READ!! Of course!

99% read but on the rare occasion when Hollywood does it right - wizard of oz or lotr both - then the lame books that come from a movie/tv ie star wars or star trek books left them mostly on the shelf

Read movies are second guessing what to put in and what to leave out.

Lady Darko

Watch is my favorite.. It may not tell you why the items on a coffee table are arraigned in  a certain way and the aroma of dying gardenias fill the room as you walk in like it does in the book version, but if you simply look at that coffee table and watch the actor's reaction to the smell, it will give you the same indication. Also, I waive reading an operation pamphlet to watching someone assemble a bicycle so that i can copy his/her movements when it's my turn.

I have started playing my old 12" vinyl records again, quite frankly.  The best of this latest bunch of movies (Cowboys and Aliens) is so bizarre that there is simply no contact with reality.

I had hoped for better.

read

I prefer to watch because I enjoyed watching movies.  But when I have the time to read an entire book, I will, because sometimes when a novel is made into a movie, usually there are many changes from the actual story from the novel. I love reading but more on business topics, inspirational and so on, not that much with novels.

I really think it really depends on the story.  Sometimes a movie adapted is much better than the book.