OT: Fiction or Non-Fiction, Which Do You Prefer?
- Thread starter RutgersRaRa
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Great question. Work related pubs, kid's school related stuff, this board, and legal docs have made up 99.5% of my reading for the last 15+ years. Guess that would be non-fiction, except for a few things at work.
Assuming I had time, I prefer non-fiction first: miliitary history, how-to type books, and baseball. If I had lots of free time I'd throw in some classic Sci Fi: Niven, Asimov, Heinlein.
Most recent book (2011) was The Guns of August. WW I. Turned out to be a great non-fiction book on mass murder.
Good post. Got me thinking about reading again.
Assuming I had time, I prefer non-fiction first: miliitary history, how-to type books, and baseball. If I had lots of free time I'd throw in some classic Sci Fi: Niven, Asimov, Heinlein.
Most recent book (2011) was The Guns of August. WW I. Turned out to be a great non-fiction book on mass murder.
Good post. Got me thinking about reading again.
If you've read posts by RutgersAl, then you've been reading fiction:joy:
Usually prefer fiction, especially historical fiction, but I recently read Devil in the White City and In the Garden of Beasts, both by Erik Larson and enjoyed them very much. The first is about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago where there was a serial killer preying on out of towners, and the second is about our first ambassador to Hitler's Germany.
98% or more of what I read are non-fiction science books.
The rest are non-fiction, like the Song of Ice and Fire series (what Game of Thrones is based on) but those get release once or twice a decade.
As far as books goes that pretty much it.
The rest are non-fiction, like the Song of Ice and Fire series (what Game of Thrones is based on) but those get release once or twice a decade.
As far as books goes that pretty much it.
There are products to reduce friction, depending on the type you desire to reduce. Most can be found in a hardware store or pharmacy. Mediators work too, but they can be expensive and annoying.
Almost exclusively non-fiction, mostly history leaning heavily toward military, occasional current issues.
The above recommendation for Erik Larsen is on point. I've read most of his stuff and they have have all been good.
Military history: anything by Antony Beevor is worth a read and he has done some ground breaking research using the former Soviet archives that opened up in the 90s. Putin has since shut them down and the Russian military has formed a history unit specifically to counter some of the less appealing facts Beevor reports on the Red Army.
Hew Strachan's books on the First World War really bring fresh perspective to a story that needed a new look.
Patrick Caddick Adams Snow and Steel brings new light to the Battle of the Bulge and does a better job of telling both sides of the story than some of the better known works.
Other military history authors to look for are John Keegan, Rick Atkinson, Max Hastings, Stephen Ambrose.
Niall Ferguson has done very interesting work. War of the World and Civilization both caused me to think about some things in new ways. Pity of War was good also.
Ron Chernow's Washington and Hamilton bios.
I would skip Barbara Tuchman's Guns of August. It is outdated and The Sleepwalkers How Eurpe went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark uses much new material Tuchman did not have access to or was unaware of.
Non-history interesting and little off beat is Bill Bryson. Read many of his and the only one I did not like was about his house in England.
For technology history you still can't go wrong with James's Burke's Connections though it is a little outdated. Issacson's Innovators sort of picks up and updates the story.
Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel might be one of the most interesting things I've read in a long time.
The above recommendation for Erik Larsen is on point. I've read most of his stuff and they have have all been good.
Military history: anything by Antony Beevor is worth a read and he has done some ground breaking research using the former Soviet archives that opened up in the 90s. Putin has since shut them down and the Russian military has formed a history unit specifically to counter some of the less appealing facts Beevor reports on the Red Army.
Hew Strachan's books on the First World War really bring fresh perspective to a story that needed a new look.
Patrick Caddick Adams Snow and Steel brings new light to the Battle of the Bulge and does a better job of telling both sides of the story than some of the better known works.
Other military history authors to look for are John Keegan, Rick Atkinson, Max Hastings, Stephen Ambrose.
Niall Ferguson has done very interesting work. War of the World and Civilization both caused me to think about some things in new ways. Pity of War was good also.
Ron Chernow's Washington and Hamilton bios.
I would skip Barbara Tuchman's Guns of August. It is outdated and The Sleepwalkers How Eurpe went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark uses much new material Tuchman did not have access to or was unaware of.
Non-history interesting and little off beat is Bill Bryson. Read many of his and the only one I did not like was about his house in England.
For technology history you still can't go wrong with James's Burke's Connections though it is a little outdated. Issacson's Innovators sort of picks up and updates the story.
Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel might be one of the most interesting things I've read in a long time.
Only non-fiction for me.
I just finished reading Billionaire's Vinegar, which was an information-packed book about the high-end fraud market in wines, whose touchstone case involved a fraudulent bottle of wine sold at auction in the UK for a record price of approx. $150k. Malcolm Forbes sent his son over to bid on the bottle, since it was purportedly a bottle found in a European cellar that was inscribed with the letters "Th. J"--Thomas Jefferson. Unbelievable read with more info than I know what to do with, but what I did retain made it totally worth it.
Prior to this I read Trading Bases by Joe Peta, a book on statistical analysis in baseball. Peta is a former Wall Street trader who was a Stanford MBA grad, among other things, who figured out better metrics than the bookies and subsequently made a killing betting baseball. I don't even care about baseball and don't gamble, but I love innovators who succeed.
I'm now 100 pages into Bad Paper, which is a tremendous read about the debt-collection industry.
I just finished reading Billionaire's Vinegar, which was an information-packed book about the high-end fraud market in wines, whose touchstone case involved a fraudulent bottle of wine sold at auction in the UK for a record price of approx. $150k. Malcolm Forbes sent his son over to bid on the bottle, since it was purportedly a bottle found in a European cellar that was inscribed with the letters "Th. J"--Thomas Jefferson. Unbelievable read with more info than I know what to do with, but what I did retain made it totally worth it.
Prior to this I read Trading Bases by Joe Peta, a book on statistical analysis in baseball. Peta is a former Wall Street trader who was a Stanford MBA grad, among other things, who figured out better metrics than the bookies and subsequently made a killing betting baseball. I don't even care about baseball and don't gamble, but I love innovators who succeed.
I'm now 100 pages into Bad Paper, which is a tremendous read about the debt-collection industry.
@srru86, have you read In Harm's Way by Douglas Stanton, about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis after the war was declared over? It was the most impactful book I've ever read on military history and human drama, and led me to tell my friend that, if he ever hears me complaining about anything, to say three words to me--remember the Indy. Dear God I am still speechless about that story.
Familiar with the story, but no, I have not read that. I will check it out.
In the harrowing tale of suffering and survival genre have you read Unbroken or Tears in Darkness? The second was particularly tough going as though you knew Zamperini ultimately prevails, that was not true for most on the Bataan Death March. Tough to get your head around the suffering.
Non almost exclusively
Most fun to read
Founding Brothers Joseph Ellis
Into Thin Air Krakauer
Where Men Win Glory Krakauer
Pistol The Life of Pete Maravich
Killing Jesus
Killing Patton OReilly
Informative
1776
John Adams McCullough
Fiction
The Godfather (The most entertaining book of all time for me)
Most fun to read
Founding Brothers Joseph Ellis
Into Thin Air Krakauer
Where Men Win Glory Krakauer
Pistol The Life of Pete Maravich
Killing Jesus
Killing Patton OReilly
Informative
1776
John Adams McCullough
Fiction
The Godfather (The most entertaining book of all time for me)
If you are going to read fiction those are both really good recommendations.
We were assigned Killer Angels as required reading in ROTC. The instructor said it was the only fictional work that was part of the West Point history syllabus.
I liked Caleb Carr's Alienist so much I went back and read one of his history books The Devil Soldier.
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ONLY fiction.I read for escapism.Reality is all around us at all times .Can't do anything to change it.
I prefer non-fiction also. I found Killing Lincoln the best (by far) in the "Killing " series.
Twelve Mighty Orphans is a GREAT read for football in Texas.
Last few books I have read actually they were audio books, non fiction and current events, they were all good.
Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, And Endless War by James Risen
Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt by Chris Hedges
Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army by Jeremy Scahill
Daybreak: Undoing The Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union by David Swanson
No Place to Hide: Edwin Snowden, the NSA and the U.S. Surveillance by Glenn Greenwald
Also read two non fiction books on Kindle earlier this year dealing with spirituality.
Between the Dark and the Daylight; Embracing the Contradictions of Life by Joan Chittister
Occupy Spirituality; A Radical Vision For a new Generation by Adam Bucko & Matthew Fox
Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, And Endless War by James Risen
Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt by Chris Hedges
Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army by Jeremy Scahill
Daybreak: Undoing The Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union by David Swanson
No Place to Hide: Edwin Snowden, the NSA and the U.S. Surveillance by Glenn Greenwald
Also read two non fiction books on Kindle earlier this year dealing with spirituality.
Between the Dark and the Daylight; Embracing the Contradictions of Life by Joan Chittister
Occupy Spirituality; A Radical Vision For a new Generation by Adam Bucko & Matthew Fox
I've got to read Unbroken, since anyone who's ever commented on it says it's a must-read, and I haven't read Tears In Darkness, either. I float in and out of genres, reading anywhere from two to twenty books in a particular genre, and after reading a bunch of military history stuff a few year ago I jumped to other subjects. Haven't had the desire to return to military stuff yet, but it will return at some point. I read a good one--pretty sure it was titled The Battle Of Leyte Gulf--that was the last one I read on military history.
I will be using this in the future and probably not giving anyone credit for it but myself. #truthonly
Was Anton Myer's "Once an Eagle" assigned as well? If you are unfamiliar with it, check it out. It's requisite reading at the War College, and has become a cult classic among officers in both the Army and Marine Corps.
^^This is up for the Most Unusual Post Of The Year, and for some reason it's pretty funny. I gave you a Like.
I don't read....why go through the trouble when I can go watch the movie. And I definitely go on the opening night, dressed thematically appropriate. Oh wait, this wasn't a thread about the new Star Wars?
Most recent History:
The China Mirage by James Bradley (what a cluster f*** America's dealings with Asia have been)
Dead Wake by Erik Larson ( was Churchill actually part of a conspiracy to get the US into WWII?)
Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade (Our problems with Islam go back farther than most think)
Liberty's First Crisis by Charles Slack (The Federalist attack on the First Amendment)
Most recent Fiction:
Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King (10 King stories for the price of one)
Presently reading:
Above the Line by Urban Meyer (Researching a guy named C. Ash)
The China Mirage by James Bradley (what a cluster f*** America's dealings with Asia have been)
Dead Wake by Erik Larson ( was Churchill actually part of a conspiracy to get the US into WWII?)
Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade (Our problems with Islam go back farther than most think)
Liberty's First Crisis by Charles Slack (The Federalist attack on the First Amendment)
Most recent Fiction:
Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King (10 King stories for the price of one)
Presently reading:
Above the Line by Urban Meyer (Researching a guy named C. Ash)
Typically Fiction but I have no problem reading some good historical Non-Fiction stuff in the sports and (sometimes) war genres.
Typically fiction, all over the place. Nelson DeMille, Greg Iles, Michael Connolly, etc. Lot of non fiction: music biographies(How are Ozzy and Keith still alive?), not as many sports books as I used to read.
Wow, what a misguided view. The best writers that ever lived wrote fiction. You are missing out if you deliberately chose not to read fiction.
99% of what I read for pleasure are novels.
I'm currently reading: For Whom the Bell Tolls- Hemmingway
Some of the books that I recently read that I enjoyed and highly recommend:
Road - Cormac McCarthy (Didn't see the movie, but I suspect it didn't do justice to the book)
No Country for Old Men - Cormac Mccarthy (Didn't see the movie either)
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
The House of Spirits - Isabel Allende
And some of my favorite books throughout the years
Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami
Rabbit, Run - John Updike (Read the whole series, but I thought the first one was the best)
Slaughterhouse-five - Kurt Vonnegut
Stranger - Camus
It is not misguided, its simply a matter of preference. I am making the decision to spend my limited reading time consuming information as opposed to consuming art. Nothing more. I have no doubt that the best writers wrote fiction. That said, the best writers won't give you very much information on topics that interest you. Its all a matter of what you are looking for. Your comment is like saying instead of watching CNBC or the news, you should always watch movies from the all time top 100 list.
I find it funny that I recently broke my own rule to read one of the books you noted, Slaughterhouse Five, basically because it was laying around the house and it seemed like a really quick read, which it was. I did enjoy it. I also broke my rule 2 summers ago to read the Grapes of Wrath, which was mainly brought on from watching the Ken Burns documentary on the dust bowl, and because we were going on vacation and I wanted something fun to read. The ending of that book somewhat confirmed my decision to stick with non-fiction, lol. I was just sitting there like "WTF...That is how this ends??" I though some pages must've fallen out.
I read a lot of just about everything I can get my hands on. Plenty of fiction and non-fiction.
One thing I tend to avoid reading is newspapers and news magazines. I can't remember the last time I read (or heard) something truly new. It's always more of exact same stuff with the names changed.
One thing I tend to avoid reading is newspapers and news magazines. I can't remember the last time I read (or heard) something truly new. It's always more of exact same stuff with the names changed.
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