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[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Have your reading habits changed over the years? Since I have kept a list of all the books I've read for over nine years now (I was thinknig it was five years, since I started keeping track in 2000 ... my how time flies), I've been able to really notice shifts in my reading patterns - nine years ago I read almost exclusively fiction; probably 10/90, if even that. At one point my parents - who never really monitered my reading in any other way - started strongly suggesting that I should read a nonfiction book for every two fictions I consumed.

 

For the last number of years the split has been more 50/50. A big factor, I think, is working at a library - I am exposed to SO many more nonfiction books in the course of my job thnt I ever was when I just haunted the fiction shelves. And with reading so much nonfiction, I think it's changed my standards for fiction. It takes a lot more for a novel to grab me than it did before.

 

How about you?

Comments

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Great topic, and thanks for posting here!! :D

I definitely used to read more nonfiction when I was in my early 20s. I think because I just wanted to learn and I was a lot less cynical about what I could learn from nonfiction (especially Christian). I was all into books about marriage, Christianity, or even personality and stuff. But then I kind of got frustrated or maybe bored with some of the helpful books, and I found much more enjoyment in fiction.

I need to branch out, though, because I'm sure I would enjoy some other types of nonfiction such as biographies and memoirs!

[mattiescottage.livejournal.com]

Very well said, Jessica. I went through a similar time of reading Christian nonfiction. I think there comes a point after a long while where one has gotten so much from these sorts of books, that we start to feel more settled on certain issues and questions, ourselves based on what we have already read and experienced, and so further readings don't have as much new to add to this.

Also, when it comes to Christian nonfiction, I've gotten to the point where I've gotten somewhat saturated reading human interpretations on scripture; I'd rather read the scripture directly. (I just sort of gravitated this way, but I think it has something to do with the idea in I Corinthians 3:1-4: There is a time for being milk fed, and there is a time for solid food.)

I think most of us have different stages in our lives, and these stages reflect our purposes in reading and thus our reading choices.

Marie, I am really impressed with you reading the entirety of non-fiction books. I have always found it easy to read only portions of non-fiction books that particularly interest me, and then move on to the next thing.

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I don't know that I felt more settled (well, maybe in terms of the kind of guy to marry, but not so much on theological issues), but just more confused. Knowing a book isn't the Bible makes me question more of what it says! I don't even like to read the commentary at the bottom of my Bible, though sometimes I give in to temptation. I've just seen how so many smart people can disagree about stuff, and it is way too confusing.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

I'm usually just rubbed the wrong way by self-help or other such non-fiction books ... which is why I guess I gravitate towards history of some kind or other. :)

(I really, really liked Julie Andrew's recent memoir, Home. Even if you aren't that interested in her personally, I think it would still be interesting - she has a beautiful way of writing.)

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I do like her and that would be a good one. In fact, my mom would probably really enjoy it too. Thanks for the recommendation!

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

I REALLY hope she writes another one, because Home ends just as she gets the news that she got the part in The Sound of Music. I'm sure she has a ton of interesting stories from that experience. :)

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Sounds like she plans to if she ended it like that! I bet that would make a great book.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Home at least talks a lot about her experiences working with Rex Harrison on the broadway version of My Fair Lady ... and I suppose I should stop talking about it in case you read it. :D It's a fault I have, wanting to talk and talk about books I like!

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Yes you're giving it all away. :P

[mattiescottage.livejournal.com]

I always loved fiction as a girl. When I was in middle school (5th through 7th grade) we were required to choose some some non-fiction and some biography, as well as fiction, for our library credit. I did it begrudgingly, but was surprised that reading non-fiction was more interesting than I thought it would be.

I think we often love fiction to escape and dream. Non-fiction usually stretches our brain in a different way--although in recent years I have tried to find fiction that would be instructive in some way as well.

There came a time in my early twenties when I felt fiction was really pulling my heart in wrong directions. I really enjoyed dreaming about romance (in a Christian, non-steamy sort of way ;-D), and felt the Lord wanted me to develop my heart in other ways. So I quit fiction almost totally for a few years, and expanded into Christian non-fiction and biography. I was shocked that it didn't take to long before I really didn't miss the fiction. It was sort of like when I quit watching television: When I went back, my expectations for my time spent in that area were raised, and I was more easily disappointed with what I read/saw.

I am particularly overloaded both at work and with some home projects, so most of my recent book "reading" has been things I can listen to while doing tasks at home. Otherwise, I do a lot of snatches of reading on topics for work and home, but usually I don't have the time to sit to absorb whole books.

Sometimes the heart does need a little bit of an escape to someone else's world, so that's when I search out a book to listen to. Because my time to think about other things is so short, I try to look for fiction that has some element currently of interest to me--something I have been pondering on or looking into already. Recently that has been fiction that has some sort of element concerning gardens or gardening. (I do searches on Project Gutenberg classic fiction texts and then listen through a text-to-speech converter.) Or I'll search for fiction that might have a character working through some issues of particular interest to me. . . though this is much harder to search out.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Using the text-to-speech converter ... what a great idea!

I think there's a place for both fiction and non- and I expect that my personal ratio will fluctuate throughout life based on circumstances and needs. I still like fiction as much as ever, but I'm just more particular now about what interests me.

I know what you mean about not really missing fiction - I've found so many really excellent non-fic books that were just as captivating as any novel!

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

I think fiction and non-fiction are both useful and good for different things, although there seems to be a higher likelihood of finding really bad writing in popular fiction books *cough*Patterson*cough*.

I totally agree about the seen-one-seen-em-all syndrome, though! SO many new books are just rehashing the same basic plot or theme. Especially with sci-fi and fantasy, I seem to find maybe one or two really unique new books a year.

[jennymae.livejournal.com]

Good question, Marie!

I went through almost exactly what you did...90% fiction and almost no non-fic. Only I think it was more a 99% fic for me. ;-) Now I mostly read non-fiction (usually history or biography/autobiography), partly because at this point in time, I'm pretty much only reading school books. But even my "for fun" books are non-fic usually. However, I do try to go for "light reading" every once in awhile--just to remind myself that reading can be a no-brainer sometimes. ;-) I started reading later in life (junior high), so I feel like I have a LOT of good young adult and classic fiction to catch up on. I don't think I'm ever going to catch up though!

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

I'm STILL catching up on YA books! And even the classic kids books. I moved to reading mostly adult books so early that I missed a lot. =P On the other hand, it's kind of fun to discover them as an adult!

When I've gotten myself bogged down in some books that are taking forever to read, I like to take a break with a book I know I can finish in a day or two ... it makes me feel more like I'm getting something done. :D

[mattiescottage.livejournal.com]

. . . it's kind of fun to discover them as an adult!

I just picked up Little House on the Prairie this weekend, not having looked at it in years and years. It is amazing how differently I am perceiving it as an adult. I am really savoring her descriptions of joy in the stars and sun and nature in a way that I was never able to so deeply appreciate when I was young.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

I haven't read those books in years ... it's time to revisit them, I think. :)

[main-hoon-emily.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm an unapologetic fiction reader and proud of it! :-P I went through a "mostly non-fiction" phase in high school and read a lot of books about whatever interested me, with a heavy emphasis on Russian history and what to look for in a spouse. I didn't discover the real pleasure of losing myself in a novel until after high school -- I read fiction while I was growing up, of course, but I read the same few books over and over again instead of searching out new ones. Now I'm doing things in reverse: I read the same non-fiction books over and over again when I'm in need of guidance, and look for variety in fiction.

ETA: On continuing to think about this, I've realized that probably the biggest change to my reading habits is that now I read to enjoy the story. When I was in school, probably from 4th or 5th grade on, I always had to have paper and pencils near while I read because I wasn't just reading to find out what happened, I was taking notes on what the main character looked like, what she wore, how her personality was described. I don't remember now why I did it, whether I was planning to model myself after them or what, but I was always writing these things down and was very protective of my lists. I was a very strange child...

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Oh, a fellow Russian history enthusiast! I went through a period where I was reading tons about Tzar Nicholas and family.

Lol, keeping lists like that sounds like something I would have done, if only I had thought of it. And I also used to reread my favorite novels again and again ... I think the ones I read most were Gone with the Wind, Rebecca, Little House on the Praire, Anne of Green Gables ... ah, such good stuff.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

...now I would LIKE to reread a whole host of my favorites, but I don't feel like I can justify taking the time since there are so many books I need to read for the first time! ACK.

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

I've always read mostly fiction. I love the art of the story! But I enjoy memoirs and biographies for the same reason. It's funny how fiction is seen as somehow inferior to non-. A few years back I gave up fiction for Lent and only read non-fiction because I thought it would be good for me. :P I have great intentions of reading more Christian non-fiction, but I feel like I should really FOCUS on it to make sure I'm learning, and it kind of wears me out!

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't understand why fiction is sometimes talked about like it's inferior! I don't think that--both can teach and also be enjoyed.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

I never have bought into the idea that fiction is somehow inferior to nonfiction. They're both useful for different things! It's like comparing apples and oranges. And it's not as if fiction can't teach us things ... actually, a great number of times something I read in a novel will pique my interest and make me go out and study some subject I never would have picked up on my own.

[barbarakelley.livejournal.com]

For years I couldn't read fiction--the dissappointment of the book ending and having to come back to real life was so bad that I couldn't stand to read them.

I seem to have recovered from that, and have more balanced reading habits now--plenty of both fiction and nonfiction.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

When I was in my very early teens, they were particular books that enveloped me so completely into their world that I'd spend days after sort of floating around dreamily, interacting with the characters in my head. Gone with the Wind was one of the worst "offenders" ...

[barbarakelley.livejournal.com]

The Lord of the Rings was the worst/best in that regard for me. I loved it, but I couldn't get out of it---and the longing for it all to be real was unbearable at times.

[ladygoat.livejournal.com]

Growing up I was all fiction, and then in college and right out of college I was all non-fiction. Then there was a balance for a while... Since getting pregnant, I'm all about fiction since it seems to be an outlet of stress release for me. I don't want to have to think too much and I like to be entertained. However, she's 4 months old now and I can see myself starting to get interested in non-fiction again.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

The busier I am the nicer it is to have something I know I can pick up without much effort. I never have understood why occasional escapism is often seen as a negative thing!

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

I'm in awe of you for reading so many nonfictional books. I find that I'm a lot more critical about nonfiction (or perhaps I'm just not as good at picking out good ones), so I seldom read more than 1 or 2 a month. I'd love to read more though - can you recommend any good ones to me?

My reading habits have changed in that I reread a lot less than I used to. I think it used to be about 50/50, now it's closer to 10/90, and most rereads are comfort reads.