My book club debate on whether nonfiction even counts as reading got way too heated last night

So we're doing a monthly book club thing with some neighbors, and the pick this month was a nonfiction book about the history of salt. I brought up that I don't really feel like nonfiction is "reading" in the same way fiction is, like you're just learning facts not escaping into a story. My neighbor Karen snapped back and said I was gatekeeping and that half the classics are basically nonfiction. She pointed out that her dad only reads biographies and he's read more books than anyone she knows. It hit different because she had a point about how we're all just trying to enjoy words, but now I'm wondering if other clubs have had this same fight. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of debate in their group over what counts as real reading?

2 comments

2 Comments

riley5175d ago

Calling out Karen for being right is rough but she was. Nonfiction takes way more focus than some fiction escapes do. You gotta actually sit with facts and process them instead of just following a story. Plus stuff like In Cold Blood or The Warmth of Other Suns reads like a novel anyway. People who say it doesn't count are usually just flexing. Your club needs to chill and let everyone read what they like without judging it.

diana555d ago

and honestly, I can see that argument but I still don't fully agree. I mean, sure, nonfiction makes you sit with real stuff, but that doesn't automatically make it harder than fiction. Some fiction is super dense too, like literary stuff with tons of layers, and a lot of people use fiction to actually work through heavy emotions and ideas. I think the real issue is the club judging anyone in the first place, not whether Karen is right or wrong. Like, maybe the point of a book club is just to read together and talk, not to rank how hard everyone's picking. Idk, I just feel like putting nonfiction on a pedestal kinda misses why people love reading in the first place.