Earlier this month I added a book to the DNF list :( I don't like adding books to the DNF list, particularly a book that I have previously read (and enjoyed). So it got me to thinking - why did this book not work for me now when it has previously? TBH, this book is definitely a mood book. That is, you have to be in the right frame of mind to read it :) And I wasn't. But...I realized something else - I read differently now than I did 10, even 5 years ago. Way back when I think I read just the top layer, skimming everything. Not digging in and understanding, investing in the characters..and their emotions. Now? Now it's the opposite. I think that says more about me than anything else.
So, has how you read books changed over the years?
Probably not that much, tbh. :) I think by definition a good book (to me) is one I can get a lot of and become emotionally invested in.
ReplyDeleteMy reading has changed SO much over the years. Books that I LOVED 10, 15 or 20 years ago I can hardly get through now. I wonder...what was I thinking? Was I just "off" then, lol, or has my brain changed so much that I'm "off" now?
ReplyDeleteI know I read differently - enough so that I'm often afraid to reread old favorites, in case they don't work for me anymore. I'd rather treasure the memory.
ReplyDeleteI know my tastes have definitely changed. Like books I consider my favorites from a long time ago wouldn't necessarily hit me with the same oomph.
ReplyDeleteI am certainly more demanding, as a reader, than I was just a couple of years ago. There are exceptions, but for the most part things that I would let slide before just get on my nerves now.
ReplyDeletethen again, I'm also a mood reader, and I haven't been in a very cheerful mood for a while now, so that's probably related too.
Tasha - I love books I can emotionally invest in. They put me through the wringer, but they're the best :)
ReplyDeleteTracy - YAH! (Sorry, that was a 'YAH, it's not just me' :) And I don't think we were off then or now. We just look at things differently :)
Chris - that's what worries me. I would hate to re-read an old favourite and realize it didn't work. It's like breaking something precious.
ames - yes. It's like certain things become less or more important, and those things tweak the oomph :)
azteclady - I too am a mood reader. I never used to be...I either wanted to read a genre or I didn't. And I'm far less likely now to keep reading if a book doesn't work.
And *hugs*. Just 'cause I love you :)
Absolutely. I think the changes in taste come with age and maturity. I certainly don't enjoy a lot of books now that I enjoyed earlier in life -- specifically when it comes to romance. I was a lot more forgiving when I was younger too, and I read books that I wouldn't give the time of day to now. There was a time when I never DNF'd a book.
ReplyDeleteI also read differently. I always read fast, and I still do, but now I take my time to enjoy the books (I'm talking romance here, I've always read fiction/literature differently), and I don't just gobble them up.
Hilcia - I'm so less forgiving with books. And I so take my time. And...it's more about the characters now. Plot? What plot? OK, some plot :)
ReplyDelete