Why we should read non-fiction books over fiction books?

At the very onset of our lives, childhood, we are generally hooked to fiction books and we are also surrounded by fictional characters which we blindly look as our idols and motivators. We live in this fantasy world because we are actually kept protected by our parents to this harsh real world. Our parents keep us safe from all of this and we are probably woven into this world of pampering. But as we grow up, we realise that life is not just the white color. It is a combination of several colours and we may not like each one of them. But to live and adapt to this world is what everyone is striving for. So the fairy tale stories that were once told to us now seem to become slowly invalid and we find ourselves inside a deep ocean. We need our brains to adapt to the modern society which will help us swim in the deep ocean waters.

Reading Non-Fiction books help us to achieve this, so you might be wondering what is the difference between non-fiction and self-help books and what exactly are non-fiction books?

Non-Fiction books are nothing but a broad category of books which includes topics such as history, economics, politics, self-help, business, spirituality, biographies, auto-biographies, any subject book and anything that are inspired by true events and which kind of establishes an axiomatic relationship with the present world.

What are some benefits of reading non-fiction books ?

1. Life Lessons : Reading non-fiction not only helps us to develop our mindset but also help us learn some important life lessons. Like reading biographies of people/history who made mistakes can help you avoid notable pitfalls in your life as well and help you take well informed decisions. Reading about other people who had made it large is also important as they give us boost to learn more about their skills and harnessing them will help us advance ourselves holistically.
2. Increase Concentration : In this fast paced world, reading books can help us calm ourselves down and help us increase our concentration power. Since everything around us is moving like a storm, books can make us grounded in this storm. Increase in concentration power not only helps us achieve more but also helps us improve focus on important things in life.
3. Better Communicator : Reading non-fiction helps us to understand the mindset of the people who has made it big and helps us communicate better as we understand the human psychology more clearly. We can start quoting famous persons and even if we are reading other business/self-help/spirituality books, we are not only uplifting out vocabulary but also we can communicate better and form speeches that can help us influence others.
4. Increase capacity of the hippocampus: The brain has the power to memorise more and more stuffs but it acts in a reverse way with age, meaning as we grow old we tend to become more forgetful but reading non-fiction increases the analytical power of the brain as we need to constantly relate to real world. This activity with the brain is very important and it helps us to keep it active for the long run.
5. Gateway to infinite knowledge: Reading non-fiction helps us to learn many new topics which will help us increase our grasp over wide range of topic. As said my David Epstien in his famous book, “Range” that people with wide range of knowledge succeeds and todays world is in search of such people. It is the called the “T” shaped knowledge , the trunk of the “T” is for depth of knowledge in one particular field and the crossbar of the “T” is for wide range of knowledge. Hence reading non-fiction can really help people achieve a broader crossbar in the “T”.

Top 10 non-fiction I have read :

1. 21 lessons of the 21st Century — Yuval Noah Harari
2. Sapiens — Yuval Noah Harari
3. Homo Deus — Yuval Noah Harari
4. Range — David Epstein
5. Psychology of money — Morgen Housel
6. Good economics for hard times — Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo
7. Poor Economics — Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo
8. 7 Habits of highly effective people — Stephen Covey
9. Steve Jobs — Walter Issacson
10. A Short history of nearly everything — Bill Bryson

I hope you find your own set of books which can inspire you and help you create a better version of yourself everyday.