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This week's question is courtesy of Dianne.


Do you read non-fiction regularly? Do you read it in a different way or place than you read fiction?

If you'd asked me this question last year I'd have answered; yes, I read it regularly; yes, in a different, more task oriented, way. My last six years have been devoted to study and I loved every minute of reading non-fiction. Well actually it’s more a retrospective love of reading non-fiction ... now that I don’t have to read it I love it!

An awful lot of it was esoteric and I used it regularly as a cure for insomnia but I’m very appreciative of the experience and the knowledge it gave me. And that’s the root of my love of non-fiction – I want to know.

When I was away last week I purchased two books; one was a collection of short stories and the other was a history of the development of the English language. It’s a sign of the times that I’ve read the first short story but haven’t dipped into the history yet. I also have and extensive collection of books on functional grammar and literary criticism that are sitting in prim abandonment on my study shelves as I lose myself in fiction.

For me, as for many others I suspect, fiction offers an escape that non-fiction doesn’t. Take yesterday for example, whilst waiting with my father in a medical centre (for 90 minutes) I used fiction to escape an uncomfortable environment. I’m not a good nursemaid and geriatric nursing is a real struggle – whilst not diminishing Dad’s suffering, emphysema is a stomach turning ailment to witness.

We both had our books and I think it’s safe to say we could not have sat with such calm for 90 minutes without the escape they offered.