Top Ten Tuesday

#TopTenTuesday: Changed Reading Habits

Dini @ dinipandareads50 Comments

We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic is How My Reading Habits Have Changed Over Time (submitted by Lydia @ https://lydiaschoch.com)

I thought we’d done this topic before but I’m clearly thinking about something else cos I have no record of it in my blog list! This is a fun topic and although I’m not entirely in the right brain mood at the moment, I think I can come up with ten ways my reading habits have changed over the years (I’m not promising they’ll be good answers though, lol)! 😂 It’s a topic that I’ve thought about briefly once or twice but haven’t spent a great deal of time mulling. Let’s see what answers I can come up with!

1

I’ve stopped feeling embarrassed and shy about the fact that I read romance. I feel like romance books always get such a bad rap because people think that it’s all smutty reads that don’t have substance. Those books do exist and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying or preferring them either! But there’s so much more to the romance genre and I’ve learned so much from reading romance novels. Since I started this blog, I’ve gained more confidence in saying “Yes, I read romance and I’m proud of it, thank you very much!” 😂

2

On the topic of romance, I’ve branched out a lot in the subgenres that I’m willing to try but also that I’ve found myself enjoying! As an example, did I know that monster romance existed and that it would kinda sorta be my jam? NO! 😂 It’s definitely not all monster romance but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some of the stories I’ve read!

3

I’ve started to DNF more. Look, I’m not gonna say that I’m the DNF master now cos I’m still not great at it and don’t do it nearly as often as I feel I should, but I’m making progress! There are just some books that are easier for me to DNF and others I tend to hold out hope for. 🤷🏻‍♀️

4

I’ve stopped trawling through and requesting books on NetGalley. A huge part of the reason why I initially started this blog was because I had learned about ARCs and wanted to get my grubby hands on them, lol. Little did I know that, as an international reader, there would be so many more hurdles that would impede my access and ability to early copies… but that’s a story for a different time! I’ve realised I’m not great at reading ARCs on time and I’ve got a bunch of books that I already should read, why add more to the list with the time pressure on top of that?

5

I’ve started listening to more audiobooks. I used to be a ‘no audiobooks’ girlie only because I find it takes more focus to absorb what I’m listening to and I’m quite picky with narrators. I sadly can’t multitask the way most people do when listening to audios and I’m terribly envious of those who can! I haven’t done a full 180 on this but I’ve started searching out audiobooks, especially for those chonky fantasies or classics!

6

It’s not as easy for me to read multiple books at once anymore. I used to enjoy reading 1-3 books at a time and there was even a period where I couldn’t not read 1-3 books at once. Now though, I tend to struggle with even reading one book, let alone three at once. 🫣

7

This kind of relates to reading habits but I’ve stopped buying as many physical books in recent years. It does have to do with the fact that I’ve run out of shelf space but it’s also because I read on my Kindle so much more than before. The convenience of my e-reader just can’t be beaten!

8

I don’t feel as much FOMO to read all the newest and most hyped books, especially since I stopped being as active on bookstagram for the past several years. Being on that app can be so toxic—the FOMO was intense—and now that I’ve stepped away from it, I don’t feel obliged to keep up with all the flashy new titles.

9

Give me all the novellas! I wasn’t averse to reading novellas before but I feel like I didn’t pay proper attention to their existence before. 😂 I don’t know how or why but now, I’m all for the novellas and short stories!

10

I’ve started to notice my appetite for YA has decreased considerably in the past year. I’ve struggled to find a YA story that hits in the same way it did before. Maybe I’m slowly outgrowing YA? That’s not to say that I don’t or won’t read it anymore (course not!) but maybe I won’t jump to read every YA title that gets hyped because I feel like I just keep getting burned! 😂

Have you noticed lots of changes in your reading habits over the years? What’s the most significant change that you’ve recognised? Can you relate to any of the changes I mentioned?

50 thoughts on “#TopTenTuesday: Changed Reading Habits”

  3. I didn’t know that monster romances were so popular! Are we talking like sasquatches? The Loch Ness monster? Something else?

    I also love novellas.

    And, yeah, I’ve lost interest in the vast majority of YA books, too. Every so often one of them might pique my interest, but generally no.

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    • Haha, actually I don’t think I’ve seen a sasquatch romance but I’m *sure* they’re out there! The most popular ones I see are like demons, dragons, gargoyles, wolves, minotaurs, kraken… I think there was actually a trad pub romance recently that was a loch ness monster romance (I can’t recall who wrote it or what it’s called though)! 😂

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  4. I have found SO many amazing romance-y reads. Most have “more” to them than just two people falling in love and most are also well written. I’m still teaching myself to DNF but I’ve gotten BETTER than I used to and I think part of this is that I also know what I like. YA isn’t’ something I pick up near as much and suspect it’s because I find more enjoyment in fiction that has characters closer to my age. 🙂

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    • I’m happy to see that more people are reading romance and learning that there’s more to the genre than just smut and people being all loved up. 😅 Romance readers enjoy character growth and plot too, thank you very much, lol! It seems that many feel the same way regarding YA now.

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  6. I’m also reading a lot less YA than I used to. I love number one and my love of romance books is definitely something I started to embrace too. I do still need to learn to DNF more quickly, I tend to push through because I think the book might still change on me and I’ll enjoy it more… and shocker, it almost never does 😀

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    • I noticed a lot of people mentioning the YA thing in their posts. It seems that we’re all reading less of it and (maybe) slowly outgrowing it? It’s a bitter sweet feeling! Lol. I am also much the same with DNFing books—I always hold out hope that they will get better and I always think “and what if it does get better?!” and I keep pushing myself to read. Glad to know it’s not just me that bargains with my reading brain like that haha 🤣

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  7. I absolutely adore new adult fantasy romance! Only figured that out through regular readings which I got into through challenges, through my blog 😂

    I also couldn’t care less about Instagram/ bookstagram. I’d like to keep up, but the fact of links not working in posts, but mostly of its constant moving forward, is just too much. My main focus is my blog, not IG. It’s just too much sometimes 😂

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    • It’s such a great feeling to discover something you really enjoy through blogging and book community. It’s nice growth to go through as a reader, lol. Yeah, IG is definitely a lot to handle when you have other responsibilities that you have to split time with, especially (I think) if you want to grow your page. It was nice when my work wasn’t so demanding and I was working part time but now it’s just impossible. It really is too much sometimes! 🫣

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  9. Oh my gosh, YES! Give me all the novellas! I’ve developed a love for them in recent years, also.

    And I, too, have not been enjoying YA as much as I used to. I don’t have anything against it, but I’ve found that I need to be more picky when it comes to choosing YA books.

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    • I don’t know if they really are under appreciated but I feel like not enough people talk about novellas. I need more recs so I’m always keen when I see people talk about their faves! 😂 I also agree about pickiness when it comes to YA. There are still those I enjoy but it takes more for me to enjoy them now too.

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  10. I relate to so many of these especially the FOMO on hyped books – my bookstagram is sorely neglected but I have no desire to post photos on there anymore. And I feel the same about YA – I think I read them just because my son will soon be a teenager and I’m preparing myself for high school life – I want to know what issues teens and young adults deal with. But I found myself missing the YA of my time and realized it’s just different now, maybe I’m growing out of it too. I actually enjoyed a novella this year and I think it’s because books are so long now that I appreciate the page count of a good novella! I was like yes, this isn’t a 600+ pager, I can finish this! lol Great list Dini!

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    • Yeah, I really burned myself out early on bookstagram. I used to be obsessed and it grew to be such an unhealthy place for me and once I lost my steam, it feels like it’s just gone forever now. I just have no desire to try growing my space there anymore. I’m happy with the engagement I get here 🙂 I won’t say there aren’t any YA that I like anymore but I’m finding that it’s far fewer than before and takes more for me to enjoy the stories. Maybe it’s a combo of age and pickiness 😅 What novella did you read and enjoy? Wondering if it’s something I’ve read or not cos I’m always on the lookout for more of them! It’s so nice to not have to pick up a non-chunky book haha

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  11. Romance props up large parts of the industry but unfortunately it’s one of the more common genres for shaming or being dismissed as ‘lady porn’ and other childish stuff. I also admit to reading romance proudly and don’t come for me, I will fight you haha.

    I have also really pulled back the NetGalley……I will usually just wait until my library gets the book in, haha.

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    • Haha, that is defo what I’m like now too with my advocacy for romances: don’t come for me cos I will fight! 😂 Yeah, at the end of the day I always end up struggling to read an ARC on time and then I feel guilty. It’s easier for me to just wait until it comes out, see what others say about, see if it’s something I will likely enjoy or not, and then buy it! I don’t end up reading the book immediately anyway, lol.

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  12. Great! I related to most of these 🙂 Especially the first point – I used to be so shy about loving romance but I feel no shame admitting that anymore. Probably an aging thing.

    Interesting point about the novellas.. I’ll have to check some more out!

    Also unrelated, but I love your blog design!! So cute 😀

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    • Definitely an aging thing and deigning to care less about what people think. I’m glad that I’ve realised it’s a waste of energy to care about what others think about the things I enjoy. 😂 I hope you find some great novellas and short stories to enjoy! And THANK YOU! After changing my look several times over the years, I think I’ve finally settled on a look I’m quite happy with 😊

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    • I think being an international reader really helped me with staying away from NG and I didn’t even go near Edelweiss 😆 It was such a bummer to realise that international readers have such limited access but silverlining, at least this isn’t something else that adds to the never-ending expansion of my TBR! And omg, YES, if they keep approving your requests it’s TOTALLY their fault! 🤭

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    • I don’t know if it was the pandemic per se that pushed me to follow through on DNFing books but while I don’t do it that often still, I at least have done a time or two or three. Baby steps and all, right? 😅

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    • I don’t know what it is about reading ebooks but I also feel like I read them *much* faster! I’ve seen other people say the same thing. I wonder why 😆 I still enjoy mixing it up every now and again cos I do have tons of physicals that I need to read but the convenience of ebooks just can’t be beat!

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  17. I feel the same way about audiobooks, although I’m not actively listening to them, I do feel like trying a few more soon. I also feel the same way about reading multiple books, I’ve only ever been able to read one book at a time, but I do read a webtoon/manhwa along with it so maybe it still counts? It was great reading about your reading habits 🙂

    If you’d like to visit, here’s my TTT: https://thebooklorefairy.blogspot.com/2024/10/top-ten-tuesday-new-reading-habits.html

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    • Yeah, I do think I’ve become a much more open reader. I don’t think I ever considered myself a snob but I think I’m more comfortable with saying that I *do* read in a wide range of genres. It’s refreshing 🙂 Sometimes the pretension of youth really does stop us from discovering amazing things! 🫣

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  20. Yes to so many of these! DNF’ing more has become such a relief because I find that I’m less likely to get stuck in a reading slump after trying to finish a book I wasn’t enjoying. I’ve also really slowed down on my NG requests this year, which has allowed me to read more backlist books and even re-read some which I never had the time for before. And yes to owning romance, even of the monster variety lol… that is a sub-genre I’ve slowly been getting into myself, but I am loving it so far 🙂

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    • I definitely still need to get better at DNFing but the fact that I do it at all is already a big step up! 😂 It’s absolutely the worst when you get thrown into a weird slumpy mood after pushing yourself to read a book you didn’t enjoy! I feel like I’ve been seeing a lot fewer people mentioning NG this year or at least, hyping up certain books. I wonder if it’s because people are just fatigued, haha. And YES! Look, I really thought monster romance was just going to be *one thing* and I’ve been finding myself pleasantly surprised by a few that have real depth to it. Yay for exploring more romance and romance sub-genres!

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      • It absolutely is! I was terrible at DNF’ing for ages, cause I just felt like I owed them a review. Romance is the best, and it’s one of the few genres I can read no matter what mood i’m in, so that’s just a win for me lol

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  21. In the topic of audiobooks I was just curious if you’ve ever tried coloring or playing a game while listening? If I don’t have the physical book to follow along in while listening to the audiobook I will using a coloring app or play a game on my phone. Those two things are pretty mindless and makes it to where I can listen to audiobooks while doing something else. I can’t just listen to an audiobook without doing something but I can’t listen to an audiobook while doing something that requires a lot of concentration either.

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  24. Ohmygosh *yes* to your first point especially about escaping from romance shame! I used to be so ashamed in school/college and always tried to hide the fact that I read romance and I’m so glad I shed that shame away. This genre is amazing!

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  25. We have a lot of similar changes in our reading Dini. I began my blog because of ARCs, then discovered Netgalley and that amped it up a lot. Audiobooks, and DNFs also became part of my reading life. Great list.

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