Wylie,
Once in awhile, I like to pick up a book about books, that is to say, the author describing his or her notions of reading and/or writing. The same goes with other disciplines: Paul Klee wrote a great little treatise on modern art and artists (his generation), and Nathan Lyons edited a comprehensive collection of photographers on photography (book of the same title).
My Reading Life says it all on the cover; it's Conroy's memoir of reading and the people and literature that influenced his developing life habits, and later writing craft. It's written chronologically in the first person, and showcases his lyrical -- and ultimately, enviable -- command of the English language; one of a master storyteller. In regards to American literature, I've become quite partial to the Southern practitioners of the art. I'm not quite halfway through; it's taking longer than I usually read, as I'm savoring the flow of individual words. Embarrassingly, I only read South on Broad by the author. After this, I intend to pick up a few of the other novels, to round out my experience with him.