TTT | How My Reading Habits Have Changed Over Time

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly topic hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week she provides a topic, and you are free to use that topic and/or variations of that topic to make your top ten list. A full list of the weekly themes can be found here. Today’s topic is how my reading habits have changed over time. I have to say my younger self probably wouldn’t recognize my reading habits of today.

• I used to finish every book I opened. It didn’t matter if I wasn’t enjoying the book or not, I finished every book. Now a days I just don’t have the time to continue reading a book if I’m not enjoying it, unless it’s an advanced copy or a book club pick. There are occasions when I’ll finish a book out of spite and then I really enjoy writing those reviews.
• I never really read romance books growing up. I almost exclusively read fantasy or science fiction. Mostly it was because I never saw myself represented in the romance genre at the time, and living in a small Texas town there wasn’t a lot of access to queer romance. With more access and choice, I’ve found I do love romance books when there is diversity present.
• Growing up I only read print books. It didn’t really matter if it was paperback or hardback, but it was always printed. Today, I’ll read any format of book and have really enjoyed audiobooks recently.
• I used to find most of my next reads by browsing in the bookstore. Now, I either get the suggestions from fellow bookbloggers, bookstagramers, or bookstore employees.
• I never reviewed books I finished. I’d leave a star rating, but that was the extent of my review. I’m better at leaving an actual review on my book blog of course, as well as on Goodreads. This year, I’ve actually made it a goal to review every book I read, even if it’s only a paragraph.
• I read non-fiction now, which I used to never read growing up (or only read it for school).
• I’ve learned to cull my books. This happened even before becoming a librarian, but it’s even worse now after going through a collection development class. I always wanted a library in my apt/house and thought I needed to keep every book I bought or was gifted. But now I’d rather have a better quality collection, not just quantity.
• I’ve read a ton more indie books in the past few years then I did growing up, part of this is just the access to Kindle self-published books.
• I’ve found novellas or short story collections just as amazing and great palette cleansers. I used to think only big books were worth my time but these shorter ones can pack a punch.