Over the last few years, non-fiction has become one of my favourite genres to read. Of course I’ll always adore fiction and the escapism that comes with it but I’m also hugely fascinated by real life too. Which is where my love for non-fiction, real people and real stories comes in.
Non-fiction can be a hard one to get into, especially if you haven’t really read any non-fiction before.
When I say non-fiction, your mind probably instantly goes to biographies of footballers or self help books. Which, if you’re into football and self help, is great. But non-fiction spans wider than we can ever see.
At the end of the day, non-fiction spans across the whole of life and all of it’s multi-faceted parts. There will be a non-fiction book out there for every topic you could imagine.
So understandably, it might seem a bit overwhelming when it comes to wanting to delve into non-fiction for the first time.
For me, a topic I’m hugely interested in is medical non-fiction. If I could start over again, I’d definitely want to pursue a career in medicine or maybe end of life care, as it’s something I’ve come to find incredibly engaging.
And reading non-fiction has only amplified by interest for the human body, medicine, the NHS, end of life care, how we treat our sick, death, near death experiences, forensics and more.
Not everyone’s cup of tea, for sure but I find it utterly fascinating, particularly the human element that weaves through all of the above.
If anything, reading more non-fiction about these topics has made me realise how incredible human beings are and can be.
Non-Fiction Reading Lists
Before I go into my pointers on why I love reading non-fiction – which hopefully prompt you to pick up a non-fiction book as well – I just want to let you know about my free non-fiction reading list I have in my freebie library.
I’ve kept track of all the non-fiction books I’ve read over the last few years (well, the ones I’d recommend anyway!) and collated them all in some handy lists, categorised by genre.
So from sports memoirs, to medicine, to personal growth, there’s a TON of recommendations here to delve into if you do want to expand your reading and incorporate more non-fiction titles into your reading habits.
Get access to my freebie library by signing up to my mailing list here. You will receive a welcome email with the password and from there you can download your free non-fiction reading lists.
Here are 5 reasons why I love reading non-fiction:
It helps me learn something new
I think the first and most obvious benefit of non-fiction and reason why I love reading it is that it helps me learn something new. Whether that’s learning about someone else, learning about science or health or learning life lessons.
Non-fiction is a great way to learn from others who have been there. Professionals who have spent their life learning about one subject or someone who learned along the way.
It allows me to invest time in other people’s stories
Non-fiction has lead me to form an intense interest in other people and their stories. Whether it’s Paul Kalanithi and how he faced his terminal cancer diagnosis as a doctor or Bonita Norris and her mission to reach the peak of Mount Everest.
Connection and our stories are what make up life so I just can’t imagine not being interested in other people’s stories. Non-fiction is a wonderful way to delve into that.
Which ultimately reminds me of the bigger picture
Which helps to remind me of the bigger picture sometimes. If I’m having a low mental health day or something is happening in my life that’s difficult and I need a distraction, for me, non-fiction is the one.
Fiction is obviously great for this too, being able to delve into made up worlds and characters but for me, seeing the bigger picture through the eyes of real people’s stories is much more beneficial.
I can delve deeper into topics I’m interested in
As I mentioned with my interest for all things medical, non-fiction has really allowed me to delve deeper into these topics than I thought I could. As there are so many wonderful perspectives to read from and people within the industry to learn from.
Especially as someone who tends to struggle to watch things by myself, reading is a great alternative to watching a documentary on the same subject. Although I do love a documentary at times too!
It’s a nice change from fiction
Like I said, I’ll always love fiction but sometimes I actually find non-fiction easier to read. With fiction, you’re always presented with something new, something made up, characters and places to envision in your head.
And sometimes, depending on my mood, I find it difficult to get into a fiction book if I can’t quite get a picture in my head of what’s going on due to the writing style or the nature of the book. I find it much easier to do with non-fiction – because it’s always real.
I hope this post might encourage you to pick up some more non-fiction, if it’s not a genre you usually reach for.
There are so many benefits to reading non-fiction and adding some non-fiction titles into your reading repertoire. And don’t forget to download my reading lists if you need any recommendations!
Do you read non-fiction? Do you have any non-fiction recommendations?
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Thank you, Jenny, for sharing this post. Like yourself, I do love fiction. But I’ve found over the recent years I love reading non-fiction more so. I think it is the idea of reading about real people, reading what they have done or overcome, I find incredible. Sometimes relatable too.
Yes totally agree!
I have to say, I think I prefer fiction more than non-fiction. However, there are SO many benefits to reading non-fiction. In particular, I like to read books about feminism 🙂 thank you for sharing!
For sure, fiction will always be most special to most people I think!
I love non fiction but don’t read it as much as I’d like. I used to read a lot of auto biographies now I like books about health or parenting.
I would love to read more non-fiction books. I find them fascinating and as you say, it’s great to invest in real people’s stories x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
It really is 🙂 plenty of recs in my reading list!
Very good post! It is good to read a variety of things.. I like to mix it up and read both fiction and nonfiction.
It’s nice to mix it up!
I love reading fiction and nonfiction books. I prefer to read about history or anthropology. I learned a lot about people who lived in the past and learning about people now.
Learning about history through NF is so rewarding
I really enjoy nature non-fiction as, like you said, it allows me to delve further into a subject I’m passionate about/interested in! I do tend to read more fiction, as it takes me a lot longer to read non-fiction.
Ah really? I’m the opposite! I tend to fly through NF books x
I really enjoy non-fiction too and always read some mixed in between fiction. It’s great to learn something new or expand on a topic I have previously studied/read about. I agree with all your reasons; it’s so good to get into books like this!
Yess absolutely agree!
Non-fiction is all I read, except for some poetry and blogs. I have written a holistic health book you might enjoy. See my home page/profile. Thank you!
I love non-fiction too and always have a book at the ready, alongside my latest novel. At the moment it’s a memoir about April Ashley. I like to read history books too, particularly the Tudors.
I’ve not really delve into history yet!
I have always preferred non-fiction over fiction! I love getting to read someone’s perspective of their life and journey / learn in depth about a specific topic. Thanks for sharing!
https://melissakacar.com
Yes that’s one of the main reasons I love it too!