Wednesday, July 5, 2017

How Blogging Changed the Way I Read

I have always been an avid reader ever since I was a child. My mother took me to the library for story time and encouraged me to take books out of the library. She would rather me buy books than toys from a young age. I was always that kid that would beg my mom to take me to the library and for my dad to take me to the bookstore. I often spent my weekdays at the library and weekends at the bookstore wandering through many aisles and looking at many shelves of books. Immersing myself in a book for hours is definitely a favorite hobby of mine still to this day.

I used to frequently visit Borders before they closed. Before Amazon, I used to get cheap books at book sales and also at a bookstore called New England Mobile Bookfair. All books at the New England Mobile Bookfair are 20% off. Sure, the bookstore looks more like a warehouse but I didn't care. The books are organized by publishing house which I found interesting. At that time when I was younger, I was frustrated how the books are organized. Now, I find it to be a clever way to organize books because readers get to learn what publishing house publishes each book.

Before blogging, I would choose books based on new releases and also based on synopsis. I never relied on reviews before choosing a book to read. If it's assigned reading, I never questioned prior whether it was good or bad book. I guess I can say that I am more of a picky reader now after blogging.  Now, I also don't finish books if I can't get into them. I don't believe in forcing yourself to read something that isn't interesting to you. Reading is suppose to be fun. Of course if it's assigned reading, you have no choice to read the book, but life is too short to read a book you are not enjoying during your free time.

It wasn't until I started blogging that I really began looking more at reviews and the opinions of others. Now, I always check out the synopsis and reviews for almost every title that I am interested in. Should I pick up this book if most people gave it 3 stars? This book got 5 stars, so I must read this book because I would like it. But is the hyped up book as good as people claim it to be? I look at reviews for certain tropes that I like in books. If there are friends or reviewers that have similar book tastes, I will consider looking into their recommendations a little bit further. I want to know why someone gave a book 5 stars besides "The book is great." Why is it great? I want to know why I should pick up a book.

Blogging has kept me aware of what books are coming out in the future. I no longer just read back list books. I know a lot of bloggers are obsessed with the front list books and want all the ARCs but I like to know what books are coming out soon. I still love reading back list titles. Also, this awareness lets me figure out what books I can recommend to my students. I love recommending books to my students based on their interests. It definitely makes my day if I can recommend a book or two and to keep encouraging my students to read for fun.


How has blogging changed the way you read? Do you still have similar reading habits or are they completely different now?

4 comments:

  1. I also check out reviews for EVERYTHING that I read. In some ways, that can colour the way that I experience my books, since I've already come into it with my own expectations. I kind of wish I could blindly go into books without knowing anything, whether others had enjoyed it or not. But I think I'm too far into blogging to be able to do that. Ever.

    Also, I have been reading nothing BUT backlist titles for a while, since I've just gotten back into blogging and have been using the library non-stop. :) I still get excited for new releases though! But you'll see a lot of my reviews coming up are backlist titles, which might come off a bit refreshing since I don't see these titles popping up on the blogosphere as much lately.

    Cass @ Words on Paper

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    1. I wish I could blindly read a book but I like to know a little about what I am going to read about before diving into a book. I don't like wasting time reading a book that doesn't really interest me. I love the library for books that I am on the fence about. I can't always afford to buy books that I am 50/50 on. I do like seeing reviews about backlist titles since almost every blog as frontlist reviews.

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  2. I read a lot of reviews for books but it's hard to know if that's more from blogging/goodreads or from my work at this point--it's a habit I've had for a few years at this point. I never felt a need to finish books I didn't like even before I started blogging. The biggest change is that I buy more books now partly because I go to events and signings but also partly because I am more conscientious about what I want on my shelves.

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    1. I totally forgot to add that I buy more books now too than before blogging. And for the same reasons as you...for events and signings. I think most of the books I read prior to blogging were mostly borrowed from the library.

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