How Being A Book Blogger Has Changed My Reading?

Hey everyone!!

It is day 6 *whoop whoop*!!! Are you feeling festive yet??

I have been a book blogger for one full year now (where has the time gone?? SERIOUSLY?!?!) and I thought I would discuss how I think it has affected me as a reader!!

READ MORE BOOKS

The year I was a book blogger was also the year I read the most books EVER in one year and I don’t know if the two are directly linked but I think it could be whether it is from being involved in the book community and seeing everyone reading that makes me inspired to read more. Or just generally being more excited about books but I have certainly made more time for reading which is great.

This was taken in October so I’ve read even more since then but see a clear different in the amount read (and worryingly the amount spent on books too)

TRIED NEW GENRES

I was very stuck in my genre at the start mostly reading YA fantasy such as Sarah J Maas, Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir, basically most of the talked about books on BookTube as that was where I got most my recommendations from but this year I ventured outside my comfort zone *dramatic gasp* and I tried contemporary, murder mystery, virtual reality, superhero, short story collections and inspirational. As well as trying different age groups (adult, new adult and middle grade) so I have explored new things.

                                   

TRIED NEW FORMATS

After hearing so much about audiobooks over book twitter and discovering that you can get them from you library *seriously mind blown, libraries are incredible*. I decided to venture out and try them meaning I got to see the glorious-ness that they are. I do have to concentrate on them but it is a great way to experience new stories without having to physically read it and I loved so many of them. I also got to try a few eBooks which I had only done for novellas before and it isn’t my favourite format as I find them hard to focus on but still good to try them.

                                 

MORE HYPED BOOKS

Being in the book community means hearing about hyped books again, again and well again. They are everywhere and mostly have rave reviews which means I couldn’t resist so I had to read them myself. Some of the hyped books I have read this year were The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Red White & Royal Blue, The Poppy War and I actually enjoyed them all. I do like to read hyped books as there are always plenty of people to scream about them too after reading them.

                             

READING NEW RELEASES

This year I have read more new releases than ever because I was finally off my book buying ban but book blogging definitely affected this as when people were talking about new releases I just couldn’t resist and had to buy them (yes my purse is crying) but taking away the money problems, I have loved it. It is exciting to get involved with a new book release and help the author. It is also exciting to talk about it whilst everyone is buzzing, it is a whole experience and I am so glad I got to be a part of it.

                                   

INCREASED DIVERSITY IN MY READING

The book community is a fabulous place full of amazing people who promote so many wonderfully diverse books and I think it changed my mind to make a conscious effort to read more diverse books and I have heard about so many different books that I’ve read and loved through them. Also I have even more diverse books that I want to check out because of the community talking about them so I’m so thankful for that.

           

MORE THOUGHTFUL AND CRITICAL WHILST READING

As a book blogger I decided I wanted to write reviews for some of the books I had read which in turn has made me view books slightly differently when reading. I am more likely to take a step back and see how this makes me feel and write my favourite quotes. I will think about the plot and how it was executed and the character development throughout the story. I am doing something beyond reading and it had made me more thoughtful and analytical when reading.

MORE EXCITED ABOUT MORE BOOKS

I certainly feel more passionate about books since being a book blogger. I guess before I was a blogger I read something then those feelings (and let’s be honest, emotional damage) has nowhere to go but now I get to talk about books with so many amazing people and it just strengths my love of books to a greater extent when you get to share it with others.

MY TBR HAS INCREASED BY A MILLION

Ok so this one pretty much explains itself but you are all destroying my TBR, it is increasing at a rate that I can’t keep up with so I now have lots and lots of books to read and they all sound so amazing. But yeah my TBR is more like TB-ARRGGHH!! Seriously.

               

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Do you think being a book blogger has affected your reading? How do you think it had affected your reading?

Do you like to try different genres? Do you find being in the book community means your TBR is enormous?