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Good survey! smaug Send a noteboard - 14/09/2009 11:40:58 PM
I think it is worthwhile to post a survey to start people talking more about non-fiction on this website as well. To me, reading fantasy and science fiction all the time is a bit like eating junk food or playing computer games - it's fun and entertaining, but when you're done and look back on the time spent you sometimes sit there and say, "What have I done?!"

Quite true. I try to keep my reading diverse enough, otherwise I get an impression of burning out on a genre.

So...my survey is as follows:

1. Do you read non-fiction on a regular basis? If so, what do you typically read?

Not extremely regular, but this year I picked up a couple good ones.

2. Do you enjoy (whether you have read it recently or not) any of the following categories of books?

I haven't read that much non-fiction, but the ones I tend to gravitate towards are travel/adventure/fish-out-of-water ones.

3. What is your favorite work of non-fiction (please exclude religious/devotional works from this question)?

Hmm. Right now I'd say Into the Wild, but that may be because I just saw the movie last week and thought it did a wonderful job of recreating what I felt reading the book.

4. Would you be interested in reviews of non-fiction books on this site?

Sure, why not? I think of this board as just the "books" board, so anything book-shaped and sized is fine.

5. Have you read any non-fiction book recently that was terrible? If so, what?

I don't think I've ever read a NF book that was terrible. But as I said, so far I've read only very few.

Scratch that. My psychiatry textbook is terrible.

6. Was there a non-fiction book that you read that changed the way you thought or felt about world issues (again, please exclude religious and devotional works from this question) ?

World issues not really. Places and people, maybe a bit. I feel like there are very few books (if any) that radically changed my view on something. Every book fine-tunes my views in this or that direction, but it's never that radical.

7. Do you consider books about the occult to be non-fiction or fiction? Why?

Hmm. I'd say it depends on the book. Like a study of medieval witch-burning practices would be NF, but a self-help guide to lottery number predictions with a magic ouija board would be fiction. And also dishonest advertising ;)

8. In your personal library at home, what percentage of your books are non-fiction?

Eh... probably 2%

That's it...for now.

Cool.
Neutral Observer
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Non-Fiction survey Tom - 14/09/2009 05:38:04 PM 1151 Views
Heh. jh - 14/09/2009 05:58:59 PM 836 Views
You associate non-fiction with work? Are you a non-fiction book reviewer by day? Tom - 14/09/2009 06:35:59 PM 658 Views
Nah... jh - 14/09/2009 06:56:41 PM 688 Views
I like non-fiction as long as it's not preachy. Darth_Katie - 14/09/2009 06:25:42 PM 847 Views
So...Bill O'Reilly's out but Aleister Crowley is in, right? Tom - 14/09/2009 06:34:38 PM 742 Views
I didn't say I wanted to read occult books. Darth_Katie - 14/09/2009 09:40:40 PM 1289 Views
Fun. Legolas - 14/09/2009 06:31:28 PM 931 Views
Machiavelli is a good case study for translation vs. original language Tom - 14/09/2009 06:48:46 PM 690 Views
Fact not fiction. Rebekah - 14/09/2009 06:43:32 PM 874 Views
I loved Radzinsky's Rasputin bio Tom - 14/09/2009 06:58:46 PM 753 Views
Re: I loved Radzinsky's Rasputin bio Rebekah - 14/09/2009 07:10:01 PM 775 Views
You're going to force me to start a Dan Brown discussion in a different thread. Tom - 14/09/2009 09:00:32 PM 689 Views
Well, I can do it here, no worries, just think of it as non-non-fiction. jh - 14/09/2009 09:06:34 PM 747 Views
This is pretty much it. Rebekah - 14/09/2009 09:09:18 PM 749 Views
Re: Fact not fiction. Cockatiel of Doom - 17/09/2009 12:40:31 AM 792 Views
Re: Fact not fiction. Rebekah - 17/09/2009 03:08:34 PM 686 Views
Re: Fact not fiction. Cockatiel of Doom - 17/09/2009 11:57:22 PM 645 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey mapthis - 14/09/2009 07:25:20 PM 681 Views
Legacy of Ashes sounds interesting Tom - 14/09/2009 08:59:38 PM 703 Views
Re: Legacy of Ashes sounds interesting mapthis - 14/09/2009 09:09:30 PM 700 Views
So nossy - 14/09/2009 10:14:47 PM 669 Views
Re: So mapthis - 14/09/2009 10:35:40 PM 653 Views
I do read sometimes. Craig - 14/09/2009 08:01:03 PM 881 Views
If you liked Jesus, Interrupted... Tom - 14/09/2009 08:58:26 PM 739 Views
Added to The List. *NM* Craig - 14/09/2009 10:28:14 PM 308 Views
I read it quite a lot, obviously. Camilla - 14/09/2009 09:20:40 PM 772 Views
I have Antonia Fraser's bio of Oliver Cromwell. Tom - 15/09/2009 05:14:06 AM 718 Views
Re: I have Antonia Fraser's bio of Oliver Cromwell. Camilla - 15/09/2009 08:07:28 AM 774 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey random thoughts - 14/09/2009 09:24:35 PM 886 Views
I'd be interested to know the title of that Lincoln book. *NM* Tom - 15/09/2009 05:11:14 AM 337 Views
Tried by War by James M. McPherson random thoughts - 15/09/2009 07:01:30 PM 752 Views
Thanks! *NM* Tom - 17/09/2009 03:07:50 PM 347 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey ranagrande - 14/09/2009 10:05:56 PM 680 Views
I'm sorry. I just can't take "pro wrestling" seriously enough to comment on it beyond this. *NM* Tom - 15/09/2009 05:15:13 AM 327 Views
What, pro wrestling is awesome! ranagrande - 16/09/2009 05:59:44 PM 907 Views
Sweet nossy - 14/09/2009 10:09:21 PM 843 Views
My problem with Fisk is his naivete Tom - 15/09/2009 05:10:00 AM 731 Views
If you're referring to the passages I think you're referring to... Legolas - 15/09/2009 11:06:04 AM 833 Views
I need to read more American Indian books random thoughts - 16/09/2009 07:01:21 PM 687 Views
Good survey! smaug - 14/09/2009 11:40:58 PM 828 Views
Ah...but where do you draw the line on the occult? Tom - 15/09/2009 05:07:14 AM 670 Views
Intent. Craig - 15/09/2009 06:02:39 AM 703 Views
Yea, I would tend to agree. smaug - 15/09/2009 11:10:03 AM 731 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey Chas - 15/09/2009 12:25:57 AM 722 Views
You should consider reading more non-fiction. *NM* Tom - 15/09/2009 05:04:55 AM 358 Views
It's under consideration. Chas - 15/09/2009 11:50:47 PM 594 Views
I read a lot of it for my classes, so I read very little of it for leisure. Ghavrel - 15/09/2009 12:46:23 AM 768 Views
As someone who read Ab Urbe Condita in Latin...the book you reference "delenda est". Tom - 15/09/2009 05:04:05 AM 700 Views
It's infuriating, yes. *NM* Ghavrel - 15/09/2009 06:22:36 PM 333 Views
Mea culpa; the book in question is Zoch's Ancient Rome. Ghavrel - 15/09/2009 06:45:22 PM 631 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey Vodalus - 15/09/2009 01:07:13 AM 749 Views
I did a survey about personal libraries, too... Tom - 15/09/2009 05:01:12 AM 714 Views
great survey. Avendesora - 15/09/2009 02:17:26 AM 897 Views
Re: great survey. Tom - 15/09/2009 04:56:50 AM 745 Views
Interesting questions! Sophy - 15/09/2009 07:20:05 AM 843 Views
I'm not sure if it's a translation issue, but Tom - 17/09/2009 03:10:49 PM 789 Views
That's the English titel yes! Sophy - 18/09/2009 07:03:45 AM 971 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey Jonielle - 15/09/2009 11:35:48 AM 934 Views
Try reading something new you think you'd like and post a review! *NM* Tom - 17/09/2009 03:11:47 PM 293 Views
Books on Napoleon.... Napoleon62 - 15/09/2009 08:03:55 PM 723 Views
Narcissist. *NM* Craig - 15/09/2009 08:21:44 PM 299 Views
David Chandler's The Campaigns of Napoleon is wonderful. *NM* Tom - 17/09/2009 03:13:03 PM 293 Views
i like non-fiction! temeraire - 15/09/2009 09:40:40 PM 771 Views
Lots of people have recommended The Omnivore's Dilemma to me *NM* Tom - 17/09/2009 03:14:09 PM 341 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey Cockatiel of Doom - 17/09/2009 12:49:35 AM 973 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey ajah - 26/09/2009 01:49:16 AM 754 Views
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