Reading Tastes

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And recently I've been thinking alot about our reading tastes. How they change as we age, books we get the urge to go back and re-read, and how we simply forget the entire plot of others, as new, more interesting books come into the picture. 

I've been doing some digging on Goodreads this evening, looking for my 'Most Read Authors' section on my profile, only to find it missing. Turns out, it was removed from Goodreads 6 years ago. 

Anyway, I wanted to see whether I still thought the same about these books, all those years ago, to now. 

That section may be gone now, but I'm still going to discuss it on here.

This is basically going to be another rambler post so sorry to anyone that was looking for QUALITY tonight, because this won't be it. 

But I'll do it anyway. 

I hope you enjoy it. 

~Reading Tastes~

Okay, so. Growing up, I was a HUGE distopian fan. Like most preteens discoving the wide world of books. They're exciting, full of adventures, romances, fights, death. They're great gateways to the adult fantasy genre, as well as middlegrade adventures, like Harry Potter, or Narnia, Percy Jackson, etc. 

Authors like Cassandra Clare, Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins, Stephanie Meyer. They were my introduction to the dystopian genre. Of course the YA subgenre was smack bang in the middle of that too. 

Fast forward to today, I keep thinking about how golden a time that time was. Late 2000s, the Twilight film came out. A few years later, A City of Bones, The Hunger Games and Divergent all got film deals. I am so thankful that I was the right age for these book release/ film releases, to feel the magic when my favourite books became loved by all who knew them. 

It was at this time that #Booktube reached an all time high. Live shows, getting to talk to Booktubers in America about these releases. To this day, I remember reading the entire Lunar Chronicles series in time to finish Winter, in time for the liveshow (which I fell asleep for, in the end, because in the UK it was 2am that it took place). There was #UKYAChat, a Twitter conversation with youtuber Lucy Powrie (now author of The Paper & Hearts Society series), who created the theme, and posted questions, every Friday night. It was the time for booktubers and distopian fiction. 

And now, as a 28 year old woman, I want to go back. Not to re-read, but for the first time. To all of it. I'll reach to one of these favourites every so often, when I'm in danger of dissolving into a reading slump. Teri Terry, Lemony Snicket, and of course, I'm still reading Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant novels, sixteen years later. 

Because of that Booktube community, I feel like certain books, that were popular within the group, led me to my reading tastes today. The Book Thief, is what started my interest in historical fiction, I'm 100% sure of it. Cassandra Clare, Nicola Yoon, Adam Silvera, all authors that I discovered and loved, because of those liveshows. 

Now, that wasn't all I was reading. I had a strong love for Sci-fi, I still do. But, is it just me, or do not as many people go in for Sci-fi as much as fantasy? Like, I get that magic and all is amazing, but space, stars, unknown species from outer space, and a world without gravity is interesting too, surely? 

My love of Science Fiction hasn't changed much at all, really. I still have a long list of Science Fiction books that I'm eager to get to, the Skyward series at the top of the pile. 

Saying that, if anyone has any recommendations for sci-fi novels, let me know in the comments- I don't have as many on my list as I'd like. I think maybe the subject pool is bigger for fantasy, hence why there's a bigger interest for the average reader. 

Before I move on to fantasy, I just want to make a note about fiction/ contemporary. Looking back at my reading taste as a teen, there's a single book that springs to mind that's the most similar to the type of fiction book I like to pick up now. That book is Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell. That book, the light-hearted tone, about a writer, going to University, and trying to figure herself out as an individual, without her twin sister, was the gateway to authors like Taylor Jenkins Reid, Marian Keyes, Jodi Picoult, Fredrik Backman. Not that I don't like cutesy fiction, but I'm very much a sucker for a tough journey. 

Now, moving on to fantasy. There was never a chance I wasn't going to like this genre, after picking up Skulduggery Pleasant, age twelve. Conjuring fire, powerful boxers with a face full of scars, kick-ass women with knives running up walls- that book completely changed my life- and with the final book due to be released in March, I don't know how I'm going to deal with it (though there's an epic re-read coming up, you mark my words). That book series sparked a love for fantasy, for magic, every kind of it, and it's never gone away. It's just changed somewhat. 

The kind of fantasy novels I crave now, are huge, 700-800 pages of dialogue, discovery, vast worlds, complicated characters, a full series I can lose myself in. I've changed from reading Cassandra Clare, Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo, to wanting to read Robin Hobb, R.F. Kuang, Fonda Lee, N.K. Jemison. 

Which is natural. It's normal to grow as a reader, to develop a liking to different themes, tropes, different authors. 

That's what's great about reading. There's something for everyone. 

Okay! Those are all my thoughts on reading tastes! I'm sure I'll be thinking of a lot more than what I've written, the minute I publish this, but for now, that's my lot. Please don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments if you feel like chatting though! I love any imput! 

Okay! I hope you have a lovely evening and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeeee! 

-Abi xxxxxx