It’s Tuesday, and that means it’s Top Ten Tuesday! Top Ten Tuesday used to be hosted over on The Broke and the Bookish but moved over to That Artsy Reader Girl. As described on The Artsy Reader Girl’s blog, “It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” This description is right up my alley, and I hope you all enjoy this tag as much as I do! 

This week’s prompt is changes in my reading life! As a reader, I have changed so much. I used to hate one genre, read another, and pretend I was too good to read romance (Yep, I was an idiot). Now that I am more secure in who I am, I am willing to go against the grain and read different things. Take a look at my top ten ways that my reading life has changed! 

1. I read Sci-Fi
   • I used to HATE Science Fiction. I mean, HATE IT. I could read dystopian Science Fiction, but that was it. You see, I’m an emotional reader. I want emotions and not logic. Sci-Fi tends to have too much logic for me to be able to understand. It took me a while to realize that some science fiction has that emotional value along with the logical sense. Take Sylvain Neuvel’s Themis Files series. It was logical, it was aliens, and it was fantastic. 
2. I don’t read mystery.
   • When I was a kid, I was obsessed with Mary Higgins Clark. It was what everyone was reading, so naturally, I had to read it. I went through a phase where I would read Nancy Drew and all of those mysteries. Now, I just don’t enjoy them. Don’t get me wrong, some mysteries are amazing, but most of them tend to bore me. Now I tend to stay clear of the mystery genre though I do enjoy a good suspense every now and then. 
3. I embrace how much I love romance
   • Yep, I was one of those people. The person who pretended she was too cool (vomit) to read romance. But honestly, my little secret was how much I LOVED it. Now that I am more secure in who I am (yay self-confidence!), I can scream from the rooftops how much I love it. It’s my favorite genre, and there is something for everyone in it. I personally think the world would be a better place if more people read romance. 
4. I read audiobooks.
   • When I was a kid, the only time we ever read audiobooks was when we were on a road trip, and the ONLY genre we would read was mystery. I was bored out of my mind listening to those audiobooks. I’m so glad that I discovered that the narrator makes a difference and that mysteries just weren’t for me. 
5. I actually listen to other people’s recommendations.
   • This is one of my quirks. I used to ignore other people’s recommendations, which is seriously the most ridiculous thing. Now, I read blog posts, add books to my TBR, and continuously look for those recommendations. 
6. I read more often.
   • Now that I’m out of school and don’t have to do homework, I read a lot more. I love having the time to read after work. I have also added audiobooks into my life, so I read a lot more. Back in 2011, I read 35 books in a year. This year, I’m already at 94! It’s so much fun to see how much my number has increased. 
7. I read drastically different books. 
   • I used to always read the same books. If I was reading romance, I ONLY read romance. The same goes for the other genres. Now, I read basically everything but mystery. 
8. I write better reviews
   • I seriously wrote the WORST reviews. If you go back to my pre-2018 reviews, you’re going to wonder why I even bothered. They’re just so awful. When I became a blogger, I started to look at how other bloggers reviewed and found my voice. 
9. I stopped caring what others thought when it comes to my reading habits.
   • This is one of the most freeing things for me. I simply stopped caring that some people don’t think audiobooks count as reading (it does, don’t be that person). Or that romance was an “easier read,” so it didn’t count (seriously, this argument is vomit-inducing). Or that digital books are worse than physical books (tell that to my kindle that has 10,000+ books in the palm of my hand). My reading habits are my own. It doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t like it because I do, and that is all that matters. 
10. I stopped buying all of the free books.
    • Umm… that 10,000+ books thing wasn’t an exaggeration. Ever since I got a Nook Color, I have been buying free books. I used to scour the store looking for all of the free books, and I would buy them even if I could care less about them. Now, I am a lot more selective about what I buy. Free books are fantastic, but I have started to read the blurb and buy only the books that sound interesting. 

So, there you have it! Those are the top ten ways I have changed as a reader! How have you changed?