Non-fiction, non-stress.

Why has it been almost a month since I last posted? One word: Finals. But I'm back!

I've always said you can know a man by three things: His collection of books, movies, and music. What about me? Well, aside from the music and movies, let me tell you about the books I like to read.

Most of the books I own are non-fiction. I was once on a date and the girl mentioned that she likes to mostly read non-fiction. I agreed. She said she thinks that's a sign we are getting old. It's true. I rarely see an old person reading works of fiction. I've been thinking, why do I like non-fiction so much? I don't really know. I think it has something to do with the fact that I know what I'm reading really happened. For instance, I'm reading this autobiography by Larry H. Miller. It's keeping my attention better right now than a John Grisham book I started. The Grisham book is by far more riveting. But I'm more riveted to the autobiography. There's something about reading someone's own words about him/herself. It's as close to looking into someone's soul as you can get, I feel.

For instance, I'm also in the middle (I'm "in the middle" of about twenty books at any given point in time) of reading Joseph Smith's journals. People confide to their journals in a way that is unlike confiding even to another person. At one point J.S. says "I feel very well in my mind the Lord is with us but have much anxiety about my family, etc." That sentence says more to me about who J.S. was than a thousand scholarly articles.

I also like to read speeches. I think I like speeches because I don't have as big a commitment when I start a speech as I do when I start a multi-volume work of fiction. The speech will take ten minutes tops to read, then I can move on to something else. If I have a book of speeches, I don't have to start at the beginning if I don't want. I can open to any old speech I want, whenever I want.


Also, I've noticed that I feel more satisfied (in general) when I finish a work of non-fiction. I feel like I've gained something. I read Angels and Demons this summer to see what all the hype was about. It was a good book. I couldn't put it down. But, in twenty years, before I remember what it was about I'll mostly remember that it stressed me out! Each chapter ends in a cliff hanger! I force myself to keep reading so I'm not left hanging, only to be left with another cliffhanger! Ah! When was the last time you read a stressful speech by Winston Churchill? I submit never!