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Books/book club

Non fiction books

(14 Posts)
Mollygo Sat 05-Jul-25 11:59:11

I like some non fiction books both as a source of learning and for enjoyment and I don’t measure how long it takes me to read it.
But according to one source it takes the average person 10 hours to read a non-fiction book.
I’ve just read about an app where the mostpowerful ideas are shared in short audio and text explainers. The best bit? It only takes15 minutes to read or listen to them, so you can fit learning in while eating breakfast, commuting to work, or walking the dog.
I’m not sure about that now, though I might have liked it at Uni.
What do others think?

Rosebl Tue 23-Sept-25 05:56:05

I think reading a non-fiction book in its entirety still provides a deeper experience, but Retro Bowl summarizing apps are also quite useful for quick learning on the go.

JamesandJon33 Tue 23-Sept-25 06:06:59

10 hours to read a book. That isn’t even half a day. Well worth your time I should have thought. …read the proper book.

mum2three Tue 23-Sept-25 06:35:02

Readers Digest have produced some excellent factual books. I've come across some in charity shops and learned a lot without spending much. They are books to skim through initially and then study at length.

M0nica Tue 23-Sept-25 11:06:40

Surely a book that takes 10 hours to read is something to be proud of and for other authors to emulate. It means that the cost of the book per hours reading is much less than for books that only take, say, ana hour or two to read.

I have always preferred books on subjects to novels. Novels are for when I am tired or feeling ill.

My two books I am reading now are a biography of John of Gaunt and a book on why the Industrial Revolution started in Britain and not in other countries until later.

windmill1 Tue 23-Sept-25 11:26:04

Currently reading The Siege by Ben Macintyre, about the Iranian Embassy siege.

There's no way you can whizz through this. Far too much detail using police and press transcripts.

Eloethan Tue 23-Sept-25 19:16:11

Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue is very entertaining and hugely informative - not bite-sized, but easy to read.

beachcomber76 Thu 06-Nov-25 15:52:17

If it's a good book you would read it easily and not want it to end too soon.

One I am reading now is 'The Wager' by David Grann. It's a true tale of ships on the high seas/adventure/hardship/mutiny, so interesting and full of amazing detail.

I'm someone not interested in ships, sailing or the sea! Yet this is such a good read and I've learnt so much about seamanship and life on board. Great book.

Pearly34 Sat 08-Nov-25 19:39:00

I love audio books - so easy to listen to a couple of hours here and there whilst pottering about.
I’m always looking for book recommendations for non-fiction if anybody has any!

Frenchgalinspain Mon 17-Nov-25 15:22:06

With little time to read, I usually choose culinary related authored works or travel ..

Whitewavemark2 Mon 17-Nov-25 15:36:21

I usually have 2-3 books on the go. A couple of fiction and one non-fiction. At the moment. It is a 1930 sChristmas murder mystery, I’ve just finished a fiction and can’t decide what to read next, my non-fiction is A Cornish Childhood by AL Rowse.

winterwhite Mon 17-Nov-25 16:46:12

I usu read non-fiction downstairs, currently William Dalrymple, The Golden Road - similar to The Silk Roads but about ancient India. Fascinating but a long read. Upstairs I usu read fiction but currently Nelly Last’s Peace.

grandMattie Tue 30-Dec-25 03:32:41

I generally prefer fiction, but was given a very interesting book about Anders Celsius, a Swedish scientist who developed the eponymous temperature scale.

HelterSkelter1 Tue 30-Dec-25 05:38:02

This is an old thread revived by a possible scammer. I am intrigued to know how they work. Do they have people trawling constantly through social media picking threads they can write a little spin on before entering a suspect link.
Anyway will report it.