Have My Reading Tastes Changed in 2020?

I’m not going to pretend that I came up with this idea. I saw that Beth from BooksNest did a video like this on her booktube channel and I thought to myself; I should do a post like that. I’ve been trying to come up with some posts that I can write easily for when I’m a lil distracted and right now is one of those times.

So here we go!

I’ll start by saying at the time of writing this I’ve read 165 books this year and I’m on track to finish the 166th book tonight. I usually read over 100 books a year so that’s not a huge surprise but this is still more than I’d usually read. And, honestly, I don’t think this is because of Covid. I’ve been reading multiple books at once again and that probably helps.

And on that note…

I Like Audiobooks

Now, I’d always assumed I’d dislike audiobooks. I hate being read to by people in like class or when other people read bits of books out loud to you. It’s not at my speed and I’d rather pick up and read the book myself, y’know?

But I discovered Scribd at the beginning of the year. I wasn’t sure I’d listen to many at first but a few months in I took the plunge and started giving more audiobooks a go. At first, I still wasn’t sure. Then I listened to Technically You Started It by Lana Wood Johnson. This being both a YA contemporary and an audiobook I wasn’t sure what I’d think. But it was a full cast and told through text messages which is the sort of thing I like reading. So I thought, why not? And, man, I got through that book quickly and super enjoyed it.

I’ve found that I like listening to chick-lit and thrillers best and that if I want to give YA contemporary a go then listening to it tends to work better for me. I’m loving having audiobooks in my reading rotation because it means I’m reading all these books I don’t have physically and wanted to read anyway and that I can get through them when going on walks, writing blog posts and whatever. It’s so nice and helps me get through more books.

Which is a big reason I’m pretty sure that I’ve read so much more this year.

Speaking of YA Contemporary

I Don’t Mind YA Contemporary Either

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not about to pick up John Green or Adam Silvera or any of those depressing looking contemporary books. I’m still super picky about those I pick up and choose to read. But I don’t actually hate them?

It can be fun to read about teenagers just living their lives and it can help me learn more about identities and ethnicities that I didn’t really know much about in the real world. Even the ones that don’t seem really sad often have really sad moments in, unfortunately, but I think I can actually say that I do seriously look at the contemporary books on offer now rather than just rolling my eyes at them.

This isn’t the only area I’ve given more of a chance this year.

Romance Is A Genre I Want to Read More Of

I said I’m picky with contemporary and I’m even more so about romance. But, you know what, I like rom-coms. I like them in film, TV and books. I don’t know why I didn’t want to give them a go before considering a lot of the fanfiction I read are basically rom-coms. But it’s taken me until now to actually find ones I really like.

This probably does have something to do with the melding of chick-lit and romance. There are probably books I’ve read and adored in past years that I’ve considered chick-lit that are probably romances. So I probably have always enjoyed the genre. I just didn’t see it as romance, if that makes sense?

I’m still growing to like the genre but I wouldn’t say I hate it anymore. Unless you’re talking about certain romance sub-genres. Then I’m good without them, thanks.

I’m Tired of Historical Fiction Set In France

This is a really recent development, I think I might have just overloaded myself with too many, but I still have little urge to pick up any books set in France. Or any at the time of the French Revolution to be honest. I have two in my TBR box to read but I won’t be getting to them for a while.

I’m super picky about historical in general. I like things to be accurate or at least mostly so. And for the author to admit that things aren’t necessarily right for the sake of the story because they’ve, y’know, looked into it so understand the accuracy.

God, I’m such a history nerd that historical fiction is a fine line for me.

But there’s so much history out there and so many different countries too! I just wanna see some other places and their history explored.

What Have You Learned About Your Reading this Year?

Have you discovered anything like I have this year? Or anything different? Comment down below with what you’ve learned!