Top Ten Tuesday – How My Reading Habits Have Changed

Hello my reader friends. Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s topic is How My Reading Habits Have Changed Over Time. I wasn’t sure how much time I wanted to go with at first. Honestly, it seems like my reading habits are constantly changing. So I decided to just look at the past 1-2 years to see what kind of changes I’ve noticed. Here we go!

How My Reading Habits Have Changed

1. Books Read Per Year – this has declined the past couple of years. At first, it wasn’t on purpose. I just had a lot of life stuff. It bothered me in the beginning, but now I see it differently. It’s ok if I don’t read all the books (I know, I know, gasp!). The thing is – there are WAY too many books I want to read. Like every one that’s published lol. But there just isn’t feasibly enough time, and I’ve learned to accept that. To slow down and concentrate on just enjoying the books I can read. Life is busy right now – it’s my season of life. 🙂
2. ARCS – this has probably changed the most. I used to sign up for every book tour, every author launch team, and scour Netgalley for what was available weekly. It was a lot. ALOT. I couldn’t keep up honestly. I mean, I made the time, but it was hard. And I know that sounds weird because it’s reading, but it’s true. At that point it was more a job than a hobby. And it took the fun out of reading. So I have cut WAY back. There are certain authors I will continue to support consistently, but I have become choosy about when and making sure to look at my calendar. As tempting as it is to push that apply button, I’ve learned to ignore it for the sake of my own sanity.
3. Amish Fiction – Years ago I couldn’t read enough Amish Fiction. I just devoured them all. Then, well, they got a little stale for me I guess. I cannot even tell you the last time I read an Amish novel. Maybe one or two a year and that’s it. It’s not that I don’t like them anymore, because I do enjoy them. It’s just that I’ve expanded my reading horizons and just haven’t been in the mood for them. (Hi, my name is Jessica and I’m a mood reader)
4. Genres Read – Like I basically just mentioned, I have really expanded my reading horizons over the past two years. I have read way more YA – Fantasy in particular – novels then I ever thought I would. And now I find myself almost craving them. But I’ve also read more Historical Fiction than I ever had the past couple of years, and the Contemporary Romances have kind of slowed down. They haven’t disappeared, I just read other genres more. I honestly love this change. It satisfies my mood reading lol.
5. When I Read – I used to read essentially every moment I could. Morning, noon and night. Now I find that other things take up my time, and my reading time is limited (hence the reading less per year!). There’s nothing wrong with this. I’ve been working, hanging with my hubby, doing outside work, whatever. I really want to get into the habit of carving out reading time right before bed. It’s better on the eyes than scrolling, which is what I basically do now. It’s a work in progress (I’d love any tips you have to keep that going!).
6. Reviewing – I used to review every single book I read whether it was a requirement or not. I don’t do that anymore (I know, another gasp). I will give it stars on Goodreads, but I don’t always write something. Why? Well, sometimes I just want to enjoy the fact that I read the book and not try to think of how to put my reading experience into words. I only do this for books that I have purchased, and typically it’s only a couple times a year. It kind of brings the joy back into reading as silly as that sounds. Like I’m reading because I want to, not because I have to.
7. What Books I Read – this year especially I have concentrated on reading more books from my TBR. We all have a TBR a mile long. Maybe even ten miles! I tend to only concentrate on new releases, and in the beginning of the year I decided to join the 24 in 24 challenge. Now granted I’m not doing that great in it. I’ve only read nine. But it was nice to read the books that I did. It was a reminder that you don’t have to only read current releases. Go back to the ones you never got around to!
8. Allowing my mood to dictate my read – One of the perks of signing up less to review books is that I have the freedom to choose what I read. I can ask myself what I’m truly in the mood for, and go in that direction. I haven’t been able to do that in years, and I have to admit that it is rather refreshing.
9. Bookly App – My daughter came across this app and I have to say that I absolutely love it! I have been tracking all my reading times, and I can look at how many days I read that month, and how many minutes. Makes it easier for me to complete the next thing……
10. Book Journal – My daughter and I decided in the beginning of the year we wanted to keep a book journal. We decided to make this year the test year. We have blank journals, and have just been experimenting with what we want to track, how we want to track it, and all that fun stuff. I have LOVED this so much! It’s a hot mess – not like the professional ones we see on Instagram. But it’s ok. It’s mine ya know? And the goal is to enjoy, not compare 🙂

So what about you? How have your reading habits changed?