Do you summarize fiction books, or is it just non-fiction?

The Fiction Summary Dilemma

I get asked this a lot: "Why don't you guys do Harry Potter or The Great Gatsby?" The short, slightly opinionated answer is that fiction summaries usually suck. They strip away the one thing that makes fiction valuable: the experience. Reading a non-fiction book is about extracting information; reading a novel is about feeling an emotion or living a different life for a few hundred pages. If I tell you that The Old Man and the Sea is about an old guy who catches a fish and then sharks eat it, I haven’t given you anything of value. I’ve given you a plot point, but I’ve killed the art. Non-fiction is a map; fiction is the journey itself. You don't "summarize" a journey.

That said, there is a place for non-fiction summaries because they serve as a utility. You read a book on habit formation because you want to change your behavior. A summary can give you the steps to do that. But you read fiction to be transformed. If you summarize a transformative experience, you’re just left with a dry list of events. This is why you’ll notice our YouTube channel is almost exclusively focused on books that do something—business, psychology, self-improvement, and philosophy. These are "how-to" guides for the human condition, which makes them perfect for the 5-minute format.

When Fiction Summaries Actually Work

There is one exception to my "fiction is for reading" rule, and that's when a piece of fiction is being used as a vehicle for a specific philosophy or a historical lesson. Think of something like 1984 or Animal Farm. Yes, they are stories, but they are also warnings and political treatises. In those cases, a summary can help unpack the symbolism or the underlying message for someone who might not have the time to parse through the prose. However, even then, you lose the visceral dread of Orwell's writing if you just read a bulleted list of "Big Brother" facts.

For the most part, we stick to non-fiction because the "ROI" (Return on Investment) for the viewer is much higher. If you give me five minutes of your time, I can give you a new way to manage your finances or a trick to sleep better. If I give you a five-minute summary of a mystery novel, I’ve just spoiled the ending and robbed you of a good weekend read. We want to be the "on-ramp" to knowledge, not the "spoiler" for your entertainment.

Choosing Utility Over Plot

Ultimately, our channel is built for the "curious but busy." We assume you want to improve your life, your career, or your mindset. Non-fiction is the most direct path to those goals. When you watch one of our videos, you're looking for a tool to put in your belt. Fiction is more like a painting you hang on your wall; you want to look at it, not just hear someone describe the colors. We focus on the books that offer a clear "takeaway" because that fits the Tuesday afternoon ritual we've built with our audience.

We prioritize the "Utility" books—the ones where the author has spent years researching a topic and distilled it into a framework. Our job is to take that framework and distill it even further. We leave the storytelling to the novelists and the literary critics. If you’re looking for a toolset rather than a storyline, you’ll find that our weekly breakdowns are exactly what you need to sharpen your approach to the week ahead.