OPINION: Becoming a responsible reader

I know it’s only the second week of January so it doesn’t count for much, but looking at my reading stats for the year so far, I’m actually pretty shocked.

So far, I’ve finished 10 books this year. Considering it’s Jan. 13, that’s pretty good, though I know not all months or weeks will be like this.

Though I’m only 10% of the way through my reading goal, I wanted to look at my StoryGraph account and see what comes up. I started going through the list of data it keeps. Ten books, 3,662 pages read. The top three moods in my books were emotional, dark and adventurous. A majority of the books I read had a medium pace and were 300-499 words long.

And then I get to the fiction/nonfiction breakup. I was very surprised to see that I have read an equal number of fiction and nonfiction books so far. In 2025, 25% of the books I read were nonfiction. In 2024, only 13% of the books were.

Though I still have most of the year to go, I wonder if this trend of increasing my nonfiction reads will continue. I don’t think it will stay as high as 50% for 2026, but I can see it being above 25%.

I wonder what’s caused this change in what I’m reading? As I mentioned in a previous column, I’ve really been into the idea of lifelong learning. Maybe, as I get further away from my time in school, my brain yearns to gain more information. Maybe the dystopian, war-torn fantasy worlds I normally read about hit too close to home right now. Or maybe, I’ve just learned to be a more responsible reader.

No, I’m not saying you’re irresponsible if you don’t read nonfiction. Really, I just have an issue in which, if I get distracted by the plot in a fiction book, I am only going to think about that book until I finish reading it.

For example, if I’m halfway through a fiction book and it’s the time I normally go to bed, I’m probably going to power through the rest of the night reading. If I didn’t, I’d be up all night wondering what will happen next.

Similarly, I was reading today before heading into work. There’s only about 100 pages left in the book, and I am very stressed out on behalf of the characters. Unfortunately, as a responsible adult, I have to put my book aside so I can work. Also unfortunately, because I’m a nerd, that means I’ve been thinking about this book the entire time I’ve been at work. Oops.

As I work to be a more responsible reader, that means I try not to read fiction too close to bed or before times I have actual responsibilities. However, I still want to read, so I’ve switched to nonfiction in those times. Much of the nonfiction I read is history, so I already know the major plot!

So what nonfiction have I read so far this year?

“12 Years a Slave” is an 1853 memoir by Solomon Northup, a Black man who was born free but was kidnapped and brought to the South as a slave for over a decade. Despite being from 1853, this book is engaging and easy to read. My first read of the year, “12 Years a Slave” had to be five stars.

I listened to the Advanced Listener’s Copy of Mark Braude’s “The Typewriter and the Guillotine,” which follows a New York woman working as a correspondent in Paris as WWII unfolds. This is supposedly entangled with the story of a German serial killer. Unfortunately, the two stories barely had anything to do with each other and really should have been two separate stories. This book ended up being a bit of a let down, but still kind of interesting. I rated it three stars.

Next up is an audiobook I got for Christmas from Cheyenne, “Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything” by Alyson Stoner. I love when a memoir is read by the author, so this was a fun one for me. Stoner is well-known as a child star advocate, something she has plenty of experience with as a child star herself.

Though I started reading this on my phone to help me fall asleep, “Think Faster, Talk Smarter” by Matt Abrahams actually ended up being a bit more engaging than I expected. Though I have no issues with thinking quickly, getting those thoughts out of my mouth in a smart manner is a different matter. However, it was still a good slow material to read before bed. Three stars.

My final nonfiction so far, and the shortest book I’ve read this year, is “Haunted Wisconsin” by Linda S. Godfrey. I love those regional ghost story books, but they’re not normally very good. However, I thought this one was fantastic! It was a great mix of actual history and claims from old newspapers, along with firsthand accounts. Godfrey’s book is an example of what these ghost books should be - no surprise that she’s also an award-winning journalist.