Books, Blogging & Back in the Day

Books, Blogging & Back in the Day

• Oct 9, 2014

I started blogging at the very end of 2011, and I sometimes can't believe that I've been doing this for almost three years. I had several blogs prior to creating So Obsessed With, but I knew things were going to be different when I joined the book community. For the first time, I was talking about something I was passionate about - and finding other people who felt the same way.

When I was cataloging my books recently (with this awesome tool!), it was impossible for me to ignore how blogging has impacted my reading habits. From price tags left on older books to owning multiple copies of the same book, reading has become a bigger part of my life than I ever would have imagined. For better or for worse, here are some of those changes!

Blogging changed how I _____________.

DISCOVER books.

Prior to blogging, I:

found books by browsing in the store.

I think book discovery is one of the areas that has been most impacted by blogging. When I wanted to find something to read, I used to just browse around the bookstore. I would pull books off the shelf, read the summary and then sit down with a stack. I'd read a chapter or two and decide what I wanted to buy. I didn't look at ratings online or ask for recommendations. If it sounded good, I bought it.

Obviously, I wasn't reading review books. Now, I frequently discover new books or new-to-me authors through NetGalley or by browsing a publisher's catalog on Edelweiss. This is probably the one thing that I feel the most divided on! I love that I'm finding more books that I ever did pre-blogging, but I don't like that my reading has shifted to new releases and review copies. I want to focus more from the backlist and my TBR!

paid no attention to a book's publisher.

Let's be honest, I don't even think I could name a single publisher before I started blogging. Forget about knowing that a publisher had different imprints... or even being able to identify which publishers I liked the most. I now track all of that information in a spreadsheet, and I'm actually glad that blogging made me more aware of this aspect of reading. While it doesn't inform my reading choices, it does help me when I'm on the fence!

didn't read from as many sections of the bookstore.

I am now able to find way more books than I ever did just browsing in the store. I mean, think about it: how often do I go to the store looking for something that I'm then unable to find? ALL THE TIME. While I miss the thrill of randomly picking a book and often wish I didn't rely so much on ratings, I'm so thankful that blogging has opened me up my reading horizons! I didn't realize how limited my reading choices used to be!

I have always been an eclectic reader, but I think that blogging has only made that more true. I used to pretty much avoid fantasy - and now it's one of my favorite genres! I didn't know that Young Adult existed as a category. My taste was still all over the place, but I didn't know that it was. And I wasn't able to identify what I gravitated toward, like character-driven stories, or able to put into words what I liked/disliked about a book.

PURCHASE books.

Prior to blogging, I:

had no idea when a book would release. 

Prior to blogging, I had no idea when a book was going to be released. In fact, I don't think I even knew that new books were released on Tuesdays. Honestly, I had never even pre-ordered a book! I don't think I even knew that was a thing. Now, of course, I pre-order books all the time.

I love this change in my reading habits! Although I hate knowing that I might have to wait another year for an anticipated book, I do love that I'm so much more aware of what I want to read and when it comes out. There's something really fun about counting down the days until a book releases or eagerly awaiting the delivery of a book you ordered months before.

just bought a book when I needed something to read.

We've reached one of the worst habits that I've acquired from blogging. Because I'm discovering more books, I've started buying them all the time! While I've always had some unread books, my concept of a TBR pile was totally different than it is now. Back then, I just bought a book when I needed something to read.

I didn't read nearly as much as I do now (though I still loved to read and frequently went to the bookstore)... and I definitely wasn't stockpiling books at the rate I am now. I would often asks for books for Christmas or my birthday, but they would almost always be read before the next holiday rolled around. Now? Not so much.

grabbed any copy - regardless of condition, cover, or format.

This is something that I noticed when I was cataloging my books. First, I realized that I frequently left price tag stickers on the back of my books. These days I remove those the second I get home. I don't want anything messing up those covers!

I also didn't pay much attention to the condition of a book when I bought it. If there were multiple copies at the store, I'd just grab whatever was on the top of the stack. Now I've turned into a crazy person - trying to find the book in the best condition and with the fewest flaws. And I definitely never inspected a book that I'd ordered online to see if I needed to return it for "damage."

I bought whatever format was available. I didn't seek out hardcovers (like I do now) or even realize that I could purchase e-books. In fact, I didn't even know that some books had a different cover for paperback versus hardcover - or even possibly an international edition. Heck, I don't think I realized that there were entirely different books being published around the world that I didn't have access to here in the US. I wasn't trying to match covers or be consistent with format or any of that nonsense that I worry about now... And I DEFINITELY didn't own multiple copies and formats of the same book (aside from Pride and Prejudice, of course).

INTERACT WITH books.

Prior to blogging, I:

wrote in books, bent the spine and folded down pages.

Another thing I noticed while going through my bookshelves? I used to interact with books more while I read them. I could write on the pages, highlight my favorite quotes, bend back the spine and fold down the pages. Now I try to keep my books practically pristine! I loved going through my older books and seeing what jumped out at me at that point in time.

Looking through the books that I marked in was like seeing a snapshot from the past. My reaction to the book was frozen at that moment in time - recorded for me to experience all over again years later. Why don't I do this more often for my favorites?!  Folded pages and bent spines showed how much I loved a book... It was like you could tell they belonged in my library permanently and that I'd frantically poured over those pages.

took longer to read a book.

The speed at which I'm able to read hasn't changed very much. I've always been a fast reader! But I used to spend more time with a book. I didn't hurry through, and I definitely wasn't thinking about what I was going to read next. Because my TBR was almost nonexistent, I savored what I was reading! The downside now is that I'm not always giving a book the attention it probably deserves. On the upside, I read WAY more than I did before I blogged. The number of books I read per year has skyrocketed. So, this feels like a win overall.

rarely talked about a book after I finished it.

When I loved a book, I'd sometimes tell my friends about it. But not that often! Only a few of my friends enjoyed reading... and even then it wasn't that cool to be too into books. While I didn't care too much about what was cool, I kept my book love mostly to myself!

And when I finished reading a book, that was it. I didn't mull it over, write about it, discuss it.  I read it and then moved on to the next book. This is something that I love about blogging. Joining the bookish community and being able to have fangirl-y conversations is one of my favorite things in the entire world! I had no idea that I could find people all around the world who would love books the way that I do AND become some of my best friends in real life, too.

How has blogging changed the way you read?
What do you miss about those pre-blogging days?
And what do you love about the way you read now?