Before & After is a sporadic series I do which chronicles the differences between myself as a reader before I was a blogger and after I became a blogger because my habits have changed SO MUCH. Check the end of the post for previous Before & After’s.
I was more loyal to the authors I loved. What do I mean by this? When I found a book that I really LOVED I then went out and would get ALL of the books from that author. Immediately. Mostly because I didn’t know what else to read next so that was a good place to start.
I realized in answering a question about my “most read author” for my A to Z survey (Goodreads has a cool feature I shared to look that up) that I have read A LOT OF BOOKS FROM A LOT OF DIFFERENT AUTHORS SINCE I STARTED BLOGGING. The majority of authors on my list I had only read 1-2 books from. I realized I don’t read straight through an author’s backlist anymore as I used to before. I think this is due to 2 reasons:
1. A lot of the authors I read now are debut or “newer” authors so they don’t HAVE a huge backlist.
2. Prior to blogging I didn’t really know WHAT to read. I didn’t have a ton of recommendations coming at me, as I talked about last week, so I would find an author and then just devour their works so I had something to read.
I still try to read my favorite authors entire works but I find that I have SUCH a variety in authors that I know of now and all these new books to try that I’m always flitting around to try new authors like I’m at a buffet. Trying a little bit of everything so that it takes a little more time to read all the works of an author I like.
Let’s Talk:
Has this happened to you since blogging (if you are a blogger)? Do you tend to read the entire backlist of a new favorite author as soon as you discover you love them or do you seem to read a lot of different books from lots of authors?
Previous Before & After’s:
The Time In Between Two Books – 2/27
Being Up On New Releases — 3/6
Book Real Estate — 3/15
Re-reading — 3/20
Meeting Authors + Myths About Them — 3/27
The Number of Books Read Per Year — 4/5
Recommending Books — 4/10
Chunky Books — 4/17
Reactions To Books — 4/24
Having People To Talk Books With– 5/8
Knowledge of the Publishing Industry — 5/15
How I Picked Up Books – 9/18
Melissa @ Writer Grrl Reads says
This is me too. Like you, I’d work through an author’s complete works before moving onto something new, mainly because otherwise I’d have to start my search for the next great book from scratch. Perhaps this is why I loved never-ending series (like SVH) or authors who published voraciously (like R.L. Stine or Carolyn Keene). As an adult, I’d be like, “What? She only wrote ONE book? Now what?”
Now, with my incredibly long TBR, it’s like I only have time to sample each writer’s work before I move onto something else. Sometimes this makes me sad (like that one book of Courtney Summers that I haven’t yet read) but it’s also reassuring to know that I have some guaranteed great reads sitting in my TBR in case of a slump. Like I just picked up a Sara Zarr book from the library, which I already KNOW I’ll like :). And it’s nice to know that there will still be more of her books to enjoy at a later date.
Man this got really long really quickly. Good night! *tucks book under arm and heads to bed*
Samantha says
For me, it’s kind of been the opposite. Since being introduced to the book blogging community, I have discovered so many authors that I have never read before, and so now I have a whole stack of series/backlists I need to read because I enjoyed the author’s first book so much!
Celine says
I love these Before/After posts, because I can really relate to them! Before I was a blogger I didn’t necessarily read all the books of an author I loved, but I read in Dutch only, so I was very limited in my book choice. After all, not every book gets translated! But I started to get into English books and I started blogging, and I have found SO MANY great books I wouldn’t have read if I didn’t blog. Because there are so many books to choose from, I tend to read more authors instead of just one that I love.
Great post!
Evelynne says
Interesting post! I’m kind of a mix between the two. As an example, I loved Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices trilogy, so I went out and got the Mortal Instruments series. On the other hand I’ve been too busy discovering new authors to read them!
MaryKate says
I’m not a blogger, but I do tend to either download or buy if not an author’s entire backlist, then at least one or two others from him/her. That typically ends up with my bookshelves STUFFED with unopened, brand new books!
Terri @ Starlight Book Reviews says
I so agree! Before I was a blogger, I would read backlists and then just reread my favorites over and over. Blogging exposes you to SO MANY new books, which is awesome!
I also think that because I’m reading more, I tend not to auto-buy unless it’s an established favorite author, especially when that expanded reading means you’ve been burned by a book you didn’t research first. I used to check negative Amazon reviews before buying a book, to see if what bothered that reviewer was something I thought would bother me. That was pretty much it. But now, I check GoodReads and friend reviews and blogs, and books linger on wish lists much longer than before.
Brianna says
I read like I’m at a buffet, too. That’s actually a really good way of looking at it. When I was a kid, I read every book Ann M. Martin wrote. Then I discovered there was a world outside of The Baby Sitter’s Club and began reading a variety of authors. I used to go through phases where I’d find an author and read everything they wrote, but I don’t really do that so much anymore. I also rarely read subsequent books in a series, even if I loved the first book.
Kaley @ Books Etc says
I’ve never thought about it, but I think I used to be like you! Before I was blogging I didn’t have a huge list of books to review so I was able to read all the books by one author because I loved them. Now? Not so much. For example, I loved Eleanor&Park and Fangirl and have been meaning to read Attachments for years BUT I STILL HAVEN’T DONE IT. And it’s because I have so many other books to read. Interesting to think about how this has changed!
Georgie @ What She Reads says
I can relate to that! I think since becoming a blogger I have not been able to do my ‘bookathons’ I miss downloading a box set of books and just devouring them within the week but now as i have reviews to do i’m constantly trying to find a time to do them. It’s safe to say since i have become a blogger i have only had the chance to read one series.
Plus I have over 200 books on my kindle and in physical that i purposefully pre-ordered but haven’t gotten a chance to read. This is why this month I’m taking a step back on review requests and focusing on the books i’ve been so excited to read 😉
Rebecca @ The Library Canary says
I used to do the same thing before I started blogging! And then when I finished an author’s backlist, I got depressed because I didn’t know what to read next. But now that I started blogging, it’s like a whole new world out there. I’m constantly being introduced to new authors which is awesome, but also can be stressful when you get overwhelmed by the sheer number of books there are to read. I feel like I don’t read an author’s backlist like I used to because I’m so busy reading other books for review that I don’t have time. So in a way, that can be a bad thing. But I also love that I’ve been introduced to so many wonderful new and new to me authors since I joined the blogging community.
Molli says
My pre-blogging favorite authors probably feel so abandoned. I’ve kept up with Jodi Picoult a bit – still buy her books, but she’s the only one really. I just frankly stopped being as devoted, in your words, to my fave authors as I used to be because now there’s SO MUCH to read. I’m in the middle of a hundred series, ugh. It’s frustrating and sad sometimes, but I’m slowly getting my review books in hand again so hopefully I can spend a little time with some other genres and fave authors.
Ashley @ BackstageBookLover says
I found that since I’ve started blogging I’ve started reading a lot more author’s works in full just because I’m so behind after discovering them so late. I try to balance the books I read, sort of alternating a totally new to me author with a tried and true, but I have to admit I’ve read like an inordinate amount of Sarah Dessen recently. I probably feel more comfortable doing this since I don’t have a lot of review books though.
Bree says
Surprisingly, the way I read hasn’t changed much – in the sense that I still seem to choose books in the same way. What HAS changed is the genres that I read – more YA and new adult, before I would read a lot of chick-lit, thrillers/suspense, and mostly adult novels. Weird how that happens.
BUT, my main reason for coming and posting here…I remembered you saying that you LOVE the Jessica Darling series, and I stumbled across this book today (and noticed it wasn’t on any of your shelves on Goodreads): Jessica Darling’s It List #1: The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to Popularity, Prettiness & Perfection. Thought I’d point it out in case you missed it! 🙂
TheSirenicCodex says
Guilty. Everytime I finish a book I really enjoyed my fingers twitch to go on the authors site/goodreads page and look for other books by him/her that I would like to read. I’ll have to agree with you that since I started blogging I stopped reading from just a few authors and spread out more. However, my taste in books haven’t changed much just my range of knowledge about what’s out there has increased 🙂
-Mari @ The Sirenic Codex
Heather says
My reading/buying patterns certainly seem to mirror yours in some ways. I definitely used to discover a fun, new author and feel the need to find ALL of the books! Sadly, I frequently didn’t (and some I still haven’t) get around to reading them in a timely fashion, but knowing I had them in my possession was such a great feeling! I could dive in anywhere, anytime! And even though I’m not a blogger myself, since I’ve started reading so many great blogs, and hearing about so many wonderful books and authors, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with buying all the books by all of the new-to-me, amazing-sounding authors. Though I suppose there could be worse problems to have than too many authors to enjoy… 🙂
Kristilyn (Reading in Winter) says
I try to read my favourites still, but you’re right — variety has gone WAY UP. It’s nice to know more about debut authors and local authors and all that now … I felt so in the dark before!
Becca Lostinbooks says
I never read everything by one author, but I, too, have had my reading habits change since I began blogging almost 5 years ago. I found new genres, like YA, which I had no idea had matured out of the Sweet Valley High phase. I discovered new authors. I discovered the Indie scene. I have tried books I never would have in a million years if another blogger I trust had not said just try it and see what you think. Very cool, this blogging community.
Wendy @ Book Scents says
Same! I read a lot more debut authors and such now! I was just like you — before I’d just keep going through whatever the author I liked had written because I didn’t know what to read next! I love that blogging has made me discover so many different authors that i honestly would not have known about before.
Lisa says
I read way more newer books/authors now that I blog. And more of a variety as well. It’s wonderful, but it’s also overwhelming. My TBR is so huge now. I hate that I can’t read them all. I guess that’s why it’s good to sample around. But I still make sure to read all of the books by my favorite authors.
Mandy R says
This is such a neat feature to your blog! I find myself sticking to a lot of my favorite authors too. Sometimes it’s hard to break out of your comfort zone and try someone new. You never know if they might disappoint you.
Ellice says
YES. I am experiencing this right now! I’m getting all these awesome recs, and I want to read all the books and there’s just not enough time! So, I usually end up reading a huge variety because I want to be able to talk about them on blogs and twitter. And before I discovered book blogs, pssh. I had NO IDEA how to pick what to read. I’d just go in a bookstore and get one because it had a pretty cover or an interesting premise. About 8/10 times that was a bust 🙁 Book blogs have saved the day though! I have read so man great books lately 🙂