For the Gentlemen -- What books/ Authors/Poets must your Lady have read?

If her favorite book was Catcher in the Rye that would be a red flag.

I find a knowledge of cookbooks to be an advantage.

My x-girlfriend started out all impressed with the books I had in my apartment, but several months later she was "try[ing] not to be hurt that you don't like fiction," despite my having made it clear from the beginning that I read hardly any of it. Also, she complained that I didn't recommend any novels for her to read. When I gave her the names of some of my favorites and casually pointed them out in my collection, she said, no, you have to give them to me, put them in my hand and tell me how great they are, etc. I found her expectations rather strange.

Is it hypocritical to say that, yes, I would prefer a partner who reads at least some non-fiction to try to understand the world? I certainly wouldn't be hurt if she didn't, nor is it a requirement.

A lot of women around here read trashy romance novels, starring rogue pirates with thrusting manhoods or whatever. If I was a guy and saw my girlfriend reading that, I'll tell her to pack-up and move out. No way a guy that live up to the expectations floating around her head after reading such nonsense.

There should be a separate thread of what your lady/guy should not be reading.

I wouldn't say I have requirements, as long as they read. However, it does help that my girlfriend reads a lot of sci-fi, that we both read the same Dragonlance books and whatever when we were twelve, and that we have generally similar literary tastes.

Vermont Girl - I'm with you on that advice! Trashy romances are just that, trash.

Now, if the lady of your heart is reading bodice-rippers that are edgy erotic, I'd recommend a cozy up with your lady ;)

1. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
2. Something original, fascinating and brilliant that I haven't even heard of. (And there's a lot of that!)

Now, if she reads the odd bit of trashy romance, especially the near-pornographic kind, that's a good sign. And I've read my share of genre fiction, so I have no problem with that, as long as she doesn't have framed prints of faeries on the walls.

Good signs include books in more than one language, multiple books by a single author (that doesn't suck), books by authors I don't know but then read and enjoy (my GF opened my eyes to Haruki Murakami, which was wonderful). Some philosophy is good.

Definite no-nos: US Weekly, People Magazine, any sort of new-agey self-help. Or not enough books. She's gotta have a bunch.

Fiction by Gore Vidal or anything non-linguistics by Noam Chomsky can be warning signs. Lots of children's books indicate an unhealthy attachment to childhood, or an intense desire to have children pronto.

I was horrified when I found copies of Ayn Rand on my girl's shelves, but I forgave her because she promised that she'd only read them for the stories, not the ideology.

v.

Walt Whitman. Period.

(Are you President Clinton?)

Verbal writes: "Lots of children's books indicate an unhealthy attachment to childhood, or an intense desire to have children pronto."

Or perhaps she's a happily childfree children's librarian and professional storyteller who collects children's books. That said, I did mildly freak out my now-husband by sharing my fairly valuable Mother Goose collection with him on our third date.