How I’ve Changed As A Reader
Since I started blogging, a lot about my life has changed. There are more deadlines, more stresses, more responsibilities, less time, less energy and at times it seems less supporters.
But those are only the negatives. It is so easy to get caught up in the negatives, but reading is a journey and there are always ups and downs. With blogging, we can stress out over our slumps and deadlines, feeling like we aren’t “keeping up” with everything like we should.
When I started blogging I had no idea what I was doing, and I followed suit of most of the blogs I discovered: I tried to make myself a one-genre blog. I quickly found I didn’t like being stuck only reading YA. It got old quickly, especially the tropes.
I decided I wanted to branch out. I wanted to read what I wanted to read. That’s not unreasonable, is it? I didn’t want to be tied to only one genre and feel obligated to read only that genre and ignore all these other great reads because I didn’t have time for them. What’s the point in that?
When I first started, I was very anti-fantasy. I am still kind of anti-sci-fi. I’ve never liked sci-fi. But in the beginning I didn’t like fantasy much either, and I have slowly come around to it in these last (almost) three years.
I also completely broadened my range of reading. I no longer read books that are specifically targeted toward my age group. I read everything from children’s to adult fiction to the good ol’ classics. At first I thought working down the age ladder into children’s was going to hurt my blog traffic and it would turn away the readers I’d already established.
I was so wrong. SO wrong. Now I am glad that I have a fuller offering to share with viewers. I feel so…versatile. I do every once in a while go on a kick where I read the same genre for a couple of reviews in a row, which I know I’ve done with middle grades several times. Middle grades are just awesome!
Last year I tried doing a monthly Reviews by Genre thing from September to April and it failed horribly. It was inspired by that idea of wanting to genre binge read. There were about three months where I had read and reviewed multiple books during that whole time span. It was less than 50% success rate for what I intended. Obviously I decided to never do that again.
My reading habits have changed, and I as a reader have changed. I am more appreciative of books that feature connections and relationships between people more so than anything else. I find that I can identify and take more value from those types of reads than some of the others.
I have broadened my reading horizons since starting on this blogging journey, and I hope it continues. One new thing I want to really try hard to maintain and utilize fully is a TBR jar. There are so many cute ones out there, like Jessi’s on Etsy. I want to take the plunge and just do it.
I have a new goal…get Charlie to read sci-fi. 🙂
I’ve definitely changed in what I will try to read especially from new, independent authors. I feared I would have a shortage of books (HA!), but my piles have only grown and I see a wider variety of authors and genres filtering in.
One day, Terri, one day! I’m trying, see? There are definitely no shortages from independent authors!
I’m so glad you’ve expanded your reading horizons since you started the blog and you’ve figured out what works for you! The best thing you can do is work out a system that makes you happy. 🙂
It’s great that you’ve tried new genres! I’ll be honest; I haven’t changed much as a reader in terms of genre. I still prefer mysteries, thrillers, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance. I have tried a few books outside of those, but it’s been hit or miss. Sci-fi is a broad category–I’m okay with some of it, but not all of it. I’ve been reading a few historical romances, and I like some of them. I think the bottom line for me is the book has to have plenty of action no matter what genre it is in. Otherwise, I get bored fast.
Like you I think I’ve definitely expanded my genres and really hope to expand more. The bulk of the sci-fi genre still doesn’t grab me but I’m definitely reading more.
The one thing that has changes for me is probably DNF’ing more — I try to branch out a bit and because of the availability of ARCs, I have more books that I may not have as carefully selected than if I were paying for them myself. I am exposed to more genres just by reading other blogs and have found some great books that I wouldn’t have read otherwise!!
Great post! ♥
I just started my blog last month, but this isn’t my first blogging rodeo 🙂 With my last book blog I did a lot of things wrong, and in the end I became burned out, frustrated and needing to walk away from the whole thing for a while to clear my head. Now I’m back a year later with a new blog and a new blogging outlook. I’m focusing on being a ‘free range’ reader and blogger and seeing what that looks like. I’m having a lot more fun this time around and it feels great to just be spontaneous with things!
Great post!
I could never have a one-genre blog. I need variety. Blogging hasn’t changed what I read, but it has changed how I read. To write reviews, I have to think about what I’m reading instead of tearing through books as fast as possible.
I review every book I read. Fuck genres. Thinking outside the box when it comes to reading is a great thing, you discover so many new things!
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I don’t think my reading tastes have changed much, but blogging definitely opened me up to the world of indie authors. I don’t know if I would have found them without blogging. Interesting to think about…
Thanks for sharing this at Booknificent Thursday on Mommynificent.com this week!
Tina
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