TTT: Changes in My Reading Life

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  There is a new topic each week for bloggers to join in with their own top ten. If you’re looking for some new or different book blogs to read, hop on over to her site and check out some of the links.

When I saw this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic I was pretty confident I wouldn’t be able to come up with 10 things, but I knew I still wanted to participate.  Mostly because I feel as though my reading habits have changed a whole lot since I left my full time job many years ago. But it’s more than that, as you’ll see.

I read way more contemporary romance than in the past.  Even just 7 or so years ago, I almost never read contemporary romance.  I don’t remember the book or when I read said book, but I remember reading a contemporary romance many years ago and it just didn’t do it for me.  I realize now that it was most likely that my reading style didn’t mesh with the author’s writing style, or it was just not the author for me, or a list of other things it could have been.  Now, I primarily read contemporary romance.  I love that I can read really any genre while also getting my HEA (or, at the very least, HFN). I can read a mystery, comedy, drama, suspense, action, etc. while still getting my contemporary romance fix.

Most of my reading is done in daylight hours. Back in the days of young kids and a full-time stressful job, I rarely had time to read during the day. Most of my reading was done at bedtime by my book light (how I love the ease of use of e-readers with back lights!) or, on the rare occasion I wasn’t trying to squeak in some errands on my lunch hour, I’d sit in my car for my half hour break to get some reading time in. I’ll admit that even when I was no longer working, I still didn’t get a lot of daylight reading in until just the last few years.  After all, I still had a very active teenager in high school at that time and I kept busy with the different parent groups at his school on top of running him around and attending his events.  But now, 3 years after my youngest flew the coop, I find I get ample opportunity to curl up in a comfy chair and a cup of coffee or tea.

Usually, I write an actual review instead of only rating a book. And, to be honest, sometimes it tends to feel a bit much.  Yet every time I think I’ll skip writing a review I remember that I will find my own review useful in the future.  Whether it will help jog my memory for future books in a series or possibly help with a decision on a particular author I haven’t read a lot from, my reviews help me in my reading choices constantly.  I also love posting reviews.  Of course, the more I read the more reviews I have to write…and I tend to read a lot.  I still don’t see giving up writing reviews on all my reads any time soon.

Many years ago, before I there was such a thing as Goodreads, my mother-in-law gave me a reading journal.  I know I still have it somewhere. I loved that thing.  It was the first time I ever really sat down and kept track of the books I was reading.  I let that journal fall by the wayside when I got more active on Goodreads, but I still didn’t keep good track of all the books I read.  Since I started regularly blogging my book reviews, I keep really good records of the books I read.  Granted, that’s only been for a few years now.  But I love being able to look back and see how many books I read as well as the spurts I go in with the different genres and authors.

I have finally found the will power to DNF books! This is a huge deal for me.  I just have such a problem with “giving up” on a book.  I even have a problem with giving up on a series that takes a down turn.  I keep holding out hope.  Now, I’m not going to say I DNF every book I’m not enjoying.  I still struggle to really totally give up on a story.  But it is something I have done a few times in the last few years and that’s some sort of progress.

So there you have it.  Not a top ten, but a top five.  I think these are all big changes in the grand scheme of things and it makes me wonder if my reading habits will change so much in the next 5 or so years.