It depends on what nonfiction I'm reading. I read military history because I enjoy it. I read woodworking books because I am trying to improve my skills. Other non fiction, there is usually something that intrigues me in the topic. Those are as widely varied as the topics themselves.

My goal last year was 52 books I'd never read before, I ended up hitting 70 and ~22k pages. And it was kind of exhausting. The last six weeks I have been reading whatever I could quickly because I wanted to pile up the completed number which isn't a good way to pursue the hobby I think. On the other hand, I read The Kite Runner yesterday and Moneyball today and they were probably two of the best books I've read all year.

This coming year I have resolved that I'm not going to browse my shelves for something to read. I'm going to keep a much smaller (around a dozen books) TBR stack on my nightstand and read from there. If I want to put something else in there, I have to read something to make the space.

I'd like to read 40-55 books next year, including completing my circumnavigation of the Aubrey-Maturin novels (14 to go). I want to finish Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (1 book), Colleen McCullough's First Man in Rome series (3 books), William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy (1 book) and Charles Stross' Laundry Files (5 books).

I usually have 3-4 going. One or two fiction, one non fiction and one on a skill I'm trying to learn. So right now I have

Rivers of War by Eric Flint A church history book The Anarchist's Toolchest by Christopher Schwarz