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I joined several Facebook reading groups in addition to my IRL book club, eagerly looking for new suggestions to add to my nonfiction reading list. Several months into my quest, I was dismayed to discover few people read nonfiction. Literally 95% or more books that are discussed are novels. I don't know if I'm just a boring person (likely,) or too cerebral (also likely,) but no one seems interested in nonfiction. I joined a nonfiction reading group, and it is fascinating but far less active than my other reading groups that always focus on fiction. When I mention it, it appears nonfiction is frowned upon. Reading it is viewed as a chore.
I still like nonfiction, particularly science, current events, and history, I will always like it, and would like to find other readers who share my interest. I ultimately dropped out of most of those FB fiction groups but remained a member in a couple as I do enjoy fiction as well. Does anyone enjoy reading nonfiction? What genres or titles? Are there any groups or websites I can utilize to get ideas? I keep hitting a block.
Yes, I read more nonfiction than fiction. My fiction of choice is science fiction.
Genres? Molecular science, artists, gardening, biology, geology, space science, history of England, especially the Tudors. Italian history. Theology.
Also healing herbs and the like.
I don't belong to any groups or websites. I just type in what subject I'm interested in with Kindle at the end (Amazon)
and download the books I want to read.
*edit: Also like to read biographies and autobiographies of men and women that interest me. Mostly those of artists, musicians, and a few politicians and theologians. Greek and Romans of history.
Last edited by TerraDown; 09-17-2019 at 08:23 PM..
I probably read half fiction, half non-fiction. Right now I'm working on both a history of The Crusades and Steinbeck's Cannery Row.
It does not surprise me that fiction books are more popular than non-fiction books. Fictional movies are more popular and common than documentaries and historical films combined. People watch more sitcoms and dramas than History Channel and Animal Planet. Most of the non-fiction I read is for my own entertainment, and more people are entertained by made-up stories than accounts of things that are real. I'm fine with that.
Outside of novels, I read books about history and science mostly. I also enjoy political stuff and books about music like the books written by Simon Reynolds. His book about Post-punk his classic. For political stuff, I have really enjoyed "capitalism realism" by Mark Fisher.
I also enjoy Naomi Klein, Yuval Noah Harari or Bill Bryson.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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I prefer nonfiction, but purists might not consider my genre of choice -- memoir (not to be confused with biography or autobiography; memoir is "slice of life") -- to be "real" nonfiction.
Just finished true crime book “Murder in Egypt” about a family in southern tip of Illinois—
Called Egypt—where two sons were murdered in similar circumstances
The killer was at once unexpected and very predictable
The ability of the local people to ignore the culprit’s guilt was almost unbelievable until you consider how supporters can ignore anything untoward the president does...
I definitely read more non-fiction than I do fiction. My library is 95% non-fiction. I don't belong to any book clubs, though I subscribe to r/books/ and r/suggestmeabook/, I also get a lot of new suggestions through Amazon and GoodReads.
Luckily, I found a couple of people at work who also enjoy non-fiction so we often discuss our books of the day and get each other's recommendations. More often than not though, I choose my next read through a simple spark of curiosity. For instance, after watching Inherit the Wind I read a lot about Clarence Darrow. One of his books directed my interest toward the subject of legal reform, so I read some books written by British litigators, recently I found something on the Scandinavian prison reforms. At the moment I'm reading up on a few things mentioned during the Miller Supreme Court appeal hearing.
Similarly, when the ENCODE study came out I dove deep into the subject of genetics and information theory. Went through a phase of being obsessed with cosmology. I love anything to do with the evolution of ideas, so history of science, philosophy, and religion. I definitely tend to focus more on the dark aspects of the human nature, so history and studies of genocide and other war crimes, political corruption, development of weapons of mass destruction and biological agents. Then there is psychology, as a stand alone subject, my other book on the go is on the subject of Autism after a number of C-D threads on the topic.
And then there are biographies, history, and just random curiosities and entertainment. My next book is probably going to be non-fiction (there's a horror novel that I've seen mentioned quite a bit that I want to check out) after that I was thinking of turning to the history of Bedlam.
And here lies the problem, I have such a huge array of interests and an even bigger 'To Read' list that I feel like I'm drowning in choice. I need to work out a lottery system that would choose my next read for me.
Does anyone else keep 'To Read' list? How do you pick your next read?
I prefer non-fiction over fiction. However, since some of the subjects I read or research are pretty "heavy" I sometimes resort to reading a novel just to give my brain a rest. I am also a published author with Arcadia Publishing & The History Press of historical non-fiction.
I read very little non-fiction since I sense an agenda in too much of it. Which makes me doubt how truly non-fiction it is. However, some subjects capture my attention and I have on my library list Bottle of Lies and City of Omens.
Itzpapalotl - I keep a long list and when I need a new book, I read through the summaries and choose depending on how they strike me that week. I read wide-ranging stuff, so things that might appeal now might seem uninteresting next month, but I leave them on the list because they might again appeal to me at a different time. I never take anything off the list unless it's read.
Itzpapalotl - I keep a long list and when I need a new book, I read through the summaries and choose depending on how they strike me that week. I read wide-ranging stuff, so things that might appeal now might seem uninteresting next month, but I leave them on the list because they might again appeal to me at a different time. I never take anything off the list unless it's read.
That seems sensible. I too often lose interest in a particular book only to have it reignited at another point.
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