What nonfiction do you read?

K1P1 · Jan 12, 2007

As a nonfiction writer, do you also read nonfiction?

If so, what do you read and why? For pleasure? Professional research? Do you read within your subject area to stay informed or to avoid duplicating what's already out there?

If not, why not?

I like to read biographies (if well written) and journals and collections of letters by writers. I sometimes find myself trying to read all the fiction works of a favorite author while reading their letters and journals at the same time.

I avoid reading current works in my own field (knitting) while I'm writing, because I don't want to accidentally assimilate someone else's work. I do go back and check other authors after I'm finished writing anything major, to see if I've omitted something obvious. And I do skim recently released work, just to see what they've included.

What about you?

Pomegranate · Jan 12, 2007

Here's the current nonfiction pile on my nightstand:
Sex in Space, Laura Woodmansee (it's a serious book and very entertaining.)
The Hidden Life of Dogs, Elizabeth Marshall (rereading this one)
Confessions of a Knitting Heretic, Annie Modesitt
Cookwise:The secrets of cooking revealed, Shirley Corriher (got it for Christmas)
The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery, Robert J Ray (Another Christmas gift)

Why these books? I'm a writer, a knitter, and a dog person. I love to cook, and I'm married to a space enthusiast. I also read NF books on yoga, philosphy, and biography. (And I read alot of fiction. I worry that the towering pile of books will topple and smother me in my sleep.)

I probably only have an hour or so a day to read, except on weekends. I read fiction for escape. I read non-fiction to learn new things. I don't read much for my profession (technical writer*) unless I'm at work. I'd rather spend my off time reading for fun than work.

*I'd call this non-fiction writing about 90% of the time. Sometimes I have to get creative if the widget isn't built yet and I have a delivery. ;-))

K1P1 · Jan 12, 2007

Pomegranate said:
... I don't read much for my profession (technical writer*) unless I'm at work. I'd rather spend my off time reading for fun than work.

*I'd call this non-fiction writing about 90% of the time. Sometimes I have to get creative if the widget isn't built yet and I have a delivery. ;-))

Ah yes, when worked software, we called products sold to customers before they were ever designed or created "vaporware."

KTC · Jan 12, 2007

I like to read bios.

I just finished Various Positions, a bio on Leonard Cohen. I'm reading Baudelaire in Chains, Portrait of the Artist as a Drug Addict right now.

I absolutely loved Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

I read a lot of non-fiction on various topics. I read a lot on Buddhists, Buddhism and other religions. I also like books about places, when written well...when they come off like a person's bio...if that makes any sense?

Pomegranate · Jan 12, 2007

We still call things vaporware.

I just remembered an NF book I loved -- Almost French. It made me laugh, and made me want to move to Paris.

KTC, I know what you mean. Places do have a certain personality.

K1P1 · Jan 12, 2007

I like books about places too. And travelogues. In fact, I'll read just about anything if it's well written. It doesn't matter how interested I am in the content, if it's poorly or mediocre-ly written, I just can't get through it.

KTC · Jan 12, 2007

Oh! I should have mentioned. I love reading collections of personal essays too. David Sedaris is my absolute favourite essayist.

K1P1 · Jan 12, 2007

I have always loved Sedaris' essays on NPR, but so far have not picked up his written work in spite of intending to do so for a long, long time.

<note to self - get Sedaris>

K1P1 · Jan 12, 2007

OK - Here's another question. Do you think that the nonfiction you read influences the nonfiction you write?

Silver King · Jan 12, 2007

Biographies of historical figures. Also outdoor adventures.

Oh, and knitting books! But only the ones written by K1P1.

Little Red Barn · Jan 12, 2007

K1P1 said:
I like books about places too. And travelogues. In fact, I'll read just about anything if it's well written. It doesn't matter how interested I am in the content, if it's poorly or mediocre-ly written, I just can't get through it.

I like Bios of people historical people...Lincoln
Oh K1p1 there is a new Travel book out called uhh..I think 100 places to visit before you Die?...maybe a thousand...I want to get that.
Oh And I do read reference books, like your knitting, animal care etc...
ETA I don't knit teen does...I don't know how, sigh

K1P1 · Jan 13, 2007

kimmi 57 said:
...there is a new Travel book out called uhh..I think 100 places to visit before you Die?...maybe a thousand...

Great, another book to make me feel inadequate and remind me that time is running out!

ATP · Jan 13, 2007

I don't seem to have too much time for reading, non-fiction or otherwise. Of the non-fiction I do read: magazines - mainly those that have published my articles; books - haven't read any in ages, but am scheduled to buy later this year books related to aspects of the 'industry' for professional development; websites - chiefly AW, and Google news.

Elodie-Caroline · Jan 13, 2007

I haven't read any fiction for quite a few years now, it's always non fiction these days; but I do still buy fiction to read... one day.
I buy semi-religious books, the kind that dispel the mythologies of it etc; like The holy blood and the holy grail (I first read this when it came out, over 20 years ago. I didn't jump on DaVinci code bandwagon). The messianic legacy, An autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda.
I've bought loads of books on the French language; dictionaries, word-packs, exercise books, grammar and verb books. Books on France itself, including photos, history and travel books of all kinds.
Many books on writing, and have only read one of them so far; even though I have two novels, both in the 50,000 words range at present.
Other books on travel; including India, France, Russia and Thailand. Also many books on history, crime and philosophy.

Ellie

Leah J. Utas · Jan 13, 2007

I tend to stick with non-fic about hypnosis, meditation, and assorted paranormal/new age works for research. Helps me sort out if what I'm writing is as new and fresh as I'm alleging it is.
Does it influence my writing? To a degree.
I've got some fiction patiently waiting in the book pile. I started The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers a few years ago and still haven't made the time to finish.
And I read the dictionary. I go to look up a word, get distracted, and often forget why I picked it up.

Unique · Jan 13, 2007

Nonfiction reading is so much slower ....

I have quite a stack at the moment:

One Party Country
Math for Every Kid
The Beaches Are Moving
Raising a Thinking Preteen
Congress
War on the Middle Class
The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell
The Courage of Our Convictions
Conservatives Without Conscience
Live Learn Lead to Make a Difference
Writing Down the Bones
In the Name of Sorrow and Hope
Is Democracy Possible Here?
Lightning Out of Lebanon - Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil
Treachery - How America's Friends and Foes are Secretly Arming Our Enemies
The Art of Living
Verbal Judo
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
An Inconvenient Truth

um...yeah...our library lets you check out a lot of books at one time.
Some of those are actually mine.

K1P1 · Jan 13, 2007

You are all such serious readers, you put me to shame. I can't imagine reading philosophy, religion or politics in my free reading time (which is in bed at night before I fall asleep). Unless, of course, I want to fall asleep that much faster.

Cav Guy · Jan 13, 2007

I read mostly non-fiction, actually. Of that the great majority is history, although I do also read some Feng Shui books and things on water gardening.

Just finished Nothing but Victory and Grant, and have two more history books on order (both for an article I'm working on and later novel research). Read Return to Bull Run just before those two and am starting on the Army's new Counterinsurgency manual this weekend. So yeah...it's pretty varied.

I read non-fiction both to stay informed with my fields and for enjoyment. I'm one of those people who enjoy history a great deal, and can't wait to read more about it. I like seeing how parts of the past fit together.

K1P1 · Jan 13, 2007

Cav Guy,

Do you care how a book is written, or do you just read for content? I can see skimming a counterinsurgency manual, but I probably wouldn't actually read every word. And history can be written very well or very poorly. I find it extremely difficult to finish a history that's not well written.

Pat~ · Jan 13, 2007

I mostly read nonfiction books; very little fiction. I like biographies, and books by Christian thinkers (eg. CSLewis, James Boice, John Piper...). I also read my Bible quite a bit. I like to read older devotional writings all the way back to Augustine, and also the older poetry (John Donne, Christina Rossetti, etc.).

ThatGuy · Jan 13, 2007

Humor books. They make me laugh and chuckle. Sometimes they make me Chaugh and Luckle.

Sohia Rose · Jan 13, 2007

I usually have at least five books out from the library at any given time. Memoirs, how-to books (writing, retirement funds, stock investing, tax sheltering, American history). Magazines I subscribe to: Time, Newsweek, Money, and People (just for the gossip value).

I read non-fiction to stay informed and to learn something new. When I read memoirs, I'm just being nosey.

Cav Guy · Jan 14, 2007

K1P1 said:
Cav Guy,

Do you care how a book is written, or do you just read for content? I can see skimming a counterinsurgency manual, but I probably wouldn't actually read every word. And history can be written very well or very poorly. I find it extremely difficult to finish a history that's not well written.

I care a great deal about how they're written. That's one reason I tend to avoid memoirs and much of the "instant history" stuff. They tend to be written more for impact than for content. There are some historians I will never read again based on the quality of their writing.

One of the reasons I read military manuals is to get a conceptual framework for some battlefield decisions. Some of the more recent ones (like the counterinsurgency one I mentioned) are actually quite well-written and contain a fair amount of distilled historical experience and information. I also view it as understanding the "tools" that a leader had to work with at the time.

K1P1 · Jan 14, 2007

Cav Guy said:
One of the reasons I read military manuals is to get a conceptual framework for some battlefield decisions. Some of the more recent ones (like the counterinsurgency one I mentioned) are actually quite well-written and contain a fair amount of distilled historical experience and information. I also view it as understanding the "tools" that a leader had to work with at the time.

It makes perfect sense to me. I prefer to get as close to primary sources as possible. I would think that older manuals of this sort would be significant indicators of the historical context, but you'd need to know when they were written as well as when they were released.

I had a friend, a computer programmer, who had an internship one summer during college doing invasion modelling. He worked on various scenarios for the invasion of Grenada. It was the first time I realized that they made plans like this well in advance, even if they didn't contemplate needing them. Very interesting to contemplate several years later when the U.S. actually did invade Grenada.

SHBueche · Jan 14, 2007

I only read nonfiction and right now I am big into memoirs. For those that haven't read his book, "Ava's Man," by Rick Bragg is a must! It is terrific.

I do read nonfiction to conduct research upon occasion, but with me it goes deeper than that, it is hard to enjoy a story knowing it was made up (in my opinion, that is). And a pat on the back to nonfiction writers, I read a quote by John Grisham after he wrote his first NF book (and probably only NF book) that he found the research taxing and had a lot of respect for NF writers.

What nonfiction do you read?

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