I think one of the things people don't realize about writers is that we have to look at what we read in a much different way than the average, non-writing reader.

That's not to say that we read better, just differently.  I've done both tracks of the English program at my school, literature and creative writing, and completed both, and there really are fundamentally different ways of looking at literature.

In a literature course, you take the text as it's given to you and look for meaning.  If something doesn't quite fit, you try to find a theory that explains it.  You look at devices in terms of how they enhance meaning.

But when you read as a writer, you acknowledge that sometimes parts of texts just don't work and shouldn't be there.  You look at devices in terms of how they enhance the meaning, yes, but more importantly, how they enhance the experience. 

When you read as writer, you think about what you would do if you were writing the story.  You think about which elements you would keep, which you would change.  You think about what you want from a book and how to achieve it.

So really, every time I pick up a book to read for fun, I'm still working on my writing.  It's research, in a way.

That said, I'm going to try to record some of my thoughts on the books I read as I have them.  This is something a lot of writers keep in their journals, but since I stink at keeping a written journal, I'll try to keep some thoughts here.  And, hey, maybe it will tell you what's good to read.