Reading Evolution

As I am sure most of you have noticed in your own life, the way you read changes as you do.  I have changed what I read and how I read it multiple times in my life for various reasons.  When I was little I read what my parents gave me to read, and concentrated on learning more words.  When I discovered the library I learned what my own tastes were and found series I stuck to religiously, reading just for fun, loving everything I read with an unbiased abandon.  Once  I hit high school, I read to survive, life got a bit rough for me (not compared to most people, but for this sheltered little girl, it was rough) and a lot of times reading is what made it better.  This is when fantasy really got it's hooks into me, I loved anything that could take me

far far away and avoided reality at all cost.  College saw me hoarding books, as I had very little money I had to make any book I bought last as long as possible.  This led me back to my local library...which in the town I lived in was about 10 years behind.  The plus side to this was I was forced to expand my book reading to other genre's and authors then I was used to.  Since I had to reread a lot of what I already had I started to pick up on stuff I had missed the first time around, learning to pick up subtleties and finding new things to love or hate.  This also showed me my feelings towards certain books can change, upon reread certain books lost some appeal and others were actually better upon rereading.  Meeting my sweet Hubbin was not only amazing 'cause he is awesome, but my bookshelves benefited as well.  We were both working full time and had a bit more to spend on books and so I had much more variety to choose from.  Hubbin is also a reader and a very smart guy who lets me talk and talk and talk and talk about the books I am reading and discusses his books as well.  It was his questions about why I

really liked a particular book, or how a certain idea stayed with me, or why a weird little detail bugged me so much that led to this blog.  This leads to the most recent change in how I read.  Now when I read I a) look for more variety, branching out way farther then I ever have before...which is AWESOME! b) I take notes which are really funny to read later, especially if I have been reading when I am tired c) Most books I read, I now read as a sort of critic, I am constantly thinking about what I am going to write about as I read, getting nit picky or stuck on how to phrase something.  I am still trying to decide if that last one is a good thing or not.  In some ways it makes me think about the book I am reading from a lot of different angles, really putting into words what I like and don't like.  This has helped me refine my tastes and pushed me to try new things, and I really really really love talking about books with fellow bookworms.  On the other hand sometimes I feel as if the simple joy of reading gets lost in my over analyzing everything I read.  I will say though, every once in a while I will pick up a book and just bliss out and forget everything else, including this blog and that is how I know it is an exceptional book. In conclusion I think it is fair to say that not only has my taste in books evolved and changed, but how I read them as well.  It will be interesting to see when and what the next change will be.  Happy Reading Everybody!