Let's Discuss: Reading Styles

 

I just answered a BBH question the other day and it got me wanting to talk a little more about it here instead of in my actual post. The subject was basically if my reading style had changed over the years.

Reading Styles

So IN THE BEGINNING, I remember just reading whatever I found on the shelves at Borders that sounded interesting. This would mean, I would spend a good a hour or two walking up and down the shelves at Borders looking for a book to read. Pulling them out one by one, with whatever spine or title caught my eye. And dare I say it, but GASP I read a lot of contemporary books. None by authors who are popular today. Although, Sarah Dessen was one I favored way back then, but it wasn't until one magical day I cam across this dark covered book with a shadowy tattooed guy on it holding a black rose. It was Demon in my View by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.

I can honestly say this book changed my life! Lol. I know, not what you'd expect to be a life changing book. But it basically introduced me to "the dark side" of literature and after this book...I wanted nothing more to do with the "mundane" contemporary novels I was reading. They just didn't live up to the excitement that I had with this book here! I craved the paranormal, the weird, the unusual, the spooky! Give me anything but ordinary!

Over the years I did continue to expand beyond my paranormal to fantasy which was still extraordinary as there was always magic involved at the very least, so it wasn't a contemporary set back in ancient non-existent times. 

The closest I got to contemporary novels, you could say, is when I started reading thrillers as well! But to me, thrillers were still books with "monsters" in them. The monsters were just humans. 

So yeah, my reading tastes have definitely changed over the years. I still love my paranormal reads, though there have been very few new ones these days. Fantasy has been my genre of choice lately, but it's like I once I get a taste of one kind of read, I continue to want more of that. But then I'll still daydream of that paranormal or thriller that's in my TBR pile that I am itching to get back to. I just read slow. And I need sleep. Like at least 8 hours. So yeah. 

Have your reading tastes changed over the years? Did you pick up a genre you never thought you would? Did you leave any behind for good?