Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Top ten Changes in My Reading Life
I recently discovered that TTT was back up and running over at That Artsy Girl and since I used to enjoy doing these so much, I thought I’d periodically jump in (when the theme fits me). Today was a great one because my reading life has changed so much over the years.
- Rereading. I used to chronically reread books, because (before blogging) I didn’t know about near as many. So I read the ones I liked over and over again. Now my TBR is so massive, I only reread a few books a year.
- Audiobooks. Before blogging I didn’t know about audiobooks being so good… I had listened to an audiobook as a child and they were not the great productions they are now, with actors as the narrators. Now I read more audiobooks than anything.
- Non-fiction. Perhaps because of all the non-fiction I HAD to read in grad school, I went through a phase where I wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole. I was burnt out. Now I like to read a non-fiction book as part of my miracle morning routine – it tends to be self-help of some sort. Right now, tons of mommy/baby books!
- Number of Books at a time. I used to strictly read one book at a time. But thanks to the introduction of audiobooks to my reading habits, I started reading two at a time. And now I also read self-help type books, so I have as many as 5 books going at at time.
- Genres. I’ve kind of touched on it already, in that I now read non-fiction. But over the years I’ve added genres to my reading. I read historical fiction as a teen, added in fantasy as a young adult, and now… now I read anything but horror (and I even try that sometimes).
- Book Clubs. Reading used to be very solitary for me. But now, I belong to two book clubs and enjoy just talking books and the friendships I’ve made through the clubs.
- Format. May be hard to believe, since I’m one of the co-creators of COYER (Clean Out Your E-Reads Challenge) but there was a time when I wouldn’t read a book if I couldn’t physically hold it. I do think a lot of that is because I didn’t own an e-Reader and now I have a Kindle so it’s a lot easier.
- Ownership. Once upon a time, if I liked a book I had to PHYSICALLY own it. But that was back in the rereading days. Now, if I owned every book I loved, we wouldn’t have space in our home for anything else. Thankfully there’s Kindle, Audio, and the Library.
- The Library. I’ve always loved the library, but my way of using it has really changed over the years. As a child, it was the only way I got books. As a young adult, I used it exclusively for school and research. Fun books, I had to own. Now, I go to the library almost weekly, just checking out books that I want to read. I no longer need to own them. And I have like 5 or 6 library cards, just in case a book I want isn’t available in my home library
- Subscriptions. For the longest time, the only “subscription” I had was for my audible credits. I own so many books, I didn’t see the point in having Kindle Unlimited (KU) or Audible Escape (AE). But sometimes the library doesn’t have the book I want to read… and since I no longer feel the need to own EVERY book, I enjoy having KU and AE to borrow books. I make sure to borrow a few from each every month so that the cost isn’t unjustified.
I’ve done a complete turnaround on audiobooks over the last 3-4 years. I used to be such a purist and didn’t consider that reading. Ha! Now I almost always have an audiobook in progress. I definitely want to start doing more rereading. So many favorites I’d love to revisit!
I love, love, love audiobooks. What is this Audible Escapes? I have not heard of it. I do have Scribd where I borrow audiobooks. I like this list. I could have added several of them if I had done this Top Ten.
Audiobooks are the BEST! I’m not familiar with Scribd, will have to check it out. If you have an Audible subscription plan, you can get audible escapes for like $7/mo, if you don’t it’s like $13/mo. It’s just like Kindle Unlimited, you get a certain number of books at a time to checkout from their selection (so not all books are AE, just like not all books are KU). They have a really good selection too!
I have always loved to reread and that has just never stopped. I still continue to do it. I have found a new love for audio books! I also agree with 4!
I definitely still reread some – you just crave certain books and characters from time to time. I think #4 – reading more than one book at a time – is a direct result of having so many more books to read!
I read more books at a time too now, something I never did. also my genres have broadened so much, thanks to blogging. It’s kinda weird to think about how many cool books I’d have missed otherwise!
OMG I know! Imagine if I’d never left Historical Romances! Most my favorites are Fantasy and YA… no where near the genre where I started.
Nice! There are still some things I stay away from, like audiobooks. I know everyone raves about them but I know they wouldn’t work for me as a reader. I find I am easily distracted when “listening” to something important like that! I can barely concentrate when I listen to a podcast! Lol.
Here’s my Tuesday Post
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
Audibooks aren’t for everyone, though I constantly try to convert people. I do think that they are for a lot more people than they used to be. But getting too easily distracted is a problem with audio.
I would say my reading has evolved in a similar but not exactly the same way. I moved to ebboks when I went traveling on the Harley in 2012 and got a Kindle. I started audiobooks in 2015 when I was packing and moving. I’ve always done non-fiction for info on cooking, sewing quilting, knitting and self-help topics and it goes in phases. I also have KU and AE sometimes. Great post!
Thanks Anne! I can see why ebooks became necessary on a motorcycle trip! Can you imagine hauling books on a Harley? LOL that would be interesting.