I'm currently reading Biological Science by Scott Freeman on my day off, and later on I'll finish off Special relativity and classical field theory by Leonard Susskind. If you consider poetry empty, perhaps it is you who are missing out on something. I myself do enjoy both ;-)

Not all poetry is empty, but some poetry is empty

Good on your reading progress, now all that's left is to engage in interesting conversations about those topics;)

I'm quite picky on whom to engage in interesting conversations with.

Same except I guess the difference between us is that I am picky regarding substance (what it is about) not whom it is with.