Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Thoughts and Daydreams #3: Changing Reading Tastes

Thoughts and Daydreams is a monthly feature hosted by yours truly and Jessica from Thoughts at One in the Morning. Every month, we'll discuss a reading- or writing-related topic.
~Check out the previous two Thoughts and Daydreams posts.~

Have you noticed your reading tastes changing over the years? It wasn't something I really thought about until a couple years ago, and then I looked back on my reading habits over the past decade or so and realized how much they'd evolved.

Before blogging, I read mostly contemporary and historical romance, light mysteries, and some adult paranormal. My go-to authors were Nora Roberts, Maddy Hunter, Heather Graham, Cecelia Ahern, and Janet Evanovich. I read some Young Adult here and there, but the selection at my library was seriously limited (since then my library has expanded and has an incredible YA selection). Plus I was kind of embarrassed to read much YA since a classmate basically shamed me for 'still reading books for kids' during an English class in high school. Later, of course, I realized that was bullshit and he was an asshole, but I digress.

After high school, I was active in some graphic design groups online, and a lot of the girls there were in their thirties, forties, and beyond, and were obsessed with different Young Adult series. I thought 'well if they're reading it, why shouldn't I?' I started with Harry Potter. Then Twilight. Then Hunger Games. My love for YA was rekindled, but it was a whole different world from the books I grew up with, like the Babysitter's Club and Sweet Valley High. 

When I started blogging in 2010, I was still reading mostly adult books with the occasional YA thrown in. As I became part of the book blogging community and learned about new authors and books, my tastes veered more toward contemporary YA. I traded wizards, vampires, and dystopian worlds for everyday characters navigating high school, life, and first love.

My tastes continued to change. A couple years ago when New Adult was becoming popular, I started worrying I was outgrowing YA. I only wanted to read about people in their twenties instead of their teens, people figuring out life after high school, finding jobs, going to college, having serious relationships and discovering their sexuality. I missed YA, but I couldn't seem to get back into it. Luckily that feeling of outgrowing YA passed, and now I've found a balance between YA and NA, even though lately it's been mostly YA - contemporary, historical, mysteries, paranormal, you name it. Before Hunger Games, I never thought I'd enjoy dystopian or post apocalyptic because they're outside my comfort zone, but one of my favourite series is the Under the Never Sky trilogy. I never thought I'd like thrillers or horror, but I've read and enjoyed plenty. Seeing the variety out there and seeing what other people are reading and loving has opened my eyes to all kinds of possibilities, and now I'm willing to give pretty much anything a try, even if it's not my typical genre. 

Lately I've been wanting to read more women's fiction/chick lit and paranormal, but I can't seem to pull myself away from YA. I guess part of me is afraid I'll go through that feeling of outgrowing it again, but I just love YA so much I tend to choose those over anything else.

How about you? Have your reading tastes changed over the years? Have you read books you never thought you would? Are you open to trying new genres?


  1. Great topic! Reading habits definitely change from genre to genre to frequency too. I used to read nothing but mysteries and political thrillers now I love just about everything. This book blogging world has opened my eyes to so many genres! I love it!

    1. I love it, too! I might have branched out a bit if I hadn't started blogging, but I don't think my tastes would be nearly as eclectic or broad. I think I would have missed out on a lot because I didn't think I'd like or didn't have anyone else to recommend books to me.

  2. My reading habits have changed over the years. When I was a teen, I read a lot of horror, then I switched to Young Adult. Now, I'm reading a lot of books about real ghost hunting.

    1. Ooh, real ghost hunting! You should come visit and we'll go to a city nearby that's supposed to be one of the most haunted cities in Ontario. ;-)



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