There was a whole chapter in Walden on reading, which I suppose makes sense, since if you’re going to live in the woods by yourself for several years…what else are you going to do to keep yourself busy? You can only take so many nature walks.
Thoreau was very strict about reading in the original language of the author. The below is just one page of a long tangent about reading in the mother tongue, especially Greek and Latin. He loved Homer, and kept a copy that he constantly read while he was at the pond.
As I Lay Reading 