Motivation for reading?

I was thinking about how some books draw me in while others bore me to tears after 2 pages. The obvious answer is that there is something of interest that relates to me or my goals. The stronger the interest the more I get absorbed in the reading material and the better I can remember it.

From this I can then work it the other way and find out what motivates me. I was reading Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks and was turning the pages with an energy of a chocoholic with an empty stomach eating into a Toblarone. I wanted to know the tricks used by these charlatons.

For me for the future I will now think about what it is that I want from the book before picking it up. I'm not all that big on entertainment for it's own sake and more influenced by what it means to me.

What are your motivations for reading?

Knowledge and entertainment are my motivations.

I love science fiction for it's entertainment value. I'm real big into American politics and military history, in particular the American Revolution and Civil War. 1776 by David McCoulough (sp?) is a great book, I just wish he covered the entire war and not just the first year. I'm looking forward to reading Washington's Crossing sometime soon.

For some reason I only truly enjoy Non-fiction and science fiction books because I feel like I gain a lot from them. I guess cuz nonfiction covers the past and present while scifi covers the future?