We know that libraries treat nonfiction differently from fiction, separating it physically from fiction on the shelves, subdividing it by topic, providing far more detailed cataloguing, and so forth. But what about readers? Do they distinguish between fiction and nonfiction? Do they experience the two kinds of reading very differently, for example, by turning to fiction when they want a pleasurable experience but choosing nonfiction when they want to find out facts about the real world? Are there special qualities about the nonfiction reading experience that attract readers? What is known about nonfiction readers’ experiences with books that can be applied in the readers’ advisory transaction? To find the answer to this question of the readers’ experience, I have for some been engaged in a study of avid readers who read for pleasure. I have a transcribed set of 194 intensive, open-ended interviews with adult readers, undertaken as part of a larger study on reading for pleasure.

One of the questions that interviewers asked was, “What would it be like for you if for one reason or another you couldn’t read?” To be considered an appropriate subject for this study on avid readers, an interviewee couldn’t say calmly, “Oh, well, I guess I would have to play cards more often or take up knitting.” And in fact they didn’t say that. A typical reaction was, “I can’t imagine it.” One person said, “I wouldn’t be me. I wouldn’t be the person I am if I didn’t read or wasn’t able to read…. It frightens me, so I don’t even want to consider it as an option.” When encouraged to say more about life without reading, interviewees said that life would be “empty,” “boring,” “an intellectual wasteland,” “a prison”; not to be able to read would be “very terrible,” “very upsetting,” “awful,” “catastrophic”; “it would be like not being able to see color.” One person said, “My panic is to be in the house without anything to read. That makes me just absolutely, totally panic stricken. I can’t live without reading. Blindness probably scares me more than anything.”

The analysis presented in this paper focuses on what interviewees said about reading nonfiction for pleasure. Interviewees were not prompted with a specific question about nonfiction but rather were asked open-ended questions about their reading in general, such as the following:

How do you choose a book to read for pleasure?

Are there types of books that you do not enjoy and would not choose?

What are you currently reading?

Has there ever been a book that has made a big difference to your life in one way or another?

In discussing particular choices they made and books that they had enjoyed and found meaningful, many readers choose to talk about nonfiction. Of the themes that emerged from an analysis of the readers’ talk about nonfiction, some are predictable, others more surprising.

1. Many readers read BOTH fiction and nonfiction for pleasure.
2. An interest in a particular subject can trump the distinction between fiction and nonfiction.
3. Exclusive nonfiction readers say they want to read about things that are “real.”
4. Some readers reported that nonfiction was easier than fiction to read when you were likely to be interrupted.
5. Some readers feel they “should” read nonfiction to increase their knowledge.
6. Readers distinguish between two types of reading: reading for pleasure and reading to take something away.
7. The stance taken by the reader is not determined by the text.
8. Readers read nonfiction to follow up on their interests in and engagement with the world.
9. For some readers, a passion for a single topic is the impetus for reading.
10. Sometimes readers don’t want to do something; they just want to read about it.
11. Part of the joy of reading is serendipitous discovery.
12. Readers read biographies in areas related to their interests or their own lives.
13. Story is a key element in the appeal of many nonfiction books.

Implications for the Readers’ Advisory Transaction

These findings suggest nonfiction represents a substantial share of the pleasure reading of avid readers. Because this population is far more likely than average to be library users, their experiences and preferences can be used as a starting point for thinking about how to improve readers’ advisory service in the nonfiction area. This research has some implications for practice.

1. Conduct a readers’ advisory interview. The interview is the key to being able to make appropriate suggestions (Ross, Nilsen, and Dewdney 2002). If the reader says he or she is looking for a biography, remember that readers can be very selective about the types of biographies they enjoy. It is important to ask an additional question, “Can you tell me about a biography book that you’ve read and enjoyed?” or “What kinds of lives are you interested in reading about?” If the reader says that she want a history book, ask her to tell you about the kind of history book she is in the mood for. It may turn out she wants historical fiction or a regency romance.

2. Help readers cope with the problem of what Sharon Baker (1986) calls “overload” by creating displays focused on topics of known interest such as the following: survival stories, King Arthur, biographies of successful people, health and fitness, travel, cookbooks, investments. Create hybrids of both fiction and nonfiction that have the same elements of appeal, for example, true crime and mystery stories with a forensic slant such as Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs. Feature particular writers in a display that includes books written by the writer and books about the writer, such as biographies, memoirs and letters, and, in some cases (e.g., Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, which includes Virginia Woolf as a character), other people’s novels. Include a variety of formats, such as documentaries on video or movie soundtracks on CD.

3. Think about nonfiction books in terms of appeal factors, which Saricks and Brown (1997) have identified as pacing, characterization, story line, and frame. In the case of biography, the appeal may be character or it may be plot or story line. Many biographies tell a gripping story of an heroic struggle against the odds to achieve a dream or simply to survive. Use reviews and book blurbs to help you identify the appeal factors, looking for distinguishing terms like “fast-paced” or “characters that you care deeply about” or “the inside story of X” or “quirky humor.”

4. Become aware of nonfiction genres in the same way that you learn about the differences between science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and romance in order to advise readers about fiction. Just as the mystery genre is subdivided into cozies, police procedurals, hardboiled, and so on, so travel books or cookbooks or nature books are categories with many subcategories. Some people want to read about idyllic getaway spots in romantic settings, and others are intrigued by those “Journeys to Hell” (Burgin 2001) such as A Perfect Storm and Into Thin Air.

5. Be aware of the nonfiction counterparts of popular genres of fiction: mystery/true crime, horror/occult, westerns/historical accounts of the Old West, action-adventure/survival stories, war stories/history and biography centered on warfare.

References

Baker, Sharon L. 1986. Overload, browsers and selections, Library and Information Science Research Volume 8: 315–29.

Burgin, Robert. 2001. Readers’ advisory and nonfiction. In The readers’ advisor’s companion. Edited by Kenneth D. Shearer and Robert Burgin, 213–27. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Ross, Catherine Sheldrick, Kirsti Nilsen, and Patricia Dewdney. 2002. Conducting the reference interview. New York: Neal-Schuman.

Saricks, Joyce G., and Nancy Brown. 1997. Readers’ advisory service in the public library. Chicago: American Library Association.

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Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from Catherine Sheldrick Ross's full article entitled "Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure: What Motivates Readers?", in Nonfiction Readers' Advisory, edited by Robert Burgin, 2004, Libraries Unlimited. The full article in also available in the Reader's Advisor Online in the Reader's Advisor Material section.

Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Professor and Dean of the school of Library and Information Studies, University of Western Ontario, teaches a course in readers' advisory, and is involved in ongoing research on reading for pleasure. Catherine is also co-author of Reading Matters: What the Research Tells Us about Reading, Libraries, and Community (Libraries Unlimited, 2006).