like smoke before the wind.  Linger like perfume in the nose.  Change with every telling, yet always remain the same." - From The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey

"No man can be called friendless who has God and the companionship of of good books." - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves. From each of them goes out its own voice... and just as the touch of a button on our set will fill the room with music, so by taking down one of these volumes and opening it, one can call into range the voice of a man far distant in time and space, and hear him speaking to us, mind to mind, heart to heart."  - Gilbert Highet

Mariah