Books come in several forms-- crime thrillers, historical fiction, sci-fi, poetry, autobiography, short stories-- and you need to try to read them all.
There is so much to read out there that it would be absolutely inconceivable to read absolutely everything, even if you were to spendevery minute of every day of your life reading through every little thing that you might get your hands on. This might look like cause to worry-- how is one possibly supposed to make the right decisions about what to read with so many books out there?-- but it is really quite a liberating thing as well. You will never be able to read it all, so it is important that you pick your own path through literature's vast and noble history. Having stated that, although it is clearly really crucial that you read books that you will take pleasure in, you need to watch out for getting stuck in the exact same genre or style of book forever. With so much to read, it would be a pity not to explore, reading a few of the best books of all time along with books you will certainly delight in. People like the founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones would certainly urge you to try getting various types of novels, possibly trying to read something very different from the book you just finished.
Books nowadays can be really generically divided into two camps-- fiction and non-fiction. Fiction is, of course, the stories that regale us and invoke unbelievable feelings, whereas non-fiction is the books that teach us about the world in which we live, frequently written by an expert on the subject. You may discover the majority of readers split in between these 2 camps, but reading both kinds of books is a really excellent practice to enter into, since you get really diverse but similarly essential things from each. People like the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books would definitely prompt you to read both fiction and non-fiction books.
Similar to all types of arts, there are many different kinds of books that fall under the umbrella of 'literature'. Obviously you have novels, almost certainly the most popular books in the twenty-first century, however you also have an incredible heritage of lovely poetry and novellas at your fingertips too. The mention of poetry constantly elicited a cumulative groan at school, but when you are an adult and your tastes, as well as your psychological palette, have become more refined, reading poetry can be a really singularly lovely experience. Many of the best books ever composed are not prose, but poetry, it being by far the earliest literary tradition, predating novels by lots of hundreds of years. People like the CEO of the asset manager with a stake in Amazon would likely prompt you to try reading some poetry along with prose works.