It’s the message reinforced by years of dry textbooks and minuscule font—nonfiction is boring. But it doesn’t have to be.
As a voracious reader, and lover of the novel, you might be surprised to hear me proclaim my love for facts and figures. But, when I break down what I so enjoy about reading, it has nothing to do with the fictitious nature of the , rather, the way it’s told.
As the saying goes, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
Nonfiction is capable of having narrative, and it’s time we stopped associating it with the dreary and the dull. From heart-wrenching s of tragedy, overcoming adversity to see the underdog succeed, or discovering weird and wonderful tidbits about history or the human body, nonfiction is more than dusty textbooks doled out every September, or first cracked open the night before the exam.
Since starting university, nonfiction has claimed more and more real estate on my sagging bookshelf. From Johny Pitts’ Afropean to Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, my nonfiction picks seem to linger on my mind longer than their fictional friends.
The truth within their pages offers an opportunity to reflect on what you’ve just consumed, and what I’ve learned seems to stick in my mind longer than the facts I interact with in documentaries or other visual content online.
I’d wager it has something to do with the reading experience. While reading, nonfiction or otherwise, it’s easy to imagine myself inside the pages, alongside the characters, in their world. When reading true s or histories of events, I feel less aware I’m on the outside, constantly reminded that I’m behind the camera that’s capturing what’s on-screen.
It also helps add to the bank of knowledge I’ve been scrupulously collecting for when my dream of appearing on Jeopardy finally comes true. Whether it’s through Bill Bryson’s scathing witticisms in Notes from a Small Island, or a different perspective of history—east rather than west—outlined in Peter Frankopan’s The Silk Roads, I always walk away from nonfiction with my IQ at least a couple points higher.
Even if it’s rooted in ulterior motives—like wanting to look more intelligent by reading Angela Davis’s Women, Race and Class on your daily commute, or to help your Wednesday night trivia team secure the victory—reading nonfiction for pleasure is a habit worth adding to your list of resolutions.
Memoirs are a great place to start and can teach you more about the celebrities you only know by name or career accolades. After recently finishing Salman Rushdie’s Knife, I was struck with the comion I felt for someone I had previously only considered in ing.
That being said, it doesn’t take a larger-than-life public figure to tell a sweeping story. Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle stands out as one of the most memorable narratives I’ve ever read—a true of someone I’d never heard of outside of the book’s context. Telling the story of her unconventional upbringing across the United States, it’s a tale of resilience and acceptance that’s more interesting than most fiction.
There’s appeal in the escapism of fiction, but sometimes the truths of reality are necessary to face. Facing tragedy and injustice within a book’s pages teaches empathy and sometimes sparks some well-placed rage at unjust realities. My blood continues to boil at the systematic racism described by Michelle Alexander in The New Jim Crow, speaking to mass incarceration of African American men in the United States.
Despite its dull reputation, truth within narrative has the capacity to move you deeply, just as much, if not more so than a fictional work. In the closing pages of Matthew Scace’s Jasper on Fire, I found myself near tears at the strength and resilience of those attempting to rebuild their lives in the wake of the 2024 Jasper wildfires.
Though specific facts may fade, the way these stories make me feel tends to linger a little longer.
So, give it a try. Your brain will grow a little bigger, and maybe, so will your heart.
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