It’s time for another discussion post! I’ve seen a lot of people talking about how book blogging and BookTube have changed their reading habits. I think that I’m a completely different reader than I was at the beginning of the year, when I started this channel. So here are the ways that book blogging have changed the way I read!
I’m reading more new releases
For whatever reason, I just wasn’t in tune with new books that were coming out. I had been reading a ton of adult fantasy, which of course has a reputation for long books in long series, and was more interested in books that had established themselves as ‘good’ or ‘popular’ with readers.
Now, I’m not only reading some things before they come out, I’m excited to discover new books and authors. The anticipation that comes before a book is released is just so fun!
I’m actually writing reviews
Confession time: I never wrote reviews before I started a blog. I’d leave my star rating on Goodreads…and that’s it. Honestly, I was just lazy. I think we all know that writing reviews can be difficult and time consuming — I was just never interested in reviewing (despite my author sister giving me disappointed looks).
Now I review almost every single book I read. I feel like I have a lot of room for improvement, but I am getting better and better at it (I hope)!
I’m reading books I would have never tried before
So I’ve told the story before of how I never really touched young adult books before this year. I had read a few that I liked (The Lie Tree) and a few that I really disliked, but never got into them. Then I read Rebel of the Sands, and a whole world of fiction was opened to me.
Do I still struggle with some aspect of YA? Yep. Am I super critical of most of the romances? Absolutely. But I feel like I’m not only learning about the lives of people different from myself, but I’m also swimming in a delightful sea of books by female writers. The number of diverse books I’m reading has absolutely skyrocketed.
I’m buying a lot more books!
So I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not, but I’m buying SO many books! I’ve always been a huge fan of buying books, but I feel like I have really ramped that up! I keep hearing about all these fabulous new titles and older favourites and I need them all!
I’ve made friends!
When I moved to the UK two years ago, I left a lot of wonderful people behind. It has been a struggle to not be as close to my amazing friends, and until very recently, I hadn’t made very many new friends. However, I’ve now got a wonderful community of book bloggers — you guys! It has been so amazing getting to know so many wonderful people here and on Twitter. For the first time in awhile, I feel really comfortable in my social situation. So thank you all for being so kind and welcoming.
I Should Read That 
Definitely with you on the reviewing and buying. I barely used goodreads before and now I’m set adrift if I can’t access my books list!
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Yeah! I’m definitely using Goodreads much more now. I actually follow authors and reviewers now too!
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Me too! It’s exciting when you see people who’ve added the same things as you to shelves and things. I always seem to be reading or about to read the same things as Vic James for some reason…
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Love this post! The books I read have defo changed since I became more active on here. ❤
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It’s crazy to look back and see how much has changed!
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It is. I also have cut back on arcs as I was just getting over-run and I wasn’t having the time to read books sat on my tbr…..😁
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I need to cut back on ARCs too. I was practically snowed in with packages last week. It’s a great feeling but I can’t read that fast!! Oops.
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I decided it was the best thing to do as I was starting to get in a panic and I want to enjoy reading all these lovely pretties!! 😁
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This is a fun post! I agree with all of this! I think the biggest thing that has changed since I started blogging is that I now have a better idea of what books I will like and which ones I won’t!
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That’s a good point — I completely agree! I feel like I get a lot less flustered when people ask me what kind of books I like reading 😀
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I relate to all of these! I especially love how the book community makes me more social than I was before as well…I never talked to people on the internet before this, and I never thought I’d make such good friends when I started my blog!
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Same here! Now I’m doing things like using Twitter! There are so many wonderful people out there who also love books — it has been such a great way to connect with like minded people!
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Definitely with you on the new releases and the book buying. Have you found that there’s a slight amount of pressure when you look at the books that you’d said you’d read on the blog and didn’t have time to look at them just yet? I definitely feel that way
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Yes! I definitely feel that pressure. I used to never be worried about hitting reading goals or reading things in a timely way. Now I start sweating when I think about my TBR pile.
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Brilliant discussion post, and I agree with so much of what you said, particularly that previously I’d only read books I’d heard of and we’re “established, as you say.
Also
FRIEND *hug* XD
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FRIEND!!! You were definitely one of the people I thought of when I wrote that bit 😀
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Aaw thank you!! 😍😍😍
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RIP my bookshelf for the amount of books I buy now, lol. Super RIP my TBR list.
Definitely reading way more new releases, and way more books I wouldn’t have picked up otherwise, or maybe wouldn’t have known about.
And yeah, writing more reviews rather than just rating. Making a point of sharing those reviews across platforms and retailers too. Trying to, anyway.
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Great post. I️ started the year just trying to keep count of the number of books I read and make a comment or two on fb and Twitter with a pic of cover. That turned into following authors and bloggers and I found myself buying more new releases and my TBR pile getting larger. Now I just started a blog too.
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I was that lazy reader too. I never wrote reviews and just left a star rating on goodreads. I don’t review every book I read but I do review most! I’m proud of myself for that bc reviewing can definitely be time consuming.
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I’m the same — I review almost every book but not every single one. You’re right — reviewing is shockingly time consuming! I would never have guessed it before starting out here.
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Love this post! I am reading a lot more Indie books and books I probably would not have picked up before. I have made many new friends and I have gone from only reading 1 book at a time to reading multiple at any given time. Book blogging really does make a difference!
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I need to read more indie books — I think that’s the next stage for me in blogging!
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I am enjoying it. I started out wanting to read all the popular YA books and try to get ARC’s to promote for the big stuff, but I began to realize that my calling was for promoting Indie, and lesser known authors. 🙂
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This is such a good post! It definitely made me read books out of my comfort zone, and I discovered that I really like historical mysteries (I didn’t really read historical stuff before)
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