Reading novels is one of the greatest pleasures in my life. Some call reading fantasy and science fiction a form of escapism. One of the best ways to learn about history is by reading historical novels.
A simple sentence contains only one clause with a subject and verb phrase. In the first sentence, "reading novels" is the subject and "is" is the verb. In the second sentence, the subject is "Some" and the verb is "call". In the third sentence the subject is "One" and the verb is "is".
The other sentences don't work because in "What a person reads can tell you a lot about him or her" there are two verb phrases "reads" and "can tell'.
In the sentence "Reading books can take you places that you have never been before" there are also two clauses: "Reading books can take you places" and "you have never been before."
