Sorry for the long post, but I was wondering if anyone else noticed this about themselves when it comes to their enjoyment and recall of reading fiction versus non-fiction.
I do not consider myself an avid reader, but I do like to read for about 20-30 minutes each day. I have been much busier the past few years which has led me to reorient how I read. When I was younger, I used to love reading fiction novels maybe once a day for an uninterrupted 40-minute (or more) segment. However, with new time constraints, I find that I have to break that segment up into two or three 10-minute segments throughout the day. This was difficult at first, and it led me to stop reading books for a little over a year as I found it difficult to get into a rhythm because I found 10 minutes to be too short to connect with longer novels.
I then started reading a lot of online articles about various topics (history, science, etc.), and I found those much easier to get into. This led me to start reading primarily non-fiction books. Even with longer books such as biographies, I found that it was much easier to simply “plug in” for a few minutes, and it actually felt like I was connecting with the reading. As a result, I started reading nothing but non-fiction for a few years.
Transition to now, and over the past few months, I have tried to get back into reading fiction, but I find myself unable to enjoy or connect with the longer stories. I have been doing some thinking about this, and my conclusion is that the quick “start and stop” nature of my reading conforms much more to non-fiction than it does to fiction. Recently, I read the first two *Dune* novels, and while I got a decent grasp of the stories, they were kind of difficult to follow by reading them in shorter segments. I have tried this with other fiction books as well, and I have found the same thing.
I do not know how many others feel this way, but my theory is that fictional stories require me to be in a lot more of a “flow” state where I can visualize and connect with the characters, environment, and overarching plot. This is something that I find very difficult to accomplish in multiple short segments throughout the day. Oftentimes, a chapter will be building up to something, and I have to put the book down before it gets good. When I come back later, the suspense is severely diminished. It also gets exhausting going back and rereading the previous few pages, and I like to read passively for fun, so I am not the type to make notes. This leads me to trod along through the rest of the book in a way that I can mostly understand the main events, but the little nuances get forgotten.
Switching to non-fiction, I have a totally different experience. With non-fiction books, no matter how long and in-depth they are, I can easily just start reading, whether it be in short or extended segments, and come away with a much better understanding. I think that this is because non-fiction books are structured in such a way that there are main ideas, key topics of that idea, and then even smaller segments of those key topics. Even if it is a long biography, you know where you are in that person’s life and what specific detail(s) you are currently reading about. On top of that, non-fiction books tend to repeatedly hammer in the key ideas and concepts so that you really cannot forget what you are reading about. I have read many of these books over the past few years, and I have learned so much from them. I should also mention that I have been told that I have a very great memory and am capable of remembering specific things, so I do not know if that comes into play.
I just wanted to see if anyone else had any similar experiences or revelations. I am not saying that any one genre of book is better because everyone is different and has different tastes. I do sometimes miss reading and enjoying novels as those were all I used to read as a teenager, but I am also happy reading about a variety of different topics now. If anyone can read longer novels in those quick and short segments, then I would be happy to hear how it works for you.
by Classic_Resolution65
2 Comments
I read in 30 minute intervals throughout the day and I read fiction almost exclusively. I can count in one hand the number of non-fiction books I read in a year.
If time allows, I can spend hours reading until I need to go to sleep or I finish the book in its entirety. Whichever comes first. Though I’ll need more frequent breaks if it’s non-fiction. My brain tends to wander after 3 chapters or so when reading that.
I think that one important reason why it is easier and more enjoyable to read non-fiction when you have little time and your reading sessions are relatively far in between is because fiction requires you to first, remember what has happened before the moment you are currently reading; and second, to read for enough time to immerse yourself in the book (difficult when you have less than 15 minutes).
I also had time constraints for a while and had reading sessions that were both short and far in between. When I read my novel a lot of times I would try to get into it and I would find myself totally confused at what I was reading because I didn’t remember what had happened in the book. That caused me frustration because I had a very limited amount of time of which the majority I spent trying to decipher what had happened before the moment in the book I was at.
I think that non-fiction doesn’t rely as much on remembering what has happened before. Because if you do happen to need past information that you don’t remember, the author will remind you of it quickly. I read a lot of History books because I study History at university, and it is quite common for authors to give a lot of context about some point they are trying to make. That way is more enjoyable to read when you have little time because you can make the most out of your sparse time.