christianreader | (no subject)

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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?

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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!

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.

Edited 2010-01-22 04:22 (UTC)

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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!

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...

Edited 2010-01-22 15:32 (UTC)

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!

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.

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.

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.

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