Do you read much non-fiction?

[waryan]

Do you guys take an equal interest in non-fiction or does fiction usually outweigh your reading list? I occassionally read non-fiction, particularly History, Medical and Evolutionary Science, and a few other things, but not nearly as much.

Anyway, just curious if you guys read much non-fiction and what your areas of interest were. :thumbs_up

[amalia1985]

I read History, History and Methodology of the English Language, Teaching Methods, everything that has to do with the History of Theatre, Religion, Psychology, and Metaphysics, but not that often. Little spare time...

[Rakthor]

Although I usually read fiction, I sometimes read nonfiction. Genres that interest me are History (of any sort), Philosophy, Psychology and Theology, even though I'm an agnostic and not a man of god. But I'm really a seeker of knowledge of any kind, so I'll read anything if it interests me at the time and I get a good recommendation or two.

[_Shannon_]

I read a lot of "literary" non-fiction-- it's what I read as my reading between attempting big novel reads. I read about all kinds of stuff- most recently about housing projects in Chicago and the building of the atomic bomb.

I also read a smattering of parenting books or birth books from time to time.

[johann cruyff]

Well,I read a lot of philosophy,some mathematics and physics,and a lot of books on history of art,but I guess it's still nowhere near to the amount of fiction I read.Now,if,let's say,articles on Wikipedia counted,that'd be a different story.

[kasie]

I enjoy History, books about plants and gardening - can't dignify my little knowledge by calling it Botany - travel, especially background for journeys I have taken or am planning to take, though I've been an armchair traveller for years, wild life, Art, Music. I have recently gone back to Lit Crit, re-reading some of my old study books and catching up with work done on favourite themes or authors. I love cookery books, not just the recipes but the ones where the cook tells you about the background and history of the dish or muses over how they came upon the recipe or the idea for it in the first place.

I am trying to catch up on Philosphy and Science but I have to take that in small chunks because I have no background in either subject so it's all new and I need time to digest it.

I think I spend almost as much time on non-fiction as on fiction but it depends on my mood.

[JBI]

I read primarily non-fiction, especially poetry and essays. Novels are really a minimal aspect of my reading these days.

[PeterL]

There is very little difference between fiction and non-fiction. The only definite difference that I know of is the intention of the author of non-fictionthat his work be taken as factual.

[Joreads]

I read anything and everything non fiction on the ancient world. Other then that I no.

[LadyWentworth]

I love non-fiction. I really can't say if my non-fiction reading outweighs the fiction, but I do read an awful lot of it. I will pretty much read anything that is of great interest to me. My non-fiction preferences usually involve history (any type but especially the American Civil War), authors, crimes and trials, theatre, classic Hollywood, music and baseball. But I have read beyond those basic topics. The types of non-fiction that I read are the basic history book (of that particular topic), biographies, journals and I have a keen interest in reading collected letters of any particular person from history.

[cipherdecoy]

My fiction reading definitely outweighs my non-fiction reading, and I read about History and Current Affairs for the latter. Nothing else interests me much as yet, since I'm hopeless at the Sciences and anything written about it would probably be beyond my comprehension. I've also dabbled a wee bit in Philosophy but it's something which I can't help but tell myself I'd try to delve deeper only when I'm older.

[waryan]

My fiction reading definitely outweighs my non-fiction reading, and I read about History and Current Affairs for the latter. Nothing else interests me much as yet, since I'm hopeless at the Sciences and anything written about it would probably be beyond my comprehension. I've also dabbled a wee bit in Philosophy but it's something which I can't help but tell myself I'd try to delve deeper only when I'm older.


I'm quite the same- I really don't read a lot of hard science, rather just the writings of Darwin and other contemporary books on evolutionary science, as well as the history of medicine which always is entertaining- not so much the pulp as the history and theories of science.

[Oniw17]

Up until about a year ago I read very little fiction. Since then, I've read only a few non-fiction books.

[Chester]

The sports page. Every morning.

[Nossa]

Not much. I think I read only two or three non-fictional works in my life. One of them I haven't finished yet.

[Pecksie]

I read lots of non-fiction. I love History, and, although I'm not a specialist, I absolutely prefer heavily footnoted works to historical novels, which I don't like. Reality is so much stranger than fiction... :)

[Rogers_68]

The only non-fiction I read is the Bible. Besides that it's pretty much fiction for me.

[Hank Stamper]

apart from literary criticism for uni, I read quite a bit of non-fiction stuff - philosophy, sociology, or anything that just seems interesting/good journalism... one of the best non-fiction books I read fairly recently was Insatiable by Jason Fagone, about competitative eating in America... Or Shopped by Joanna Blythman, about the power of British supermarkets... I am also into astronomy so I have a ton of books on cosmology... but mainly been reading fiction lately :)

[valleyjune]

Non-fiction? Hmm, my fiction reading outweighs the non-fiction, for sure. Anyway, I sometimes read Psychology, Metaphysics and Ecology and when I have to find solutions for work Biology, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

[stlukesguild]

Even if I were to exclude poetry from this equation, I read a lot of non-fiction: history, biography, essays, criticism, philosophy, etc...: Montaigne, Plato, Rousseau, Vasari, Samuel Johnson, Boswell, Goethe, Emerson, Malraux, Walter Pater, J.L. Borges, Tocqueville, Burke, Harold Bloom, John Ruskin, Francis Bacon, Robert Burton, Edward Gibbon, Gotthold Lessing, Voltaire, etc... are among my most read writers.

[Beautifull]

not a lot.
i'm more into the imagined.

[Erichtho]

Only occasionally, but if I do I like to read about philosophy, history, politics and biographies.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

Anyway, just curious if you guys read much non-fiction and what your areas of interest were. :thumbs_upI cannot really say whether I read more fiction than non-fiction. I consume lots of both:

Examples of non-fiction:


Anything concerning my work: Quality engineering, management systems and general improvement techniques.
History (I have read a lot about technical history all the way back to neolithic technology).
Computers.
Space and aviation.
Environment.
Evolution. (I recently read Darwins The Origin of Species).
Science related stuff in general.
Cognitive psychologhy & creativity.


There is more of course... The above list is what I could think of at the moment.

/Claes

[aabbcc]

Recently - in the past 5-6 months - I have been reading far more non-fiction than fiction; prior to that, there was probably some balance, but fiction never really outnumbered greatly non-fiction, except for maybe when I was a child in elementary.

Regarding non-fiction, I predominately read:

Philosophy - from ontology to philosophical anthropology, I read pretty much anything
Theology, mostly written from the Jewish perspective, included various commentaries of the Bible; works about religion and culture tied to it from other points of view
Theoretical works on literature - included commentaries, interpretations, history of literature
Theoretical works on art, particularly essays on art and philosophical works that deal with aesthetics
Politics - international relations; some history though history per se was never really my great interest
Theatrology and dramaturgy and, to a lot lesser extent, film art (esp. art film)


Other than that, I go through phases... There were phases in which I was obsessively reading popular science (Hawking and-alike), phases in which I was really into some areas of psychology (Jung, mostly), phases in which I was more into sociology or linguistics; so technically, the above listed are 'fixed' interests which followed me for years, and they are usually combined with some intensive temporary interest.:D

[hellsapoppin]

I belong to an American history book club and we read one book on the subject every month. I have read close to 50 books since I joined. Occasionally, I read of world history but usually only with regard to the history of Spain (esp re Inquisition, Moors, Sefardi). Books on sports are another favorite, esp re baseball.

[jikan myshkin]

i'd say it's about even. i'm currently reading 'the nazi drs and the psychology of genocide' very very interesting book

[J'aimeVous]

I read non-fiction almost as much as I read fiction. I particularly enjoy historical and social reads as well as books on the different wars.

I also have a peculiar addiction to books about serial killers as well...

[khall12807]

I read a lot more fiction than non-fiction. I believe it's because I'm very optimistic, and I prefer happy endings to unresolved/unhappy ones that I always seem to see in non-fiction.

But, I have found the occasional non-fiction book interesting to read. Every once in a while I like reality :)

[Kafka's Crow]

I used to read more non-fiction than fiction till this site brought me back to my first love. I like reading books on:


History (specially history of civilisations. Toynbee, Spengler, Durant, Barzun etc.)
Literary and Aesthetic Theory.
Postmodern Philosophy (Jaques Derrida in particular)
History of philosophy.
Postmodern contingency, irregularity and unpredictability: Nasim N Taleb, Malcolm Gladwell, Levitt & Dubner etc.
People Management and inter-personal relationships(my work-related stuff, ugh!)


I DON'T read about religion, current affairs, celebrity gossip, food and nutrition, sports and science among countless other things.

[ctalerico]

I have for years made it a habit to read one fiction and one non-fiction book concurrently each week. History, creativity, cognitive psychology, literary criticisms, art history, literary theory are some of the non-fiction topics that interest me. In the realm of fiction, the Gothic genre, ghost stories, tales of the supernatural, and classic American and British fiction are among my favorites.

[Dori]

On the Dangers of Reading Fiction
A great obstacle to good education is the inordinate passion prevalent for novels, and the time lost in that reading which should be instructively emplyed. When this poison infects the mind, it destorys its tone and revolts it against wholesome reading. Reason and fact, plain and unadorned, are rejected. Nothing can engage attention unless dressed in all the figments of fancy, and nothing so bedecked comes amiss. The result is a bloated imagination, sickly judgment, and disgust towards all the real businesses of lide. This mass of trach, however, is not without some distinction; some few modeling their narratives, although fictitious, on the incidents of real life, have been able to make them interesting and useful vehicles of sound morality. . . . For a like reason, too, much poetry should not be indulged. Some is useful for forming style and taste. Pope, Dryden, Thompson, Shakespeare, and of the French, Moliere, Racine, the Corneilles, may be read with pleasure and improvement.

-Thomas Jefferson

(qtd. in The Bedford Introduction to Literature, pp. 39)

Just thought I might include this.

I read non-fiction from time to time, or rather whenever I get the time. In fact, I'm currently reading The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. I enjoy reading history mostly, but I sometimes read from my psychology textbook. It's a pity I had to return it.

[Remarkable]

I quite like non-fiction but I don't read it often.However,when I do,I'm more focused in philosophy and history.

[slobone]

Over the years I've read a lot of non-fiction. I would actually prefer to read well-written, reliable, informative accounts intended for the general reader.

But unfortunately they're in short supply. So if I'm really interested in a topic, I read a textbook or a scholarly work, depending on what level I'm at with the subject.

Which a lot of times is Too Much Information. But at least they don't condescend to me and assume I'm a total idiot, as so many popularizations do.

As for areas of interest, they're all over the map. I generally stay with a topic for six months, and then move on. In recent years, I've made a concerted effort to learn about anatomy & physiology, the New Testament, Aristotle, Plato, Judaism, probability & statistics, elementary physics, Freud, economics, 17th century poetry, Chinese history, group theory, modern art, and music theory. With varying degrees of success. My next topic, if I ever get started on it, is American Poetry I -- Whitman, Dickinson, Frost.

[coolestnerdever]

I read mostly history books, primarily English history. I also occasionally read biographies and music books.

[wilbur lim]

The bulk of the subjects I read is fiction whereas for non-fiction is for history.My viewpoint is that fiction is more stimulating as it is loftily recommended and sold in bookshops,non-fiction is taxing to find,barring you go to shop on-line or find them at the library.

[mona amon]

I used to read a whole lot of non-fiction when I was young, History, philosophy, things like why there was so much hunger and poverty in the world and so on. But as I got older I realised that whoever was going to change the world it wasn't going to be me, and now I read only fiction. Biographies, autobiographies and letters are fine as long as they are just like fiction! :)

[mangueken]

I enjoy reading non-fiction as much as any fiction, though I read much more of the latter. I enjoy scientific works, history, biographies, philosophy and I love interviews.

[Tersely]

Some non-fiction is good just depends on the subject. If it starts to read like a textbook it's quickly forgotten. I would say for every 5 books I pick up one is bound to be non-fiction.