I'm a big fan of reading good books. How about you?
I am too.  I am actually really into fiction books mostly.  My favorite author is Jodi PIcoult.  You?
I've heard of Picoult, but never read her. Seems like she got a pretty early start, writing her first story at age 5.
Yes, I have to correct myself, she is realistic fiction.  But yes, she is widely successful in that almost every single one of the books that she writes becomes a New York Times Best Seller.  
Michael Chabon is a good one, too. I'm no expert, since I've only read one of his books (Kavalier & Clay,) but it was excellent.
Oh, I've never heard of him.  Do you know the types of books he writes?
Usually contemporary literature. The type of stuff that can be dense but is rewarding once you get into it.
I'll have to check him out.  I don't get a lot of time to read so usually it's gotta be something to punch out in a quick setting.  But occasionally I like to devote some time to ready some heavier stuff. 
Same here. I don't get to as much as I'd like. The toughest thing I've read was Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. That thing is a beast, but excellent.
I've been doing a book club all winter and our focus has been World War II, more specifically the Holocaust.  Which has been emotionally draining enough to read over and over about the terrible things that happened during that period.