An Ode To Orson Scott Card

I just finished reading The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card and once again once I started I was up into the wee hours finishing it.  Every time I read a book that keeps me awake, I try and figure out why and in this case I think it is the author.  One of my favorite things about books by Mr. Card is the readability of it.  No matter what topic he is covering space, fairy tales, fantasy, history or any combination of these, he always seems to keep the reader in mind. I first discovered this in Enders Game, a tale set in space, I then switched to the Alvin Maker series, completely different genre (alt-history) and found it just as compelling.   The topics covered in Mr. Cards books could very easily get mired into descriptions and facts and theories that would bore most people, but he always keeps that sort of thing in check.  This is not to say that these books are not informative, I have found myself on many occasions running to look up some tidbit of history or mythology while reading these books, especially ones like Enchantment that
while being a fairy tale was very much grounded in history and tales from the past. The story is what seems to be the most important thing in the books, and even in the midst of techno-babble and history he always comes back to a character to make the reader care about all the other stuff.  His characters are another thing I love about Mr. Cards books, very rarely is any character all good or all bad, and he gives motive to all his characters as well.  I personally love it when an author gives us a reason why a person might do or say a certain thing, because in real life most people just don't decide to be mean and evil, there is usually a reason.  Mr. Card usually has his hero's/heroine's act and react like real people, sometimes snarky, sometimes mean, sometimes silly which I think goes a long way towards making a character likable.  To many times I've read stories where I like the villain much more then the main hero/heroine because they seem so much more relateable then a one dimensional good guy.
This is not the case in Mr. Cards books, even though you get the motivation for the bad guys (which I always appreciate) you also get a motivation and feel for the other main characters as well. I love the variety of topics Mr. Card covers in his writing.  A lot of my favorite authors cover one or maybe two related genre's exceptionally well, but the talented Mr. Card has written in several genre's and I can honestly say I have stayed up way past my bedtime reading every book I have ever got of his (did that sentence make any sense?).  I have read SciFi, Fantasy, History, Short Stories and How To books by Mr. Card and he shines in every one of them.  I think if i had to pick a thread that ties all these books and stories to Mr. Card it would be his sense of humor (which makes everything better) and his ability to make the reader identify with every character in the book, regardless of gender, age, or genre.  I am very glad to have discovered Mr. Card at such a young age (9) and have been able to read all his various works through out my life.  Keep up the good work Mr. Card and please hurry up and get the next Mithermage book out :-)

Which is your favorite Orson Scott Card book?  Do you have any authors you know you can pick up any book of their's and like it?  Do you think he writes equally well in all genre's or does he do better in a specific one?  Should I learn to go to sleep before my alarm goes off?