"Tiger and I thought it might be time to start a meme to discuss some of the frustrations that are unique to book bloggers. What happens when the hobby you love becomes more of a chore?This meme will appear on the first and third Mondays of the month. One of the hosts will give us a question to respond to and a linky for sharing our responses and developing community.
This week's question is: How has blogging and reviewing changed your reading habits? Do you read a genre now that you wouldn't have tried prior? Or have you been turned off by a genre you used to love?
One major change that blogging or, more exactly, reviewing has made to my reading habits is that I do much less re-reading. I used to routinely re-read certain book series each year and sometimes more than once a year. Now my review stack is so tall that I don't have a chance to read any of my old favorites. I have to admit that I am tempted every once in a while to push the review books aside and get lost in some of my old favorites.
I have always read a variety of genres—romance, mystery, science fiction, young adult—and that hasn't changed. Opening myself up to review books has introduced me to a wonderful new selection of authors and some new genres too. I was reading urban fantasy before the genre boomed and I am still reading lots of it. Paranormal romance is just a subdivision of romance and I have come to love that genre too. I read less straight science fiction but I still enjoy character-driven space opera and have added a new love for dystopian fiction.
I still haven't developed a love for classic literature or anything that could be described as "chick lit." No one can read everything. So I am glad to leave those genres to the people who enjoy them.
How have your reading habits changed since you began blogging?
I really agree with you on the re-reading. Before blogging I would re-read atleast 3 books a year but in 2012 I didn't re-read any. It's somewhat depressing to see my favorites collecting dust. I think for 2013 I am going to make it a goal to re-read atleast one set of my favs.
ReplyDeleteLauren @ Lose Time Reading
Exactly. No time for re-reading. I used to re-visit The Stand every once in a while, but now I feel guilty b/c I have so many other books to read. But I guess having too much to read instead of too little is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely with me too. I don't do nearly as much rereading as I did before because I don't think I've reread AT ALL, which makes me sad. Love the post!
ReplyDeleteMy Book Blogger Confessions
I also don't reread as much as I used to - there are just so many "new" books out there I want to read, and I end up focusing on those instead.
ReplyDeleteI've tried a few of the classics and I just don't enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteA few people mentioned rereads and I don't' have time for them anymore either. That might be something I should make time for though.