How many non fantasy and Sci-fi books do you read?

[Christos]

I love Sci-fi and Fantasy but I wanted to start reading more non genre books so I decided for every 40 sci-fi books I read (because I read more sci-fi than fantasy) I will read at least 5 non genre books. How about you?

[John (Taloni)]

I have found most non-genre books tedious and boring. I will read them as needed. It is not the same as an SFF book. Even a dull SFF book beats almost all nonfiction for me. What can I say, I know what I like!

[Iain]

I read a significant number of murder mystery/thriller books.

I also read a smattering of Science books that do not relate to my job (this seems a bit too much like work).

Every now and again I end up reading a "serious" book which usually bore me to tears... (plot we don't need no stinking plot)

[Eva]

For anyone who believes literary, non-SFF fiction can only be boring: try A Study in Scarlet which was my surprise of the year, because it's so snappy and fast-paced, combines a bromance with fantastic characters with a fun murder mystery AND a nobody-saw-that-coming Wild West flashback (complete with sneaking out of houses surrounded by gunmen) and a great villain you find yourself rooting for.

Or Oscar Wilde: his comedies are still laugh-out-loud funny and full of one-liners you'll want to quote all the time, e.g. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” or “I can resist everything except temptation” or “I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.”

Or if you're usually bored with non-fiction, try What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. The first lines are: “There’s a wise old saying that goes like this: A real gentleman never discusses women he’s broken up with or how much tax he’s paid. Actually, this is a total lie. I just made it up. Sorry!”

All of the above are also really short and quick reads. Or if you're up to something longer, try one of the best historical novels ever, the very entertaining tale of emperor Claudius - first lines:
"I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This-that-and-the-other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles) who was once, and not so long ago either, known to my friends and relatives and associates as "Claudius the Idiot," or "That Claudius," or "Claudius the Stammerer," or "Clau-Clau-Claudius" or at best as "Poor Uncle Claudius," am now about to write this strange history of my life; starting from my earliest childhood and continuing year by year until I reach the fateful point of change where, some eight years ago, at the age of fifty-one, I suddenly found myself caught in what I may call the "golden predicament" from which I have never since become disentangled. —Robert Graves, I, Claudius
A bit later: “I was thinking, "So, I’m Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I'll be able to make people read my books now.”

So, while there was indeed a long period (the 20th century) in which literary fiction seemed determined to avoid anything fun or entertaining as if it were the plague, there are definitely many non-SFF books that are not boring at all.

To answer the OP's question: yes, I try to read a few classics and a few new non-SFF books each year. I think the easiest ways to expand into other genres are historical novels (if you like fantasy) and murder mysteries (if you like SF novels with puzzles/mysteries to solve). I like reading a bit more widely.

[Paul]

I read pretty broadly, and try to make an effort to expand my range. That said, looking back at my reading this year, the only (fiction) I've read which is in no way SF/F is Transcription & Darkness, Take My Hand. SF is definitely my first love to which I always return and, I think now more than ever, it is such a wide genre.



That said, I'm one of those people who thinks 'genre' is largely a marketing and selection tool. Artemis is obviously SF - it's set in the future, on the moon - but it's a crime novel set in the future on the moon, but a bookshop would never shelve it with James Patterson. Claire North is, by any definition, a literary writer, but bases her plots on the fantastical, so is 'genre' - although Salman Rushdie is never bunged in the Fantasy section.

[Trike]

If you count art and photography books, I read outside SFF a lot. I also quite like technology, science, language and history books.

Some non-fiction for the SF reader:
How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveller

The World Without Us

All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time


Really good non-fiction:
How to Fight Presidents: Defending Yourself Against the Badasses Who Ran This Country - hilarious and informative history

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - will make you look at history with fresh eyes

Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis

Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

[Melanie]

I try to read @ least 4 non-fiction books a year and 2 religious books. I also read a lot of YA and MG books because I'm a teacher and I need to be able to recommend books of all kinds to students.

I definitely read more sword (100ish) & laser (30ish) books than anything else because I like them best.

[Qukatheg]

I tend to read pretty broadly; I'll pick up anything that catches my interest for whatever reason, regardless of genre, but SFF tends to dominate. So far this year I've read 51 fantasy books, 79 science fiction books, and 84 in various other genres.

Currently reading Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon, a literary piece of historical fiction which reads almost like a fantasy epic. Can recommend!

[Seth]

Based on the last year or two, looks like about 1 in every 10 books I read is outside SFF. I still tell people I read history and historical fiction along with SFF (and other stuff too), but it's been getting less and less true.

[Phillip]

I mostly focus on SF/F, but occasionally branch out. Humor books are fun, I love my trivia, and often pick up older books that I never got around to reading. (Most recently this was First Blood).

[Phil]

This year 5 of my 28 books so far haven't been sf or f. My bathroom reading is a lot of magazines and comic (like Charlie Brown) collections that I haven't kept track of.

[Colin]

Maybe 10% of what I read is outside of SF&F, so 4 or 5 books a year. Those would mainly be crime novels or humour titles. A very occasional biography.

[Allison]

Yeah, I think I'm likely with the 10%ers. It seems to be roughly one a month is something of a palate cleanser :)

[David H.]

Looks like I'm a 20-25% non-SF/F reader.

Lately, listening to nonfiction audiobooks has been a good source of that this year, but this year, it's a a couple romances and stuff like Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Cemetery of Forgotten Books or other mysteries.

[Brooke]

I keep pretty detailed stats of my reading, including how it's shelved at my library, so this year looked like:

SFF: 57.3%
Graphic Novels: 22.5%
YA: 8.6%
Fiction: 5.6%
Mystery: 3.2%
Non-fiction: 2.8%

If I bundle in the graphic novels and YA (because those are also mostly in the same genres) with stuff that's shelved as SFF, I'm up to ~90%. But I'm a collection development librarian for the sci-fi/fantasy and adult graphic novel collections at a public library, so I claim that it's work related.

[Stephen]

I like Scandinavian Mysteries and Historical Fiction genres. Plus interesting Non Fiction like anything by Jared Diamond. Plus a good Detective series.

[terpkristin]

Depends on the year and what else has come out. But I like to read mystery/thriller type books and cozy mysteries. And some non fiction.

And I read a LOT of technical stuff for work (analyses, procedures), but none of that counts on GR since I can't track it.

[Joseph]

3 non-SFF out of 65 (at least, of what I've logged in GR), but they all had some sort of genre connection:

Swords of the Steppes: The Complete Cossack Adventures, Volume Four was historical adventure fiction, but the sorts of stories, and by an author, that were very influential on Robert E. Howard when he was writing his Conan stories, amongst others.

The Scholars of Night by John M. Ford, sort of a contemporary (1980s) espionage novel by an author better remembered for his SFF.

Beatrice by H. Rider Haggard -- a contemporary (well, set in and written in Victorian times) romance/melodrama novel by an author these days much better remembered for lost race & adventure novels such as King Solomon's Mines.

[Adelaide]

About 1/3 of the books I read this year were SFF. I'll read anything that catches my attention. The only thing I'm suspicious of is contemporary literary fiction. Too much emphasis on unhappy families. BORING.

[Eva]

Adelaide wrote: "About 1/3 of the books I read this year were SFF. I'll read anything that catches my attention. The only thing I'm suspicious of is contemporary literary fiction. Too much emphasis on unhappy famil..."

That's definitely a problem I have with a lot of the literary award-winners: lots very unhappy families, sexual abuse, other kinds of abuse, drugs, graphic violence and rape, dysfunction, and no hope in sight - everything is bleak. Those kinds of novels just don't give me what I want emotionally from novels - instead of nourishing me, they drain.

[Adelaide]

Eva wrote: "That's definitely a problem I have with a lot of the literary award-winners: lots very unhappy families, sexual abuse, other kinds of abuse, drugs, graphic violence and rape, dysfunction, and no hope in sight - everything is bleak. Those kinds of novels just don't give me what I want emotionally from novels - instead of nourishing me, they drain."

I did read a couple of literary fiction books this year that I loved. Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood and Rules for Visiting by Jessica Francis Kane were both great.

[Paul]

Adelaide wrote: "The only thing I'm suspicious of is contemporary literary fiction. Too much emphasis on unhappy families. BORING.."


I have a big problem with anything that is self-described "literary fiction" as only posterity can elevate work to literature, but so much "high-brow" fiction is dull specifically because it is written to a literary style that is as much a genre template as anything published under SF, crime, or romantic fiction.


I think there's little doubt that Atwood and Rushdie will be read and studied by generations to come, but I think the majority of the future literary canon will come from genre fiction. Don't forget that Shakespeare, Dickens and Austen were all considered populist trash in their time.

[Eva]

True - and if they were writing today, Shakespeare would be shelved under fantasy, romance or the historical genre (depending on which work we're talking about), and Austen under contemporary romance. Dickens mostly under YA, romance, or mystery.

[Silvana]

I read 31 books that are not SFF this year. Mostly were history and science/tech. Having a group competition in the Non Fiction Book Club also helps to boost my nonfic reading this year :)

[Dara]

I sometimes find myself needing a break from SFF. I usually turn to a non-fiction book. Now I'm (very slowly) reading Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World

[Minsta]

My recent non-SF/F reads (not done yet - I am hoping to continue reading them during the holidays) are:
Embrace Your Weird by Felicia Day and
Bletchley Park Brainteasers by Sinclair McKay.

I recommend both books. The WW2 stories from Bletchley park, mixed in with the puzzles, are very interesting. And Felicia Day is... Felicia Day :) I can hear her voice when I read her book and the included exercises are clever and useful for anyone interested in finding new ways to be creative.

[Mer]

I read more non-fiction on a variety of topics, than I do SFF, as well as a bit of fiction like spy novels.

I actually joined Sword and Laser to get reacquainted with Science Fiction and explore Fantasy, and although I've not found alot of the Book of the Month available in a timely fashion to borrow, the individual challenges have helped.

I connected with the Non-fiction Book Club thru Silvana.

[John (Nevets)]

Minsta wrote: "My recent non-SF/F reads (not done yet - I am hoping to continue reading them during the holidays) are:
Embrace Your Weird by Felicia Day and
Bletchley Park Brainteasers by Sinclair McKay."

I remember reading this Eniac: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the World's First Computer about 20 years ago. It was fascinating reading about the technological advances from back then.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I've been using the Book Riot spreadsheet this year which makes charts that update as you add books, so I know I've read 9.7% scifi/fantasy this year. The greatest majority is just over 50% contemporary fiction aka for me mostly literary fiction, much of which I'm receiving before it comes out.

Memoir/biography is the only other category ranking higher than sff at 13% - this is largely because I used November to focus on memoir!

I'm trying to get to 300 books by December 31 so I guess that means 30 will be sff - that's solid. But sad in other ways as I used to read up to 24% a year sff.

[TraceyL]

Fantasy in particular is such a broad genre that I always feel like everything I read falls into that category, but when I look back on my reading it's really only about 60% total sci-fi and fantasy.

[Elizabeth]

Most years I have a significant (to me) number of non-fiction because it's related to my research. But I had 2019 off, I only read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. I always try and have at least one non-fiction on the go.

I also try not to read non-genre (I just don't prefer it), so the only things outside SFF this year have been my progress through the (historical fiction/crime fiction) Brother Cadfael series. Still. Looking in my reading history, it seems that historical fiction is my most non-SFF category which is interesting, because it never fails to disappoint me!

[John]

My reading challenge goal this year was 40. My actual reads this year was many more then 40. The number of SFF books numbered 13. Love a good SF novel and many of those read this year were wonderful. I have found that many of them, if not all, dealt with A.I.either as main characters or antagonists. Interesting that science believes that A.I. would be salvation. If A. I. were to be achieved and given the task of saving the planet then A.I. would exterminate humans! Be careful what you wish for. Food for thought. Later. Keep Reading.

[Silvana]

Mer wrote: "I connected with the Non-fiction Book Club thru Silvana."

Lovely to have you there too!

I love that we have International Book Month once every three months now. I've been doing lots of diversity reads in SFF so this year (2019) I started doing that with nonfiction. It's great to venture to other parts of the worlds and see things from different eyes. Recently I enjoyed The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope.

[Rob, Roberator]

I generally mix in some non-fiction, mysteries and the occasional thrillers. I don't go out of my way to read a particular genre, just typically whatever strikes my interest, which is often SFF.

[AndrewP]

I probably read about 50% SFF. The rest a mixture of almost everything else.

[James]

I go through phases like some others have mentioned but I probably read about one non-SFF for every two SFF. I also usually have a Great Courses audio book going. The 30 minute lessons are great for a walk.

[Clyde]

Pretty close to half of my reads are SF&F. This year my other reads were (in descending frequency order) history, crime friction, historical fiction, biography, and a scattering of others.
Some particular standouts for me this year were:
- Beneath a Scarlet Sky
- Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives In World War II
- The Fated Sky
- Energy and Civilization: A History
- Tiamat's Wrath

[Sheila Jean]

About 20% of my reading is non-SFF. Usually historical fiction, mystery and/or thriller. Some years I'll throw in a memoir or two.

[Gregory]

I typically read 2-3 non fiction books per year. My favorite this year was A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes. Basically, it is a history of humans as told by our DNA. Great science with a great message.

I am a Stephen King fan too, so I typically read anything he writes. Though, I feel that his horror fiction is pretty close to Sci Fi / Fantasy.

[Mark]

This year, about 15% of the books I read were mysteries, thrillers, Bloom County comics, and a couple of non-fiction titles. Science fiction and fantasy are the core of my reading habit.

[Beth]

1/3 of the books I read this year were non-genre. Those were non-fiction and classics. The classics might get even more of a boost next year because I have joined a classics bingo challenge and am also planning to finish reading Austen's novels (4/6 so far) and start Eliot's.

[Wade]

I don't really care what genre a novel is labeled under and often read non-sci-fi or fantasy works. For instance I'm an endless fan of Sherlock Holmes and often read latter day Holmes continuations. The greatest of these are, in my opinion, the four Holmes novels by Nicholas Meyer, the latest of which, The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols just came out last year.

I often read contemporary techno-fiction novels. To me these can be much like sci-fi, but are based in known and current science.

[Fresno Bob]

I'm probably 50% SF, 10% F, 20% Historical or Cultural Non-Fiction, 15% graphic novels and 5% Horror, I wish Goodreads had a "sorting function" that would tell me exactly the genres of what I've read over the year

[Melissa]

About 15-20% of my reading is SF/Fantasy. I also enjoy Mysteries/ Thrillers, Horror, Literary Fiction, Classics, and Nonfiction.

[Nicholas]

Detective fiction and Espionage novels are my main genres. I read some SF too, but have been having trouble finding ones I liked. I’m current on Murderbot, read The Calculating Stars and Agency. Neal Stephenson’s Fall has been in the TBR pile for a year now. Anyone have some recommendations for me?

[John (Taloni)]

^Well, if you like mixing SF and Detective, Larry Niven has the Gil the ARM stories collected in Flatlander, plus the novel The Patchwork Girl. Espionage/thriller plus SF in Saturn Run by John Sanford. Dunno if you want to go full geekgasm but if you do, the "Bobiverse" books by Dennis E. Taylor. Literary + SF like Fall would be Niven & Pournelle's "Inferno." Alastair Reynolds' Chasm City mixes SF, Horror and a slice of Detective, but is looooong at about 800 pages.

[John (Nevets)]

The Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne Series: combine a bit of western detective feel to the Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set series that went before it. You don’t have to have read the Mistborn series first, but even that series has a bit of detective work in it, but is mostly an action series. Brandon Sanderson writing style in both these is very contemporary, but still gives a feel for the world building he is doing with it.

Edited to add.

I’m also reading Fall, right now and very much digging it. While also not necessary to read before. This is a sequel to Reamde, and set in the same world as Cryptonomicon. This is more sci-fi then those, those I would classify as more techno-thriller. But may be good bridge books, to sci-fi.

[Clyde]

Nicholas wrote: "Detective fiction and Espionage novels are my main genres. I read some SF too, but have been having trouble finding ones I liked. I’m current on Murderbot, read The Calculating Stars and Agency. Ne..."

I recommend How Dark the World Becomes.
When I started it I thought I was going to read space opera. What I got was a rip-snorting noir crime story, nicely spiced with spies, and gunfights, and dirty dealing, and desperate situations, and a bit of romance. Oh ... and there are also aliens and spaceships.

[William]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Alastair Reynolds' Chasm City mixes SF, Horror and a slice of Detective, but is looooong at about 800 pages...."

Aurora Rising (aka The Prefect) by Alastair Reynolds is a a classic whodunnit in an amazing setting, and has some very relevant issues for today (containment and the balance of freedom vs the good of all during an emergency). I find Aurora Rising to be much more focused than Chasm City,

The sequel, Elysium Fire works even better as a detective story.

[Jessica]

I read a fair amount of literary fiction, and try to fit in the occasional nonfiction book.