Isn't this interesting?

"I recently read an article in Psychology Today stating that 'reading fiction, it turns out, is a surprisingly social process. A study in press at the Journal of Research in Personality showed that frequent readers of narrative fiction scored higher on tests of empathy and social acumen than did readers of expository non-fiction. A follow-up study showed that fiction could actually hone those skills."

Until the last ten years or so, I didn't read much fiction at all. I read what I was assigned in school (including university), but very little more. As time has went by, I've read more and more fiction, although I'm still partial to non-fiction. I've realized that you can learn a lot from stories (whether they're presented in the forms of books or movies) and communicate truth and a worldview in ways you can't in straightforward non-fiction.

Just another step in the growth process.