No need to worry about me being a casual reader. I like reading theory, and actually read Deleuze's Cinema books with a group over the past couple of years, but I realized I never actually delved into his books. I'm looking towards graduate school and want a couple of his books under my belt.

Oh then I would go for Bordwell then! I would dive into the Bordwell Thomas Staiger opus Classical Hollywood Cinema, which is THE book on film style of the era. Narration in Fiction Film is the ultimate theory. MM and others are more in debate with cultural studies.