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General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: Sheilbh on April 28, 2014, 05:10:14 PM

Poll
Question: What proportion of fiction and non-fiction do you read?
Option 1: No fiction; all non-fiction votes: 1
Option 2: 1/4 fiction; 3/4 non-fiction votes: 12
Option 3: 50-50 votes: 15
Option 4: 3/4 fiction; 1/4 non-fiction votes: 11
Option 5: All fiction; no non-fiction votes: 0
Title: Reading
Post by: Sheilbh on April 28, 2014, 05:10:14 PM
I was chatting to some people recently and realised I was the only man there who read both fiction and non-fiction. I'd always thought that was kind-of normal but apparently not.

So I was just wondering what's the rough proportion of your reading.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: garbon on April 28, 2014, 05:11:35 PM
I'd say even split.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Barrister on April 28, 2014, 05:11:57 PM
3/4 non-fiction I guess.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: grumbler on April 28, 2014, 05:12:31 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 28, 2014, 05:11:35 PM
I'd say even split.
Ditto.  I'm probably in the process of reading 2 fiction and 2 non-fiction books on any given day.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: crazy canuck on April 28, 2014, 05:14:42 PM
I read almost exclusively non fiction but every once in a while a fiction title catches my interest.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Malthus on April 28, 2014, 05:15:13 PM
I'm about fifty-fifty myself. This board though leans heavily towards history readers, I suspect ...
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Sheilbh on April 28, 2014, 05:19:26 PM
Quote from: Malthus on April 28, 2014, 05:15:13 PM
I'm about fifty-fifty myself. This board though leans heavily towards history readers, I suspect ...
True. But I don't think it'd necessarily skew things. I was surprised that none of the guys there really read many novels and all the girls said that I was unusual because in their experience men prefer non-fiction :mellow:
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Agelastus on April 28, 2014, 05:24:44 PM
Quote from: Sheilbh on April 28, 2014, 05:19:26 PM
Quote from: Malthus on April 28, 2014, 05:15:13 PM
I'm about fifty-fifty myself. This board though leans heavily towards history readers, I suspect ...
True. But I don't think it'd necessarily skew things. I was surprised that none of the guys there really read many novels and all the girls said that I was unusual because in their experience men prefer non-fiction :mellow:

Odd. I skew towards the fiction myself despite my reasonably expansive library of volumes on history.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: mongers on April 28, 2014, 05:25:49 PM
Not too keen on the place, rather a dull commuter town now.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: DGuller on April 28, 2014, 05:28:51 PM
 :hmm: Indeterminate.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Admiral Yi on April 28, 2014, 05:31:17 PM
90% non.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Admiral Yi on April 28, 2014, 05:31:48 PM
BTW, your thread title is brutally uninformative.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Josephus on April 28, 2014, 05:53:24 PM
Quote from: mongers on April 28, 2014, 05:25:49 PM
Not too keen on the place, rather a dull commuter town now.

heh!
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Capetan Mihali on April 28, 2014, 05:53:45 PM
Closer to 3/4 non-, I'd say.  It has fluctuated over the years, but the trend recently has been towards non-fiction, away from heavy novel-reading; although I've had different fiction resurgences in the meantime (detective fiction, contemporary short stories, etc).  However, I've always read both, since I was a teenager at least.  I don't draw a sharp boundary in my mind.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Razgovory on April 28, 2014, 06:07:48 PM
I went with 3/4ths non-fiction.  Non-fiction interests me more then fiction does.  I've been trying to read more fiction though.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: MadImmortalMan on April 28, 2014, 06:23:47 PM
Just about everything I can get my hands on. So 50-50.

When I was a kid, my mom had a box of books that some friend gave her to use in the library book sale. She stored the box in my bedroom while waiting for the sale to come along. Apparently, the friend was pretty much into fantasy and sci-fi sexy fiction. I read about half of them before my mom figured out what they were and stopped me.

I remember some of them still but I have no idea what the titles were. One was about some queen of Atlantis that liked to have naked slaves everywhere and punished people by burying them alive and building an obelisk on top. Another was about some people who lived on Mars and the style of Mars was to always go topless. They had a lot of sex too.

The book she gave me to read after taking those away was Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies. It has no sex. Or furries.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Ideologue on April 28, 2014, 06:46:58 PM
I dunno.  Last novel I read all the way through was The Map and the Territory, about three years ago.  It soured me on the whole thing.

To the extent I read books, it's mainly non-fiction these days.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Eddie Teach on April 28, 2014, 06:59:55 PM
I don't read anymore, but usually fiction when I do.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: celedhring on April 28, 2014, 07:20:42 PM
When it comes down to books, I mostly read fiction. Most of the nonfiction I read are books about film and screenwriting. I do read the occasional history book, but I admit not as often as I used to.

The underlying issue is that I'm too obsessed with the notion that everything I read has to, somehow, be "useful". I read fiction books because I'm a writer, and you can always learn (or rip off) from a good book. And I read film/TV books because that's my trade. I need to flip that switch off and start reading for pure enjoyment/general edification.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: CountDeMoney on April 28, 2014, 07:22:56 PM
Quote from: Barrister on April 28, 2014, 05:11:57 PM
3/4 non-fiction I guess.

Me too.  I prefer to read non-fiction, but I'm loyal to some specific writers; for the most part I prefer short story collections, anthologies and the occasional well-reviewed work when it comes to fiction.

Besides, it's hard to catch up with new fiction when there are still so many classics to read first.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: MadImmortalMan on April 28, 2014, 07:23:49 PM
Nothing wrong with reading purely as a sleep aid.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: CountDeMoney on April 28, 2014, 07:25:30 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 28, 2014, 07:23:49 PM
Nothing wrong with reading purely as a sleep aid.

Dear Penthouse Forum,

I've been an avid reader for some time, but I never thought I would be writing to you...
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: DGuller on April 28, 2014, 07:27:38 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on April 28, 2014, 07:25:30 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 28, 2014, 07:23:49 PM
Nothing wrong with reading purely as a sleep aid.

Dear Penthouse Forum,

I've been an avid reader for some time, but I never thought I would be writing to you...

Very few actual letters to Penthouse actually begin like that.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: CountDeMoney on April 28, 2014, 07:28:44 PM
It's my letter and I'll write it the way I want, so fuck off.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Razgovory on April 28, 2014, 07:58:45 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on April 28, 2014, 07:28:44 PM
It's my letter and I'll write it the way I want, so fuck off.

Oh, it's you writing.  Well maybe that's the wrong venue then. 
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: LaCroix on April 28, 2014, 08:03:01 PM
where's the i don't read them books option  :mad:
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Sheilbh on April 28, 2014, 08:06:09 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on April 28, 2014, 07:22:56 PM
Besides, it's hard to catch up with new fiction when there are still so many classics to read first.
Almost all of my fiction reading are classics. I very rarely read new fiction unless it's something trashy when I'm just looking to switch off.

I was thinking recently that this is probably the biggest difference the Kindle's made to my reading habits. The number of free books available means I'm very Victorian in my novel reading now.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: PDH on April 28, 2014, 08:25:48 PM
My split comes in at about 42% to 36%
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Ed Anger on April 28, 2014, 08:37:06 PM
My fiction reading has declined rapidly in the past few years.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: MadImmortalMan on April 28, 2014, 08:40:55 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on April 28, 2014, 08:37:06 PM
My fiction reading has declined rapidly in the past few years.

Mine has skyrocketed with my insomnia.

Because knocking yourself out with booze should only be an occasional thing.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Ed Anger on April 28, 2014, 08:44:20 PM
The problem with fiction for me is that I don't impulse buy anymore. I stick with authors I know(glen cook, Abercrombie, David Drake) and am totally out of touch with newer stuff.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Maladict on April 29, 2014, 02:57:40 AM
So far this year, 6 fiction and 9 non-fiction.

That's more fiction than I thought it would be, but mostly classics.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 29, 2014, 03:06:23 AM
Usually fiction, but I still read nonfiction now and then.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Zanza on April 29, 2014, 04:42:24 AM
I guess like 3/4 fiction.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Gups on April 29, 2014, 07:05:23 AM
2/3 fiction by book, 50/50 by volume.

70% of my non-fic is hiistory or historical biography.

About 70% of my fic is post-war, although the availability of free classics on kindle is pushing me towards the Shelf approach.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Grey Fox on April 29, 2014, 07:17:43 AM
Almost exclusively Fiction. The non-fiction are usually Hockey History books.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Habbaku on April 29, 2014, 07:21:43 AM
Practically all non-fiction.  Maybe 1 in 10 is fiction.  Novels just don't do it for me the way a good history does, though some notable exceptions are there (Yiddish Policeman's Union, for example).
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: The Brain on April 29, 2014, 08:21:14 AM
Mostly non-fiction. 80%?

Please don't send me to reading gaol.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Ed Anger on April 29, 2014, 08:24:45 AM
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2014, 08:21:14 AM
Mostly non-fiction. 80%?

Please don't send me to reading gaol.

You are sentenced to read Ayn Rand.
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: The Brain on April 29, 2014, 08:27:29 AM
Quote from: Ed Anger on April 29, 2014, 08:24:45 AM
Quote from: The Brain on April 29, 2014, 08:21:14 AM
Mostly non-fiction. 80%?

Please don't send me to reading gaol.

You are sentenced to read Ayn Rand.

If she writes as well as she looks... :wub:
Title: Re: Reading
Post by: Ideologue on April 29, 2014, 08:28:09 AM
That's non-fiction.  That's what the 50s were like.  Eisenhower taxed people and made them pay for massive stretches of concrete in violation of their rights to not be taxed for anything.