I’ve kept lists of my reading since 2018. I would have said that I tended to read slighly more fiction than non-fiction.
Today I put my separate lists together and counted, and was surprised by the results. From 2018 thtough 24, I read CONSIDERABLY MORE fiction. Almost always nearly twice as much, sometimes 3 or more times as much.
As much as that surprised me, 2025 was the first year in which I read more nonfiction than fiction. I wonder what factors contributed to that, and whether it will continue. I imagine current events in the US caused me to seek info that was “real.” SOrta my form of escapism.
I read quite a bit more nonfiction than fiction, for a very good reason: I can only read one fiction book at a time, otherwise I start to get confused about plot and characters. OTOH I can read several nonfiction books simultaneously, switching whenever one starts to bore me.
My personal lists were strictly books. Not exactly sure there are fiction magazines/news to compare.
I’m pretty much of a one-book-at-a time guy. Only exception is if I wish a break from something exceptionally long. Curiously, the first book I read this year was NF, as are the next 4 on my nightstand. I guess I have what I consider somewhat high standards for the fiction I wish to read - and so often find my standards not met. So I’m preferring to read nonfiction where, at least, I’ll learn something if the writing quality is lacking.
I used to keep track, but stopped a few years ago. Fiction (mostly SF and mysteries) was always at least double the number of non-fiction books (mostly history) – especially when I started a new-to-me series and read my way through it (Vorkosigan, Meg Langslow, &c).
IRT the thread title: No.
I’m usually reading one non-fiction and one fiction book – butI can zip through fiction faster than non-fiction, so I often read two or three fiction before finishing the non-fiction. The only thing I really can’t do without getting confused is read two mysteries at the same time.
I read a mix that also includes graphics and poetry. I don’t seem to have a pattern or preferences; I do sometimes get on a genre or author jag, but it’s always varied.
ETA: it’s rare for me to have only one book going at a time. I’ve been reading Gore Vidal’s Julian (historical fiction), Maggie Smith’s Dear Writer (craft of poetry), skimming through a book about medieval bestiaries (art and culture), and will start Allison Montclair’s Fire Must Burn (detective) when it’s published this week.
Definitely. I used to read overwhelmingly fiction, mainly sci-fi but a wide range of other genres too (in my 20s). Over the years that changed until for a few years now (I’m 48) I’ve only read non-fiction.
Mine do ever so slightly, but it’s a clear pattern. I read mostly fiction, e-books, online published, and dead tree version. I also read a number of biographies, a good bit of history, and a LOT of fiction in the form of classic literature rather than modern works.
But I notice that in years of great political stress (Trump 1.0 and 2.0 especially) I avoid reading almost any history, because it makes the whole “people who don’t learn from history” trope become far too painful to endure.
The same tendency also turns up the percentage of “junky” fiction in my reading/re-reading list - jumping headfirst down a whole of mindless escapism can be very helpful in avoiding depression, especially at night before bed.
I tend to read 90% fiction, BUT, once a year or so there comes a point when nothing good seems to be in the pipeline for fiction (I believe this a symptom of exhaustion, not an objective reality) and so I read 2 or 3 non-fiction books, generally history, linguistics and general science (or history of science), in that order.
So my reading goes something like Fiction, Fiction, (repeat x 10), Non-Fiction, Fiction (repeat x 10), non fiction (fiction repeat x 10) (exhaustion hits), Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction, Fiction…
I will say that when I was in cancer treatment, inevitably every memoir or novel had at least a thowaway person/character with cancer, so I read more nonfiction about somewhat safer topics, like popular physics.