Enjoying one's self is never a waste of time, friend. Read what you enjoy reading.

Hell no.

Fiction is just as, if not more, valuable as non fiction. Stimulation of the mind needs more than just facts. Non fiction is something you can pick up way easier via a documentary than by book, assuming similar degrees of adherence to fact. You can compact a biography into a few hours of watching that might take an entire day of reading, and get just as much information out of it.

Compacting fiction in the same way isn't always possible. Even fairly short books of fiction often suffer by being as short as a movie.

And that's ignoring any value judgement of the fiction. But it's true that not all fiction is equal in its ability to stimulate thought. I would argue that escapist, light fiction is just as valuable as something like Shakespeare or Hemingway, even though something like Beverly Cleary's Ramona books might not cause the reader to explore via thought in the same way or degree.

But if you want to place value judgements on fiction, there are definitely works of fiction that are much more useful in terms of stimulating thought and feeling than some random time-life grade history of the civil war. Hell, I'd argue that any piece of fiction is more valuable than badly written history or science. Badly executed non fiction serves to reduce accurate knowledge. Bad fiction just wastes the reader's time, it doesn't mislead them.

waste of time

Wasting time is an absolute necessity since.....oh, since we invented farming

It's part of human nature

Strangest question I have seen in ages.

What qualifies as a "nonfiction reader"? Sometimes I'll read 5-10 nonfiction a row; sometimes I'll read 100 fiction in a row.

But no, I read whatever I feel like when I feel like it. Though fiction I'll usually read a series from start to finish where possible.

No, I read both fiction and nonfiction with reckless abandon. No CGI can compete with my imagination.

I read both. I tend to forget the nonfiction and the low tier fiction pretty quickly. The good fiction stays with me.

There's also a lot of truly terrible nonfiction bestsellers. (Fans of the "If Books Could Kill" podcast know what I mean).

There's no reason to feel guilty, IMO, unless you're failing school or something.

No. Absolutely not. Lots of future tech comes from sci Fi fiction, which sometimes becomes real. Fiction about 'what if' scenarios give insight into how things could happen given certain events taking place, helping decision making for present events. Relationship books? I mean, those can be great examples of how healthy or unhealthy relationships work, and can help one identify the status of their own relationships. Fantasy books and sometimes a combination of the above, and all useful.

Nonfiction helps one understand what has happened. It gives context to the world we live in now, and what came before. Both are valuable, just in different ways. Reading anything helps your ability to empathize and think of alternative perspectives and is always useful.

Reading is great! I don't think we need to gatekeep and segment non-fiction vs fiction readers... As for guilt, no? If you enjoy or benefit from how you spend your time, is it wasted? I say no.

I know what you're talking about. I'm very selective with the fiction I read, and it usually has some deeper significance or abstract concept it's illustrating through narrative.

I try to always have three books in progress that I cycle between—one fiction, one history, and one science. I think they’re complementary and mutually-enriching modes of engaging with the world.

Actually, yes, sometimes. Sometimes I want to read books about real world topics. A lot of media I interact with offers books on the subject that I am interested in, but I rarely even pick them up.

However, I don't think reading of any kind is a waste of time. You're still imagining, learning new vocabulary, etc. And I like them! Finding a good book is the reason I read books first and foremost. These days, I try to have my nonfiction books loaded up for whenever I have to wait. I read a little bit more of "The man who mistook his wife for a hat" each time. Will it take me months to get through it that way? Sure, but I'm not in school and they can't stop me.

Not anymore, nowadays, I feel guilty reading non-fiction and understand Lindy effect on books much better (be it fiction or non-fiction).