How my reading habits have changed

My blog is coming up to its ten year anniversary. This got me thinking about how my reading habits have changed over that time. Some of the changes have been a direct consequence of blogging and some have just changed naturally over time.

1. I DNF (Did Not Finish) books that I'm not enjoying. This has definitely been the biggest change for me, as in the past I would always finish every single book I started...even when I wasn't enjoying it. I always thought the book might improve near the end, or that I would miss out if I didn't finish it. I even occasionally felt ashamed if I didn't read every single page of a book, as how could I then record with good conscience that I'd read it. About 6 years ago, I was laid up in bed recovering from an operation. During that time I read a LOT of books. I needed to read to distract me from the pain. I needed the story to enchant me, sweep me away and fully occupy my attention. If I started reading something that didn't do that then for the first time in my life I would give up on it and put it down. I've decided since then that life is too short to read books that I'm not enjoying. There are so, so many books that I do want to read that I'm much more likely to DNF a title that is not ticking all my boxes.

2. I read a lot more new releases. I think this is a direct consequence of blogging because I'm lucky enough to receive a lot of new releases from publishers. I'm also more aware of new titles which I either buy or hunt for in the library.

3. I plan my reading schedule. Before I started blogging, I would read whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Now however, I plan what I'm going to read next based around the publication date of new books that I want to review, or around blog tours that I'm taking part in. I often try to get ahead of schedule with books I'm reading or blog posts that I'm writing. This then enables me to have some time during the summer or at Christmas to take a break and maybe read some non-fiction or whatever I fancy. This works for me as I'm super organised and it helps me not to get stressed with keeping up with my blog.

4. I read a wider selection of authors and genres. I've always read extremely widely but I think I'm now reading even more genres and trying more books by authors that I might not have come across before. There are very few books that I wouldn't at least try a few chapters of. I LOVE discovering authors with huge back catalogues that I can then go and binge on (e.g. the Agatha Christie love knows no bounds!)

5. I think more critically about what I read. This helps when it comes to reviewing books on my blog. Again, I've always tended to do this (which is a consequence I think of having a Literature degree) but I've noticed that I make more notes now when I'm reading or jot down points about the book that I want to remember when I'm writing reviews.

Have your reading habits changed? If so, how do you read differently? Has blogging had an affect on your choice of books?