Friday, June 27, 2014

discussion post: how your reading taste changes over time


I recently did a sweep on my book shelves because my two book cases weren't enough to hold all the books I owned. I have piles on the floor in front of my smaller bookcase and a few other books scattered throughout my house and as much as I love books, I also realized that I needed space! So I gave away books that I knew I wouldn't get around to or books that I have read but didn't strike me as "must haves". I donated all of my books to the library and that was a good feeling, knowing those books would go to a reader who would love them.

But that's not why I'm writing this post. As I was making piles of books to keep and give away, I came across my copy of Hush, Hush. We all know Hush, Hush right?


I first read this book in 2009* and I REALLY enjoyed it. At the time. Now five years later, as I was deciding what to keep and what to donate, I wondered if I still liked this book. I certainly didn't LUV IT like I initially had all those years ago but I was curious. So I quickly reread the book.

And found that I didn't like it much. I wasn't even a fan of the romance that once seemed so edgy, so dangerously awesome.

Despite half a decade**, I still remembered everything that happened in this book before I even reread it. Patch and Nora hadn't changed a bit. But I had. Hush, Hush wasn't the enticing read I once found it to be. I remembered my gushing review that I wrote for it and I admit that I'm a little embarrassed to read it now but my feelings as a reader then were true. That review was a snapshot of what I liked five years ago.

Five years ago, my reading taste was different. Nowadays? I like other books so much more. Books like Seraphina, Grave Mercy, Devil in Winter, or Silent in the Grave. Just to name a few. (And yes, I did just shamelessly link my reviews onto this post ;D so read them if you haven't already, haha***.) As I've grown older, I find that my reading taste has changed along with other things. Which I know NOW is completely natural and to be expected.

When I was taking classes at my community college, an English professor of mine was lecturing on I don't even know what at this point but he said something that has stuck with me: "We don't read literature, literature reads us." I don't know if someone else said that or if it came from him but I love the simplicity and truth behind that statement. I found it an apt description for what I feel as a reader. Sometimes our favorite books will no longer be our favorites or they will remain favorites because we still connect to them time after time. So that is what I learned when I randomly decided to clean out my shelves. Have you grown out of any books? Have you ever had epiphanies like this when it comes to reading? Or just life in general?

If you're wondering, Hush, hush did go into the donate pile. No regrets about that. May it find a better home on someone else's shelf.

*I cannot BELIEVE it's been 5 years already. I was still a teen back then. 
**Dear god, I feel OLD. 
*** You don't HAVE to, of course. But the option's there. ;)

Note: This post isn't intended as an insult to the author of this book by any means. I am merely using this book as an example to explain how people, not books, change. There are other books that I could name but this was the book that happened to be chosen due to recent memory. I also think that everyone has the right to read what they want and if they like it or not, that is fine either way. Variety is the spice of life and all that jazz ;P

16 comments:

  1. I absolutely hated Frankenstein in high school when we read it. When I read it again in college a few years later, I loved it and felt that I was at a place in my life where I was able to appreciate the aesthetic that Mary Shelley created. There are some books that I don't think I will ever learn to love or even like, nor will my love of YA lit. ever waver. :)

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    1. I never read Frankenstein in high school so I feel like I missed out! Thank you for sharing your reading experience with Mary Shelley's classic. :)

      And I am with you about YA lit. It will never waver for me either ♥

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  2. I think I'd probably have similar feelings about some books, though I'm not sure if it's as much about "outgrowing" books as it is about getting saturated with a particular genre and becoming more discerning as a result.

    When Hush, Hush came out, it was one of the first angel books (well, that I'd read, anyway). I gave it four stars, even though I thought the main character was too stupid to live. I thought the angel concept was new and fresh and interesting.

    Fast forward a few years, and I've read a number of other angel books. Some have been worse than Hush, Hush... but some have been better. The concept doesn't seem that unique anymore. A book with a premise like Hush, Hush would have to be something pretty special to come out on top... and it just isn't that special anymore.

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    1. Good point about the getting saturated with a genre vs growing out of a certain book.

      I haven't read enough angel books to be tired of them so I don't have anything to compare HUSH, HUSH to. I do have Cynthia Hand's UNEARTHLY on my bookshelf so that may change in the future.

      LOL. Nora was a little foolish but I think back then I was more willing to forgive MCs who put themselves in dangerous situations for x, y or z. Now I'm not so lenient.

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  3. YES! This is so me too.

    I've noticed it happens after major life changing events. For example: I used to adore YA. Like adore. Now I can barely tolerate it. That changed when I became a mama. Totally unforeseen. But who knows, one day when my kids are teenagers I may love YA again.

    So yah I totally feel ya.

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    1. *CLUTCHES HEART* I could never imagine a future without YA!!!

      But I understand--we all have different tastes and are in different stages of our lives.

      I hope your kids love YA so that you can fall back in love with it! There are some amazing additions to the genre :)

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  4. This is so me. I read Alyson Noel's Evermore about 10 years ago and LOVED it. I reread it probably 2-3 years ago and wondered what I had liked so much about it. I definitely think our expectations of books grow with us, I love this post.

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    1. Yes!!! Evermore is another good example. I only read the first book in that series and I think my review for it was positive but now I look back going ugh, no, what was I thinking?

      Thank you, Kristen :)

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  5. It's funny that you decided to take up this topic because I've been thinking a lot about cleaning my shelves because i got books crawling all over the place and its getting to be a little out of control.

    I actually re-read a lot, so I keep in touch with books I read 5 or even 10 years ago, yet with those books I just read once and then I try to pick up again, I'm often stuck with how uninteresting I find them later on, like "Really? I was excited about this?"
    I usually still like them but sometimes I really wonder what I saw in those books to begin with - This happens to me a lot with say, Maureen Johnson for example, and I own almost all of her books, but when I pick them up again, I just don't care; Heck, I've been trying to find a good home for my Great and Terrible Beauty books for years because I just see them there, taking space and I never feel like reading them again.

    And it makes me a little sad but I came to terms a long time ago that, as the saying goes, we don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. Though the really good stuff, the things that speak to you at a fundamental level? I Think those stay, no matter how many years pass, maybe you see them in a different light but they still linger somewhere.

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    1. I'm starting to reread more too now that I'm letting myself lol. I used to reread more before I had the blog but since I'm not actively looking for more review books and such, I can go back to my old ways. Anyway, I agree with that saying! It's absolutely true and a variation of what my professor was saying all that time ago.

      Omg, don't get me started on the great and terrible beauty books. I've since accepted the ending but I will immediately start ranting about it!

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  6. THIS.

    I too am looking back on books I loved a few years ago and wondering why I liked them so much and embarrassed by how much I professed to love them back then. It was mostly all that YA paranormal romance nonsense.

    I've reread Devil in Winter like half a million times and it's always just as good as the initial read....because....Sebastian.

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    1. Is it just me or has paranormal YA or paranormal in general taken a nose dive?? I remember that I used to love them too but now not so much. Hah! But hey, your feelings were genuine once. :)

      Sebastian is all that is needed. Love that man ♥

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  7. My book tastes have definitely changed, in a sense that I am just a lot pickier with my book choices today. Before I would have stayed with a book even if I was getting bored with it. Now I can't be bothered! I remember sort of liking Shiver by Maggie S. before, but today, I don't think I would be interested in it at all. I recently did a donate-pile as well, and it's interesting how the titles got in there.

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    1. I used to try to push through with books too but life is too short to waste it on books that you don't care about! Also, you never know, you might even go back to a book even if you've DNFed it.

      Ah. I still love SHIVER but I have loved her later works even more. She seems to get better and better with each book :)

      Thank you for commenting!

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  8. Oh yeah. I've noticed that I like the age of the MC's to be the same age or a little older than me, which may be why I'm starting to read less YA. I first noticed this when an MC was talking about getting her driver's permit and I felt really, really old. :D

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    1. LOL oh Melanie. We are getting older but we're not old!!!

      I still love YA but I'm much more...what's the word... picky? about what I think is a good book now.

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