How Has Blogging Changed How You Read?

Posted by: Allison Helps Cats on: December 10, 2014

• In: Administrative | Teasers
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Sound off! This fall, Adventures in Publishing put out a call to all bloggers. First, they asked interested bloggers to respond to a monthly question about books. In turn, they would post a monthly Question of the Month. Second, they invited interested bloggers to post about what’s on their mind. In turn, they would post a monthly What’s on Readers’ Minds? Neither requires a regular commitment, but does provide increased exposure for bloggers, and so I accepted the offer.

The November Question of the Month asked: “Do you think there’s a difference in the way book bloggers read after they’ve been blogging for awhile versus how they read when they’re just starting out?”

I responded:

Absolutely! In both good and bad ways. 🙂

For me, when I first started to review books, I sometimes took days to read my book. Then as if I were chatting to a friend, I posted a few rambling reactions and that was it.

As I had my husband critique my reviews, I started to become more organized about the process. I never picked up a book without a pencil in hand. I also never spilled any of my thoughts to paper without first thinking about what I most liked and disliked about the book.

This has trained me to become more professional about my reviews. It has also made me more aware for my own writing of will and will not work in a story. So, there have been positives.

However, reading has also become more of a chore. For a time, I stopped being able to pick up a book without thinking of it in terms of plot, character, setting, and other literary elements.

Somewhere along the line, I decided that this isn’t how I wanted my reading experience to be. The notebook disappeared. I began to allow myself to have tangents about how a book personally effected me, a controversy surrounding a book, or some other focus. This helped me to stop having this constant itch to analyze everything I read. Still, it’s been a slow process, retraining myself to simply get lost in a book.

From what I read of other long-time bloggers, many of us seem to experience go through similar phases. I imagine it happens any time that one tries to turn a hobby into a commitment. Which is what book bloggers do!

To see other responses, check out the November Question of the Month.

The second What’s on Reader’s Mind resulted in opinions being posted about the publishing industry, insta-love and love triangles, nice guy love interests, and why bloggers should stop apologizing to readers. Of the topics posted, Reading Teen most made me think. She brought up the question: “What are we apologizing for?” In particular, she wrote about how the one she sees the most, and the one that drives her the most insane, is when bloggers apologize if they haven’t posted anything for a few days. To her, we do not owe anyone anything. Moreover, no one cares. To see all the posts, check out the November What’s on Readers’ Minds?

Tags: Adventures in Publishing, Allison's Book Bag, Question of the Month, reviews of books for young people, What's on Readers' Minds?