LET’S TALK BOOKISH: How Have Your Reading Habits Changed Over Time?

I’m so excited for today’s post! I’ve been trying to take part in the Let’s Talk Bookish memes for ages now but either I don’t have much to say about some of the topics or I miss out on them or am absolutely too busy to participate. But finally this day has come!

Starfish yelling “Today’s the day! The sun is shining!”

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books & Dani @Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting everyone’s posts.

Today is actually a Freebie Day which means I can go back and catch up on any previous prompts and today I’m choosing to talk about how my reading habits have changed over time 🙂

How Have Your Reading Habits Changed Over Time?

As a kid the only books I read came from the library. Sure I had some books at home but I had read and re-read them so many times, I was honestly bored.

I have so many fond memories of going to the children’s section of my local library where I would march in with two library cards(my sister and mine), browse for shiny books and leave with a stack of books and an excited spirit. I was very well known among the librarians.

Okay maybe that’s too much nostalgia…

I was an extremely avid reader and I would read anything that sounded good. Back then I wasn’t on social media, I didn’t know which books were new or hyped so I would just go through all the blurbs and choose whatever sounded good. I used to read all sorts of underrated and niche books and I honestly miss that.

Nowadays I either read new releases or popular backlist books. I miss the joy of going to a library and stumbling upon an undiscovered gem. That’s the first thing I’m going to do when my local library opens up.

Girl looking through bookshelves

Another huge change is the rate at which I read books. There were times when I would come back from the library, plop on my bed and finish off the book in one sitting. Oh those sweet days when I had all the time in the world. These days reading books in a single setting is all but a fantasy and I usually end up taking at least two days to finish a book, sometimes even weeks. Little me would probably be disappointed but what to do, university can be a pain in the ass.

But a good change is definitely the fact that I’m actively looking for diverse reads. Most of the books in my library were old, outdated and majorly written by white authors. Now I get to read all sorts of different books and actually see myself represented in some of my favourite stories. What a dream! If I had found this sort of diversity from childhood itself I feel like I would have been more at peace with myself and more sure of my identity in many ways.

So I won’t say me reading habits have changed for the good or the bad, I think it’s a bit of both. I’m trying to recreate the better older habits like re-reading books and not being worried of my unread books, spending hours in the library just looking for any random book. I can’t travel back to my past but I’m determined to incorporate some of my older reading habits into my current life 🙂

How have your reading habits changed over time?

Are there any new reading habits that you want to adopt or any old ones you want to bring back?

Do you have fond memories attached to your local or school libraries like me?