Over the past year my reading habits have been changing. I’ve been changing what books I gravitate towards, where I go to first in bookstores and so much more. I thought I would talk through my thoughts on my changing reading habit in a little blog post. Here it is.
I have gravitated towards YA books since I was 13. I found such comfort in their pages, figuring out who I was and what was going on in the world. I remember being given a copy of Emma by Jane Austen, by a librarian who told me I shouldn’t be reading YA as they weren’t real books. So, when I could not get into it or connect with the writing I put it down and it gave me the idea that all fiction books would be like that. Also, that YA was not real reading.
Now, I know that that is not the case. But, that librarian instilled in me that YA was stupid and because I didn’t like Emma I was not a real reader. After that I didn’t read books until I left high school.
In college, I started picking up YA again as my friends were discussing the most popular books at the time. Then, over the period of college, they lost interest in reading and my love for reading grew a lot. I was reading books at any spare minute I could and adored what I was reading.
I started my blog and went from reading 10 books a year to over 100 books a year. YA books opened my eyes to so much and helped to diversify my reading. I still adore YA books now at the age of 24.
I do not think that librarian knew the effect her comment would have on me. So, I now make a point in my job, working in a library, of ensuring we have a large amount of diverse YA books and do not want to make anyone feel stupid about what they are currently reading.
It wasn’t until this time last year that my reading habits began to change. In March last year, you would mostly always find me reading a young adult book and being very content in doing so. I’d very rarely pick up a general fiction book and the young adult section of a bookstore was where I visited first.
Now, I am reading a mix between young adult fiction and general fiction. I seem to be gravitating more towards general fiction books and actually head to the fiction section of the bookstore first.
I’m not too sure why I’ve had this change in reading habits but I am throughly enjoying it. It has really opened up my reading taste and I now feel so much more open to giving a book I wouldn’t usually gravitate towards a read.
I was having a look back on the books I read last year to see if there was anything obvious to show my reading habits changing. It seemed to happen after I read my first Taylor Jenkins Reid book and I can completely understand why. Going into Malibu Rising I was sceptical. I thought I was really going to dislike the book. That librarian’s comment was still in the back of my mind, that if I did not enjoy it I was not a real reader. When, in actual fact I absolutely loved Malibu Rising. In fact, it blew me away and made me so excited to read more books like it. From then on I seemed to mix up the genre of books I was reading a lot more.
I was open to giving a book a go and if I was not a huge fan it was not a big deal. I’d pick my next book and move on. I’m loving reading a mixture of genres. My current read is a YA book and my next read is going to be a general fiction book. I’m incredibly happy with my reading habits now and although my TBR is now growing at double the pace, I am so excited to read more.
I’m enjoying reading a lot at the moment. I feel the book community has helped this. I know some people are wary of it but the BookTok community is one of the places that has inspired me. It has shown me young adults who are happy to read what they want and it makes me incredibly happy to see them enjoying reading. Not only that but other people my age reading what they want, even if it isn’t popular. I love the book community and I love being a part of it.
I guess what I am trying to say is read what you want, when you want! Our reading habits change. It could happen gradually over time, or one book could change it for you. Do not ever feel stupid for reading what you read. If it makes you happy, that is what matters the most.
I love reading. I adore YA and still find that comfort in the pages that I did at 13 but I now find that comfort in general fiction as well and it is amazing.
A little rambling post for you there but I loved writing it. Have your reading habits changed at all? Let me know in the comments below!
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