Books I like to read

An op-ed commentary in the paper this morning spawned me to write about the novels I lke to read. Thinking back, I find that my reading has evolved over the years. In my twenties, I used to read a lot of self-help books and, occasionally, a chick-lit novel. But I also read lots of James Michener, John Jakes, John Steinbeck and Leon Uris novels. The more I learn about writing, however, the more I find flaws in almost every novel I read. Sometimes I reject a novel after reading 20 pages, sometimes it takes 80. I recently read a novel that seems to be popular for its social content. Yet, the novel was at least 90 % dialogue with no description of the characters or the town they lived in. While I usually enjoy dialogue (and reject novels that have page after page of description), 90 % is too much. I found myself getting weary. My brain needed a break. I'm currently reading a historical mystery set in Victorian England and I'm enjoying the descriptions a lot.
You may wonder now what novels I enjoyed reading all the way through. Here is a partial list of the books I've read and loved during the last few years:
Snow falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Wish you Well by David Baldacci
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb
Down to the Soundless Sea by Thomas Steinbeck
North and South by John Jakes
Out of this Furnace by Thomas Bell
The Haj by Leon Uris
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt