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| I’m linking back to Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts At Midnight. They host the 2015 Discussion Challenge. |
Stop the Hype Train—I Want to Get Off!
Lately I’ve been
thinking about how my reading has changed since I started blogging. Before I
got involved with the bookish community, I used to walk into Barnes & Nobel
without a shopping list. I would just wander the aisles until I found something
that interested me. As a result, I used to read a lot of obscure, older books
that very few people had heard of.
Now, I rarely go
to a bookstore without a shopping list. Reading blogs and watching BookTube has
given me a massive TBR list. This definitely isn’t a bad thing because it means
that there’s always a new book that I’m excited about reading, but it’s
different from how I used to choose my books. I’m relying on other bloggers to
tell me about books rather than discovering them on my own in a bookstore.
Since I now get
so many book recommendations from bloggers, I feel like I’ve been reading more
hyped new releases than I used to. I’ve never read a book just because of the
hype, but when everybody is talking about something, it makes me curious.
Reading hyped new releases isn’t a bad thing, but most of the books that I used
to read were several years (or decades) old. I know for a fact that there are
some amazing older books in the world. I just need to find them.
Last time I went
to Barnes & Noble, I made sure to pick out some older books that I had
never heard of before. One book I discovered was The House of the Scorpion. This book was originally published in
2002. I have never seen it mentioned on a blog. I ended up liking it so much
that I bought the sequel, and I rarely read sequels or series. Wandering the
shelves and finding that book by myself was somehow more rewarding than seeing
it on a blog and adding it to my shopping list.
Next year, I
want to concentrate on finding and reviewing more under-hyped books. However,
I’ve noticed that obscure books aren’t really good for blogs. My reviews of
hyped new releases get way, way, way more pageviews than my reviews of
little-known books. But, I think trading pageviews for the fun of discovering
obscure books on my own is a trade that I’m willing to make.
Hopefully I’ll
find a way to balance my reading list so that there’s more room for old books.
Maybe I’ll come across a new favorite.
How do you find
books to read? Has your reading changed since you started blogging? Do you
review little-known books on your blog? Do you mostly read older books or new
releases?
My reading and ways of finding books had changed so much since blogging. I pretty much read kindle books only so I would check listed and sales on Amazon and try to find whatever looked good or interesting. Note like you said I have a giant list from other bloggers recs. I like the idea of trying to find older books next year.
ReplyDeleteI love my giant book list from other bloggers, but the list also feels a bit lazy. I want to find some books on my own next year.
DeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
My reading habits have similarly changed since I started book blogging, and I'm not sure it's for the better! Also, I'm much more likely to read a review post if I haven't already seen the book in my blog feed half a dozen times that month -- so go for it! Read what you want to, not what everyone else wants you to. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope other people are also willing to click on reviews of older books. I know I love seeing reviews of books I’ve never heard of before.
DeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I can honestly say that book blogging has impacted my reading habits for the better! What you're talking about, wandering around looking for something to read, was really one of the more stressful events of my life before my TBR list reached its current level. I have definitely noticed the same thing with reviews on my blog though! Popular new releases have so many more comments than even books that were popular a year ago! Good luck with next year's reading list!
ReplyDeleteTracy @ Cornerfolds
Wandering around bookstores was stressful for me too, but now that I don’t do it anymore, I miss it. I must be crazy to miss something that caused stress.
DeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I like reading backlist books much better than hyped ones. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI saw the same thing happen with me. Before I made a Goodreads account, I would go to the library and check out various books I thought looked interesting. Now I have a huge list of books I want to read and I no longer spontaneously check out books or buy books (especially not without checking it's goodreads rating first). I have been reading a lot more 'older' books lately, though. There's a used book sale every first Saturday in my town. All books are 3 for $1, so I let myself be spontaneous and pick up whatever looks interesting! I love new releases, but I love finding these books. I know what you mean by hyped up reviews getting more pageviews, because those are the ones that people have heard. I've probably been guilty of clicking on those reviews! But there are some hyped books that I just get tired of hearing about. I notice that there's rows and rows of reviews on the same books all the time, mostly because bloggers get ARCs and they post their reviews at the same time. So, I actually sometimes like seeing reviews that are for books that are a little bit older. I review whatever I want to leave my thoughts on, I like recording how I felt about that book, whether new or just a bit older. Anyway, sorry for blabbing away. I like your idea on reading the older, lesser-known books! Those books shouldn't be ignored :)
ReplyDeleteExactly! I love new releases, but I don’t want to ignore older books. There are some good older books out there.
DeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
It has been exactly the same for me. In one way it's good because I have discovered some awesome books I might not have read otherwise through blogging, and it's great when you review a popular book because so many people want to discuss it with you (and I do love to talk books!). However, I do sometimes miss reading all those obscure, random books I've just picked up on a whim!
ReplyDeleteI do like talking about new books with people, but hopefully there will be some people willing to discuss older books.
DeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I can definitely say the way I discover books is far different now that I'm blogging but I still pick up random reads. But I do that in the library mostly. Blogging definitely changes things!
ReplyDeleteIt’s great that you still pick up random reads. I’m trying to find a balance between my TBR list and books I randomly discover.
DeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
Sometimes you just have to make decisions for your own good rather than the good of your blog - I applaud that decision! I agree that I find 99% of my books through hype. In some ways it's been wonderful because I've found some amazing books, but I definitely see your point about those underrated books you might miss out on!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Exactly! I don’t want to miss out on something because I’m only paying attention to hyped books.
DeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I have only been blogging for 6 weeks, but I already see changes in my reading.
ReplyDeleteThis past year, I have been doing the popsugar challenge, which greatly expanded my reading selection. Books outside of this challenge were picked by familiar authors, netgalley, or good old fashion browsing.
Now? I am reading A LOT more well-known/popular books. It's not bad though - I used to avoid reading bestsellers until long after they are done.
The only thing that bums me out with book blogging is that I haven't found many murder mystery lovers (yet).