Clinician burnout in hospice and palliative care (HPC) has potentially widespread negative consequences including increased clinical errors, decreased professionalism, decreased staff retention, and decreased empathy. Although institutional-sponsored mitigation strategies continue to develop, most burnout reduction begins with the individual clinician. Reading non-medical literature has been associated with increased empathy, but no studies on the effect of reading on burnout have previously been conducted. To assess reading patterns of practicing HPC clinicians and determine the association between non-medical reading and burnout. We surveyed members of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine regarding reading practices, exposure to non-medical literature, and burnout symptoms. Burnout measures of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were assessed by the validated 2 single-item Maslach Burnout Inventory. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate regression. Seven hundred nine members -- mostly physicians (77%) or fellows (9%) -- responded to the survey (15% response rate). Burnout was associated with younger age and fatigue (p<0.05) but not clinical discipline, practice setting, undergraduate major, hours spent reading per week, or preference of fiction vs. nonfiction literature. In a multivariate logistical regression controlling for respondent age, clinical discipline, and presence of fatigue, consistent readers (reading 1-3 books per week) had decreased odds of burnout compared to inconsistent readers (reading none to part of a book per week) (OR 0.61, CI 0.38-0.96, p<0.05). A secondary analysis examining various domains of burnout indicates that consistent reading was associated with decreased emotional exhaustion (OR=0.58, CI 0.36-0.93, p<0.05) but not depersonalization. Among HPC clinicians, reading non-medical literature on a consistent basis may have a protective effect against burnout, specifically emotional exhaustion. Future studies should prospectively evaluate this potential positive impact.