Jul 31, 2025

Reading vs Literature

on fiction book taxonomy

I finished reading four books cover-to-cover this month. I binged them. They really made me fall in love with reading as an activity again.

Three of them- Dark Matter, Yellowface, Never Lie- were fast-paced books that can suck you in like a vacuum cleaner on full power. But I can't really say that they have an essence. There wasn't anything literary to them. They are in a way, fleeting.

Which brings me to the thought that has been squatting on my brain-house for a couple of weeks:

I think that there are two kind of (fiction) books:

1. books that are good for reading.
2. books that are good to read.

The books I read last month fall into the first category. They are bingeable, dopamine dumps and page turners.

Think of them as a trip to the water park. A few rides, a few moments of short-lived fun and you're back home washing your dishes. They don't leave you with anything but the memory of you having read the book. You just devour and move on.

And then there's the second category.
Books like Crime and Punishment, Giovanni's Room, The Fall, The Trial fall into this category. They are dense, literary and reek of good prose. They make you gather your fallen brain cells and put them back in your noggin.

These books make you grow. They are a pain to read, but you're glad to read them. They give you perspective and depth, they present you with a mirror, and they make you linger. They are a categorical imperative!

But the thing is, you need both the types of books in your shelf. One because it's fun, the other because it is necessary.

But what if you could get the best of the both worlds?

Presenting: the type of book that read like butter and leave you thinking till 4am in the morn.

Think The Stranger, The Metamorphosis, Slaughterhouse-Five, and maybe *The Sense of an Ending.

This type of book is not only engrossing, but also thought-provoking. And maybe even superior to the other two? Just saying...

I am searching for more books like this, so if you have any recs, then please comment down below.

Also, what is the last book you read that made you feel good? How about the one that made you feel smart?