Because it would be against my faith and formation which has led me to see matters more integrated and reinforcing than yours.  This perspective is of a great help in life, allowing a more immediate intimacy with God in all things that happen during the day.

Seeing items unconnected and remote from God is not the goal of a lively and buoyant faith.   Pretending that something has "goodness" all on its own is an error, and it leads to a compartmentalization of God, cutting Him off from moments with you, which is what He greatly desires.

We read for more than just leisure..or pleasure.  We should connect our reading with our whole self.   And part of that self is our relationship with God and others. 

Maybe we read to help us be a better friend to our friends, a better conversationalist, now able to talk a bit about this matter of history with our history-buff friend, not to impress him, but to draw him out a bit in conversation, and to learn more about him, so that you can help him