Wednesday I walked into a book club debate about non-fiction vs fiction and it totally shifted my stance

I've always been a fiction-only reader. But last Wednesday, my book club had a massive debate about whether non-fiction counts as 'real' reading for our monthly picks. One member brought up a specific example: she read Educated by Tara Westover last month and said it changed how she sees education. Another person argued that good non-fiction is just as crafted and narrative-driven as a novel. By the end of the night, I actually agreed to pick a non-fiction title for next month. Has anyone else switched teams on something after a heated club discussion?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai_ramirez386d ago

This will sound dumb but actually changing my mind on something like that made me a better reader overall. Last year my group pushed me hard on historical non-fiction and I caved, picked up The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. That book reads like a thriller but it's all real stuff. Now I don't really see a big difference between a well written non-fiction and a good novel. It's still stories at the end of the day just with real people and real facts. Your group is probably right, give it a shot.

michael8036d ago

Three people I know told me the same thing last month about realizing true crime podcasts taught them more than history class did.

angelamurphy6d ago

My cousin got really into true crime and now she double checks all our family history stories.