Bookending Winter: How It Started vs. How It’s Going

Host: Danielle @ PoetryBooksYA (Blog) (Post)

Prompt: Think about when you first picked up a book. How did it start and how has your reading changed since then? 

HAHAHA, so so much. Wow, this will be such a fun post.

Well, I’ve always been reading. Like there’s never really been a moment where I don’t remember having a book near me. Apparently I started reading at an earlier date than most of my peers and I also read at a different level than them. And then I promptly tried to read everything I could touch and now I can barely finish a book… 😅😅

I used to read (probably) in every genre – even the ones I didn’t really like? Mostly because people said “Oh, if you’re really a reader, you’ll read this and that” – I’m quite positive that’s a big reason why I’m so picky with my historical fiction nowadays. Like I tried to read through all of Charles Dickens at a young age – which resulted in me not remembering any of his books or what happens 😅

Now I read what I want to! Which is just mostly fantasy and sci-fi. Drizzled with a bit of contemporary/contemporary romance to taste. And then add good old paranormal like it’s garlic (i.e. a good amount 😄).

I also just used to read like… absolutely any book, which definitely meant reaching for those ones people said I shouldn’t read (*cough cough – His Dark Materials and J.R. Ward books). Look! In my defense, if you tell a reader they can’t read that book for whatever reason – their desire to read that book will absolutely multiply!

Now, well, I’m an adult so it doesn’t really matter the ‘age group/rating’ of the book 😄 Whenever I have kids I’ll… probably let them read (mostly) what they want to. And I’ll have to get them started early with horror movies 😂

Now let’s talk about the rate which I used to finish books 😭😭 I know a lot of other bloggers like to cry talk about how they don’t read like they used to when they were younger. I’m here to add all my tears to that because I finished House of Hades in a few hours in high school?? In primary school (like Grade 6 or so) I started Brisingr (Christopher Paolini) on a Monday (well, I’m saying on a Monday. I have no idea if it actually was so) and I brought another book to school Wednesday, prompting my classmates to ask where the other book was. Like, I finished? When Inheritance came out I also speedily read it. I tried doing that a few years ago with The Name of the Wind but uh, that took about 2 or something months for me to finish?

And now I guess finishing a book takes me anymore from a day to a couple of months? I could be really into the book and really liking it and it could still take me 2 months to finish! Like I know I love books a lot, it’s just hard to finish books sometime? It’s definitely my concentration – like I know it’s awful and somehow I can sit and watch multiple episodes of a show – no problem – but if I tell my brain “right, we’re going to sit down and read at least like three chapters”, it just like shuts down because that’s too much work for it. 😥

I guess this is is mostly a testament to like, the arcs I receive, plus I now have access to a good e-library – and most certainly, the bloggers I follow and their passion and dedication for championing diverse reads – I’m definitely more a diverse reader now than I was as a teen.

I think it’s also due to there being more diverse titles being published. Not that I’m saying that like there weren’t diverse reads being published in the past. Just that now there seems to be more diverse reads and readers are actively clamouring for diversity. Which we should!

I think my first sort of diverse series was The Mortal Instruments 😅😅 I know! We’ve come so far!

I used to be a huge, staunch supporter of only physical books may pass these eyes because I was a bit of an elitest (read also rude) reader who didn’t realise that all the other ways of reading are PERFECTLY VALID – and sometimes even… preferred. Like being able to wash dishes and listen to a book at the same time? Amazing. You know that super thick fantasy book you can’t pick up because the font is super super tiny and your eyes are not at all good? Look if you can get an ebook of it! They’re usually cheaper, super portable, AND you can size up the font until however large YOU want to be!

Do you like reading about reading habits? Did you like reading mine? What was your favourite little story from me? Tell me how some of your reading habits have changed over these years? Come tell me down below!