Want to beat the heat with a cool read? Xing Yi and Liu Zhihua find out what books some authors, diplomats and businesspeople are thumbing these days.

Robert Olen Butler American author

What are you reading?

The top of my reading list has to do with books that are related to the novel I am beginning. So I am reading books about the battle of Hue, which is the imperial capital of Vietnam. The novel I am writing is entitled Perfume River, which is the river that runs through Hue.

Do you prefer paper books or e-books?

I love physical books. I own them and I will continue to buy them. But the pleasure of carrying 2,000 books with me all the time, and being able to come to Shanghai for two weeks and have all the books I need to read with me in my iPad is very attractive. So I can't live with-out either of them. I often have the paperback and the e-book of the same title.

Who is your favorite writer this year?

My favorite writer this year is Charles Dickens.

How much time do you spend on reading every day, every week?

If we don't count the reading professionally for research, I probably read an average of about an hour a day for pleasure.

Do you bring a book when you travel?

Thanks to e-books, I carry many books when I travel.

If you had a free evening, would you read a book, or watch a movie or TV?

It's between reading and watching movies. They are both narratives. Our favorite way to spend an evening is with a creative narrative - it might be a book or a movie.

Brenda Lynn Hillman American poet

What are you reading?

The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg.

Do you prefer paper books or e-books?

I prefer paper books. But while traveling by plane, I tend to put things on my iPad.

Who is your favorite writer this year?

Some writers whom I love and have been influenced by are Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens and Ezra Pound. I wouldn't say who is on top; it would be unfair to all the others that I love.

How much time do you spend reading every day, every week?

It's part of my work. I read my mail, I prepare for classes, read my students' work. For pleasure, I would say I read around three hours a day at least.

Do you bring a book when you travel?

I carry books on my iPad, and I carry paper books. But on this trip (to Shanghai) I was trying to travel very light, so I put books on my iPad. I have downloaded about 50 books onto my iPad.

If you had a free evening, would you read a book, or watch a movie or TV?

I would go to dinner with Bob (Robert Hass), and then we would read a book, and then we would watch a Giants' game, San Francisco's professional baseball team.

Robert Hass American poet

What are you reading?

It's called The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert. The book is about an environmental crisis and has just been published in the United States. I am also reading the works of Colm Toibin, an Irish novelist.

Do you prefer paper books or e-books?

Paper books.

Who is your favorite writer this year?

Besides my wife (Brenda Hillman), Michael Ondaatje. He wrote The English Patient.

How much time do you spend reading every day, every week?

Not counting reading e-mails, just literary reading and reading for fun, it's about two hours every day.

Do you bring a book when you travel?

Absolutely. This time I brought two novels by Colm Toibin.

If you had a free evening, would you read a book, or watch a movie or TV?

I'd just talk to my wife, and some-times we watch baseball on TV, sometimes we listen to music, sometimes we read.

Ma Ainong Chinese translator

What are you reading?

Instead of reading books, I prefer reading Chinese literary magazines, such as Harvest, Contemporary and Novel Monthly. I think it's important for translators to know their mother tongue well.

Do you prefer paper books or e-books?

Paper books, of course.

Who is your favorite writer this year?

William Trevor, an Irish writer.

How much time do you spend reading every day, every week?

My work requires me to read seven to eight hours every day, because editing and translating all require a lot of reading.

Do you bring a book when you travel?

Yes. This time I brought a book which I will be translating next.

If you had a free evening, would you read a book, or watch a movie or TV?

I will definitely not watch TV. Maybe, I will go to see a movie.

Abdulrahman Amiri Shimbo Tanzanian ambassador to China

What are you reading?

Right now I don't have a specific book on my reading list, but mostly I read books on strategy.

Do you prefer paper books or e-books?

Paper books.

Who is your favorite writer this year?

The last book that took me much time to digest is written by Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations.

How much time do you spend reading every day, every week?

Usually I read one hour and a half a day. So it's about 10 hours a week.

Do you bring a book when you travel?

Yes. This time I brought Great Powers and Strategic Stability in the 21st Century: Competing Visions of World Order, edited by Graeme P. Herd.

If you had a free evening, would you read a book, or watch a movie or TV?

I'll watch TV.

Ana Candida Perez Consul general of Brazil in Shanghai

What are you reading?

I am reading a very important book about Brazil, The Masters and the Slaves, written by Gilberto Freyre. It's a classic which I read when I was very young. I have to read it again.

Do you prefer paper books or e-books?

I truly prefer paper books, but I have a lot of e-books, because sometimes I cannot find a paper book and at other times, I cannot carry the paper books since they are heavy and bulky.

Who is your favorite writer this year?

Joseph Conrad and his book Heart of Darkness because my son is reading it for the first time, and I am reading it for the third time.

How much time do you spend reading every day, every week?

Seven hours a day, because I have to read for my work, mostly professional papers, documents and newspapers.

Do you bring a book when you travel?

Yes, on my mobile phone.

If you had a free evening, would you read a book, or watch a movie or TV?

If there are movies for foreigners with subtitles, then I would go to the cinema.

Ming Chen senior corporate executive

What are you reading?

Ernest Hemingway's A Move-able Feast, a collection of short stories the American novelist and Nobel Prize winner wrote about his time as a young starving writer in Paris during the 1920s. Great summer read as it transports you to Paris between the two world wars, when Hemingway befriend-ed a number of important Western writers, poets, artists who Gertrude Stein called "the Lost Generation" like Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ford Madox Ford and James Joyce.

Do you prefer paper books or e-books?

Paper. I prefer "real" books because I like to hold them in my hand, and turn pages and know how many pages are left. Also, I use my Black Berry and iPad for work so much that I would rather put them away and just have a pure-reading experience that is not linked to my day job.

Who is your favorite writer this year?

I love reading so it's hard to say "favorite of the year". I love Wallace Stegner, an American fiction writer. This past month, I read all three of the Divergent series written by Veronica Roth, a best-selling young-adult series about a dystopian society. It's not as good as The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins but it's still OK.

How much time do you spend reading every day, every week?

Probably about six hours a week of fiction and nonfiction books. And then regular reading (news-papers, magazines, etc) another six.

Do you bring a book when you travel?

Always.

If you had a free evening, would you read a book, or watch a movie or TV?

Read a book or watch an episode of Foyle's War for the fifth time (yes, the series is that good! )

Hu Xinmeng senior public-relations executive

What are you reading?

A few books on parenting, health, philosophy and history, including Only Doctors Know, Sofies Verden and Baby Book.

Do you prefer paper books or e-books?

Paper books. I like the feel of paper and love beautiful book-marks, plus they don't need a battery and can be read anywhere.

Who is your favorite writer this year?

Zhang Yu, author of Only Doctors Know, who is a gynecologist at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Her writing may not be the best, but the book content is awe-some and of great value.

How much time do you spend reading every day, every week?

I'm a new mother and only man-age to read about one to two hours per week.

Do you bring a book when you travel?

No. While traveling, I tend to read magazines and newspapers.

If you had a free evening, would you read a book, or watch a movie or TV?

While at home, I devote most of my time to the baby. But on a business trip, I certainly will watch news or a film on TV.

Contact the writers at xingyi@chinadaily.com.cn and liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/20/2014 page20)