Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This week’s topic is Changes in Reading Habits. This is a good personal one for me because my habits have actually changed a lot in the past few years, and sometimes it’s hard not to default back to them. I attribute a lot of these changes to joining GoodReads a few years ago- which I do think, when taken advantage of, can help people reach their reading goals.
Trying New Authors – This is probably the biggest change for me in the past five years or so. I used to find an author I really loved and just read everything they’d write until I was forced to find a new author. While my reading stats are currently out of date- at last count 69% of the authors I’ve read this year have been new to me. (In 2018 it was 65% new-to-me, and in 2017 it was 63% new-to-me, in 2016 I think this number would have ben 15-25%).
Reading more women – For some inexplicable reason I have a tendency to read more male authors. It isn’t something I’ve done on purpose and I don’t even think I realized I was doing it until I started tracking my reading stats. At my last count I was at 45% women, 52% men, and 3% non-binary. This is up from 39% women and 61% men in 2017.
Listening to audiobooks – I’m not a good listener. It’s just not one of my skills. I finally started listening to audio books in 2018 and that accounted for 10% of my reading. This year my tally is only 3%, but I also haven’t counted a lot of the short stories I’ve listened to from Amazon (or the book I’m currently listening to: The Strain!).
Reading Graphic Novels – For a long time, I sort of detested the idea of reading Graphic Novels. It just doesn’t feel like reading to me. Like it kind of defeated the purpose? I still don’t read very many, but the ones I do pick up I love!
I DNF – Okay- so before GoodReads I DNF’d quite often. But not really by choice? Typically I’d lose interest and just set the book down one day and not pick it back up again. This year I decided to choose to DNF because I’m not having the greatest reading year and I’m tired of slogging it through books I don’t like.
So those are the five big ones. Habits I’m still working on: seeking out marginalized and #ownvoices authors, as well as to stop requesting so many ARCs. I prefer to be able to mood read- and there’s nothing stopping me from picking up new books at the library if I really can’t wait.
Which of your reading habits have changed over time?
I definitely read more women authors, and I think that’s because more women are being published these days. (And I think you can credit the explosion of YA for that) I’d love to make audio books a new goal for next year, since I have yet to listen to one!☺️
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Yes- YA publishing is very good about making women’s voices heard! If you are looking for a place to start with audio books, amazon Prime members are able to download collections of short stories each month and the audio is free! It’s good prep for a full audiobook and the stories and narrators are both great. I can send you the link if you want, just let me know!
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It’s cool that you’re reading more women and non binary authors these days.
My TTT.
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I’m trying! I get a little more in there every year. I can’t tell if that’s just the ratio of published men versus published women in the genres I read in, or if I really just have a tendency to dump male authors on my shelves.
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Nice list! I’m 100% with you on the DNF – it was #1 on my list. I’ve also started tracking my reading diversity, and have been decently successful at branching out compared to past years. (I’m currently at 56% female authors, 39% male, and 5% non-binary or multiple authors.)
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I feel like I’m better at reading diversity than I actually am, whether it’s the genre or the author, but I’m trying to be more conscious of it. I do better when I have less ARCs and more freedom to choose!
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I feel like I’m doing better at it than I am, too. I think part of that is because I’m reading two very long series by white authors (Pratchett’s Discworld and McGuire’s October Daye series). Between the two of them, they have dragged my white American or British reading count way up. 😉 But being aware of it is the first step! And the freedom to choose is huge. I think that’s a big part of why it took me so long to notice the lack: I majored in English at university, so I spent 16 years of my life (or so) reading the books other people picked for me.
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Yup- which is a whole other issue that makes me crazy. I don’t want to say there’s no place for classics, but it’s really not helping publishing today when the books that are constantly taught over and over again are overwhelmingly white men.
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Indeed. There is a place for classics, and it’s hard for me to say “oh, leave this one out.” But there are modern classics that should be taught, too. And imagine how many more students could end up enjoying reading if they saw themselves in the stories? That’s huge and not something that is considered often enough I feel. (Though we are getting better. It’s just a slower process than I like.)
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I agree. It’s too slow. And that kids might be more inclined to read if they had stories they could relate to or at least saw themselves in.
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I’m totally with you on reading new authors! 🙂 I don’t track the gender of authors I read, but I do DNF books and try not to feel guilty about it 😉
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I think I struggle with the gender thing because a lot of my favorites are men- so if I took out authors I’ve read before I’d be even.
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Ooh I definitely relate to trying new authors and branching out in to graphic novels (Nimona was SO GOOD ❤ ). I have to admit that I was quite apprehensive to try many new authors at the beginning of this year. I know that reading my favs will most likely be a positive experience but it takes some motivation to branch out a bit more to newer authors. Great post, Sarah! Jen
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It really does! My favorites are my comfort zone and it’s so easy to get caught up reading only their stuff. Especially since a lot of my favorites are older and have 20+ books out in the world to be read.
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I’m the same with loving longer series. Paranormal romance series are my ultimate fav reads ❤
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ME TOOOO!! I used to feel as if I will never be able to love anyone else’s writing again! I JUST USED TO READ AND RE-READ THEIR WORKS OVER AND OVER AND OVER! UGH…it was annoying and while that habit still manifests itself time and time again, still I have become more open minded now! THANK GOD! 🤣🤣
I dont listen to audiobooks. For some reason it feels like they’ll be less magical? I dont know I just…they just don’t entice me that much. But maybe I should give them a try now? 😕🤔
OH MY GOD SAMMEEEE!! I detest the idea of graphic novels tooo!! Well USED TO DETEST until I read Neil Gaiman’s The Sleeper and the Spindle! Yeah…now I am like BRING EM ALL! 🤣🤣😍
Oh my god I LOVE THIS POST SOO SOOO MUCH, Sarah! 😍😍❤️❤️ SOO FUCKING RELATABLE!! ahhhhhh!! ❤️❤️💕😘😘
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Haha! You should definitely try audiobooks! Just be choosy about them and make sure you listen to a sample and find one that works.
Station Eleven had a pretty well done audiobook. I’ve also heard good things about A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. I’m trying to think of others you might like, but I listen to a lot of horror… lol
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I’m trying to make an effort to DNF books. I’m doing better, but I still have a ways to go. I’m also getting better at being more selective about which ARCs I read. Great post!
Here’s my TTT for this week. 🙂
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I honestly thought I was going to be the only one with the ARC issue. It really is so much fun when you get approved for something shiny and new, but actually reading all those books is overwhelming to me.
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Yes! And it’s just so hard to say no to books. 🙂
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That trying new authors thing resonated with me. I used to do that, too. I still kind of binge when I find a new author I love, but not anything like I did before.
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Binge is a good word for it. Now it seems like I barely finish any of the trilogies I start.
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I’m a mood reader as well. I’ve never tracked my male vs. female vs. non-binary authors or my percentage of new to me authors, but now I’m curious! I also started reading a few graphic novels this year and was surprised how much I enjoyed them!
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I was surprised by that too! I always thought they were pretty superheroes, Batman and Spider-Man stuff, but there’s something out there for everyone.
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Setting a goodreads challenge has helped me a lot! I went from reading about 25 books a year up to 50 and now I’m nearly at 200 after several years.
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200?! Holy cow I wish I could read 200/year. I consistently seem to read about 100 books. This year will be a little less because it’s counted a handful of short stories I marked read. But I agree – I find it helpful just to stay on track!
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Well, about twenty or so are manga / graphic novels. Doing 200 is probably my limit, that’s with me pushing myself and a huge push in December usually, reading like the wind to get the last 20+ books in.
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Haha- you say the 20 manga/graphic novels like that’s some huge chunk of your reading. Even if it was 180 books that’s still a lot of books!
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Yeah….lol. Well, also if it weren’t for audiobooks and being able to listen to a good chunk of them while working then I probably would be less than 100 books, but those audiobooks really do help too. 🙂
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Oh yeah- being able to listen at work would make a huge difference for me.
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So interesting seeing how we each have varied in our reading habits through the years! I am glad you’ve been exploring new authors and have made it a point to read more works by women. I used to do the same thing. I, too, gravitated towards a far bigger amount of novels by male authors for some reason! Also, I’m glad you’ve started to DNF books. I’ve been trying to be more conscious and picky about what I read/devote my time too–I have that habit of being unable to quit something and it’s finally getting to the point where I’m admitting defeat/that something just isn’t my cup of tea, now.
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It’s better not to waste your time! But I completely understand the urge to finish stuff. It got to a point where I would just push through and hate read something and I just thought- why am I doing this to myself? So I can leave a scathing review that no one wants to read? Silly! It does feel weird to start a book and not know how it ends though.
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