# Do your reading preferences - fiction vs non - vary year to year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331 "2026-01-04T17:27:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/1 "2026-01-04T17:27:05Z")
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. These are the #s, in case you are curious. 2018 67 total - 44 fic, 23 non 2019 68 total - 44 fic, 24 non 2020 56 total - 46 fic, 12 non 2021 79 total - 60 fic, 19 non 2022 89 total - 72 fic, 17 non 2023 59 total - 39 fic, 20 non 2024 54 total - 41 fic, 13 non 2025 67 total - 33 fic, 34 non ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/2 "2026-01-04T17:31:30Z")
By far more non-fiction, especially if you consider magazine reading and the news. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/3 "2026-01-04T17:56:52Z")
Depends on the medium. Fiction I usually read as paper books, mostly from the library these days. Non fiction: almost completely online. Where I can search through it and open another window for fact checking etc. Year to year… I don’t think the mix has changed that much, ignoring the media issue. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/4 "2026-01-04T18:00:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/5 "2026-01-04T18:23:59Z")
I never read fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/6 "2026-01-04T18:24:12Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > especially if you consider magazine reading and the news. My personal lists were strictly books. Not exactly sure there are fiction magazines/news to compare. > [@suranyi](#): > > OTOH I can read several nonfiction books simultaneously, switching whenever one starts to bore me. 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. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/7 "2026-01-04T19:24:03Z")
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. > [@suranyi](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/8 "2026-01-05T02:39:27Z")
For me, non-fiction is learning. Fiction helps me cope. I read fiction almost exclusively. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/9 "2026-01-05T03:57:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/10 "2026-01-05T23:04:44Z")
I’m almost always around fifty-fifty. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/11 "2026-01-05T23:27:46Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/12 "2026-01-06T06:55:40Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/13 "2026-01-06T13:49:11Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-reading-preferences-fiction-vs-non-vary-year-to-year/1026331/14 "2026-01-06T17:58:41Z")
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.