Today’s Q: Readers — Book bloggers blog because we love reading.  Has book blogging changed the way you read?  Have you discovered books you never would have apart from book blogging?  How has book blogging affected your book acquisition habits?

Yes, book blogging has changed the way I read, not in a drastically new way, but it’s opened me up to authors I wouldn’t have heard of and subjects I wouldn’t have thought of before.  While non-fiction is not a big part of my reading, I read about one non-fiction book per month, new topics have made their way onto my list which I would never have thought of previously such as polar exploration.  I never knew I had an interest in the topic until reading about it on a few blogs — the books were completely different, one explorer based and another environmental.  Now, I should explain that I haven’t read these books yet (they got put behind my shark reading for the year; I heart sharks) but I plan to and have even came across a few at the library I will eventually pick up.

Book acquisition habits…I’m not sure I want to broach this topic. 🙂 Before I started blogging, I bought books on a monthly basis and each trip to the store would yield several purchases.  I’ll admit it’s an expensive habit.  I didn’t walk out with just a few books; I walked out with 10+, about my monthly reading. When I started reviewing books for an online group, I started receiving all these wonderful ARCs in the mail and it took time to find a place for all the books.  When there was no more space to be had, I went to the library.  Now that I’m blogging, a lot, and I mean *a lot*, of books are coming to the house which means pruning has to happen which pre-blogging days was pretty much non-existent.  I would keep everything even if I didn’t like it.  I would, and still do, loan books to friends and family but now I have a non-return policy.  If they like it, they get to keep it and give it a good home.  It’s worked so far but I hope I never see the day when one of my regular book traders tells me they have no more room!  I guess I’d need more friends then.

While my reading is diverse, it’s become even more so and that’s for the better.  Back in the day, I could and would read books in the same genre for weeks or months only breaking out of it when interests started to wane.  Now when I finish a book I look forward to glancing through the list or the neat, little pile (little is a bad description here) I keep of books that have come to the house or ones that I’m interested in starting.  Before I would pick up whatever was on the shelf but now there’s anticipation and wonder at the next book.  That wonder is thanks to the many book bloggers that have added books to my list, put thoughts in my head about new and old books, and taken the time to talk about them so a person like me can find out what I’ve missed at the bookstore and library, and sometimes on my own shelf.

It’s been a strange week for me blog-wise.  Maybe I should say it’s been a bad blog week for me since I’ve been sick this week with the final dregs of what I thought was a cold that has somehow morphed into killer allergies and I haven’t had the chance, or mental faculties, to participate in BBAW.  I found it ironic the theme for this year was community, and I’ve not had a chance participate in anything at all.  These things happen.  Thankfully, I’ll be able to go back and read the posts at a later time.  My Google reader looks intimidating right now but not in a bad way, in that, “I bet there are some really cool things in there,” way.