Become a Better Person With This One Cool Hack; Or, Reading More Than Fiction or Nonfiction
Once again, it is the start of the semester and, once again, I find myself dissociating far more than usual. There’s only so many syllabuses I can read before my brain shuts down and needs people vaguely referencing posts I will never see. Unfortunately, since my job has been mainly reading things and responding lately, reading for pleasure hasn’t been on the list of what I need to forget about life for a while.
So, I scroll on Bluesky, not actually reading anything but moving my finger from the bottom of my phone to the top as though I’m trying to summon something, anything from the screen. During this divining, I look at the pictures a lot which is nice. Except one of the pictures I came across this time around was one that asked, “Fiction or Nonfiction? Tell me why.”
And in my delirium, the question sent me through the detritus of my mind deep into the place where questions roam. Then I thought, “Yes. Yes. This would make a good Widely Read post.” Here we are.
Mainly, my reaction was focused on a deeply held belief I have about reading which is: more people should read more widely. (Editing note: as though the gods of Kobol are guiding me {why yes I’m rewatching Battlestar Galactica and yes I want to talk about it}, I saw three different people post on Bluesky about how writers should read more broadly which made me very happy. Seemed like they were focusing just on different genres rather than mediums as I do here so I shall persevere. So say we all) “Widely” here means different genres, of course, but also different mediums. Love fiction? You should read nonfiction and drama and poetry. Only read history? You should dip your toes into the short story or comics or poetry. Yea, it’s often me yelling at clouds about how people should read poetry but it isn’t JUST that either. And, yes, often the “more people” are prose writers, either fiction or nonfiction (I don’t discriminate here), that only read prose and seem unable to fathom that there are other things to read out there. I hold no grudge. I exhale the smoke from my chest on the four count.
But I do think that people should read more widely. People who don’t read should read more, obviously, and those who read only one genre or one genre in a medium should try new things. I think it’s good for the soul. Good for the neurons. Good for the longevity of books existing. It’s just good.
For me it does feel like a solidarity thing. Dramatists got it rough, especially local ones, so I love to go see their plays (side note: it helps that I live in a town with a university that has a solid theater program but there’s probably something near you). Romance writers are combating slop being thrown at them like an evil version of a 90’s Nickelodeon skit, so hug, with their permission, the romance writer in your life. Comics are getting banned left and right because pictures are the devil or kids shouldn’t be able to see or some other stupid reason. Therefore, visit your local comic shop. So, ya know, we’re all in this together as the musical number from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series goes. I’m full of references today.
A way to maybe convince you, imaginary reader who disagrees with me and still, for some reason, continues to read, could be looking at my reading habits lately!
This past month, I’ve been in quite a bit of a reading lull. Early in the month I decided that I’d try to, at least, get through four poetry books in honor/celebration of the Sealy Challenge. I’m two poetry books through (which honestly go me) and have the third picked out but should be starting the fourth as of this writing. I’ve also been reading Prophecy by Carissa Véliz very slowly (because it’s very good and it was what I was going to write about here because that book deserves thousands of reviews but here we are friends). My library is fighting for its life trying to get someone to lend me Gender Queer: Annotated Version and I’ve got a book for my fiction writing group book club that has been traveling in my bag places like I’m about to open it up.
All of this is pretty normal for an August. It’s the start of the new semester which is always chaotic for me and my special set of brain rumble strips. It’s also the start of my kid’s school, which has become more complicated and chaotic the older they get. I do miss the days of getting them four boxes of crayons and seven hundred tissue boxes as their classroom needs. This year I had to measure binder sizes. That was a wild time.
So, this month I did focus on the poetry books, taking them a bit slower than I usually do. Specifically, I allowed myself time to read the poems more individually rather than always in conversation with each other. While I’d prefer to do both at the same time, this was a wonderful way to go slow. And, I read a bunch of individual comics, catching up on my goal to read one individual comic a day like I did in 2025.
Yea, I didn’t get as much reading done as I’d like but I did get to read and I think that’s the lesson here. I could not read much of Prophecy because it’s a bit heavy and I was reading so much school materials for new/returning teachers that it wasn’t sticking when I did read it. But I could dig into a single issue of Wicked & Divine. I could read a couple poems.
This, to me, is one of the key benefits to reading widely that isn’t literally making your life so much more enjoyable and better; there’s options for when reading nonfiction or fiction or poetry or whatever feels like too much. There are times when my body needs a comic or a graphic novel and other times it needs a short story or fiction series. I know what this feels like because I’ve read them and I can be like, “oooo yea I have a taste for that.” This is helpful for me, personally, because reading really does center me in ways that not much else does. So, I know that I might be feeling this in a more specific way than others, but I still think it’s nice to switch it up when the world around you is pushing in ways that make certain types of reading more difficult.
So, read a comic or two. Or three. Read some poetry. Find a play to go see next week. Or borrow thirty seven books from the library and read them over Labor Day weekend. I don’t know your schedule. But, vary it up. Try something new. Be willing to live in that discomfort. It’s in that discomfort that new pathways are formed in our lives and brains and hearts.
Take this as your first homework assignment this semester: read something a little different.
Thank you for reading! Please share this with people who think need to read more newsletters in their life. I didn't mention them as one of the primary mediums but I feel like maybe they are now.
If you enjoyed the work and would like to keep me flush in coffee while working on the next article/post/writing thing, please feel free to subscribe (always free!) or send me a quick donation below. I appreciate it and hope that your September is splendid!
About the Author
