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<p>Do you really believe that the only purpose of reading is to acquire information? </p>
<p>[Is</a> Google Making Us Stupid? - Nicholas Carr - The Atlantic](<a href=“Is Google Making Us Stupid? - The Atlantic”>Is Google Making Us Stupid? - The Atlantic)</p>
<p>@halcyonheather: there aren’t any books you’re “supposed” to be reading. Just read whatever you enjoy reading. This year I’ve enjoyed Mr Wuffles (cat meets aliens), Red Knit Cap Girl (girl with bunny rabbit go on adventures), and Unspoken (underground railroad) and some of these don’t even have words. 
Or have you tried YA novels? There are pretty fantastic ones. If you want something meaty, try The knife of never letting go. What about The improbable life of PauL Erdos, perfect for Finals time, 10mn in an easy chair? You might like The Signal and the Noise more though but I’m sure that if you set foot into a public library you’ll find books you’d like to read.</p>
<p>OP: The point of reading is to have fun. Browse in a library until you find something you’d enjoy reading. Find whatever you want to read and if you don’t enjoy it, find something else, skip pages, etc. it’s your right, as a reader, to control what you read, how you read it, where you read it, to reread, etc. I once read something called “The Rights of the Reader” and I thought it awesome, obviously :)</p>
<p>I would just write about a book you have read for school that you liked. They are just trying to learn more about you; what your interests and preferences are. It’s not a judgement about how much you read or like to read.
Some kids don’t read much outside of school, but can be enticed to read more by being exposed to non-fiction books in their areas of interest. My kid enjoyed reading books about science and scientists.</p>
<p>OP, what about…</p>
<p>Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament, by Browne
As the World Dies, by Frater
Patient Zero, by Maberry
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Grahme-Smith
World War Z (sans Brad), Brooks
Dune, Herbert
Ringworld, Niven
Neuromancer, Gibson</p>
<p>Preview them on that kindle reader app thing.</p>
<p>I really wish I could cite the source, but I recently heard an interview with a Rhodes Scholar (one involved in some kind of postKatrina humanitarian work in Nola) who reported that he hadn’t read a book in years. It’s possible we’ve entered a post-page world. </p>
<p>Try creative nonfiction.</p>
<p>I haven’t read a book since catcher in the Rye I think. It’s a shame, during middle school I’d read 1-2 books a week at least, just don’t have the time anymore to read as much and I’d probably get mocked if I read young adults books still and I don’t really like what I’ve seen of “adult” literature. The last author I really adored was probably Michael Crichton and I read nearly every one of his novels but of course he died (and I know his works had several works). I guess now looking back on it I really connect with Holden caufield, but that insight into my personality isn’t going to make colleges want to accept me. I guess I’d have to pull out some other fake (or in Holden’s words " phony") essay for these colleges. Shame I really did like Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>@theanaconda, Please don’t rule out a university just based on one question on the application supplement. </p>
<p>Use a book that you read for school. I don’t think they care about which book it is, so much as your reasoning why it is/was significant to you (the symbolism, the philosophy of the book, what you learned from it, etc). </p>
<p>Who knows what the application readers are looking for. Just be yourself in your answers. That is best.</p>