"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Monday, November 18, 2019

TTT: Changes to my reading habits since I retired

Top Ten Tuesday: Changes to my reading habits since I retired over two years ago

1. As a teen librarian I used to read mainly YA titles. Now that I am retired most of my selections are not YA, though I haven't given up them completely.

2. Because I now have some extra time on my hands I have volunteered to be a Cybils Award judge for the past two years and will be participating as a second-round judge again this year.  Cybils= Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards. I've been a judge for Junior High/Senior High Nonfiction books. Last year I had to read over 60 titles in less than three months. I learned so much along the way.

3. I listen to fewer audiobooks than I used to because I used to listen to them during my commute to work. Now that I am not commuting I try to listen to audiobooks while I walk the dog but I just don't get through as many books in this format as I used to.

4. I am more likely to not finish books that I don't enjoy than I used to. I guess I don't feel like I have to answer to anyone anymore except myself.

5. I have read a whole lot more board books since retirement and becoming a grandma happened simultaneously. This is pure joy for me, rereading books I read to my daughters when they were little and discovering new gems.

6. I have started several personal challenges.
7. Surprisingly, I now read more books from my own shelves. I guess this shouldn't be surprising since I used to have a whole library at my fingertips. Now I have to drive to get to the public library. Why not just grab a book here in the house already?


24 comments:

  1. Other than #2 and #6, you are my doppelgänger! I also find that I actually read LESS in general. Too busy with other things, if you can believe that! I still substitute teacher, and get a lot of reading done then. Enjoy!

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    1. I'm reading less, too, if you back out the Cybils books.

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  2. It sounds like retirement has brought all sorts of interesting changes to your life! How lovely.

    My TTT.

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    1. I am not doing as much in retirement as I thought I would.

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  3. I could have written a blog post with the same title. I still continue to read lots and lots of children's picture books but I also tend to blog a bit more and visit more blogs than I used to do.

    I think you have chosen an interesting time to look at in your post today.

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  4. #4 was a hard one for me to learn. I used to feel like I had to finish it if I started. Getting older changes your mind on that, I guess!

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!

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    1. I usually can't set aside a book easily. Usually they sit unread and unfinished for weeks before I finally admit I don't want to finish them.

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  5. That's a lot of books to read for the Cybils! I guess you're probably reading a lot of YA during that time period, at least.

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    1. This year I am a 2nd round judge so another team of readers will cull down the list and I'll only need to read about 15 titles.

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  6. I definitely listen to most of my audiobooks on my commute. Whenever I have to travel less my audiobooks suffer haha. Great list!

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    1. I always look forward to long car trips so I can catch up on my audiobook listening.

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  7. I've been kind of informally reading more Pulitzer Prize winners and have found some real gems! I particularly enjoyed Edna Ferber's So Big

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  8. I'm the same way with not finishing a book. If I'm not feeling it I don't force it as much anymore, I'll just move on. Life's too short and all that. :)

    The Cybils awards sound great.

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  9. Personal challenges are great! Mine has been to take books off my TBR that I'm not going to read and to read the books that have been on there the longest this year.

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  10. I am really enjoying these posts on people's blogs. I need to think about myself as a reader more and see where that takes me.

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  11. It sounds like you're adjusting and enjoying the new approach to reading and your books!

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  12. Some days I love my job, and some days I can't believe how long I have to wait before I get to retire! I can definitely see how it would affect my reading life in interesting ways.

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  13. I love this, and hooray for reading (re-reading) off your own shelves. That's something I need to get back to next year when the TBR is a bit smaller.

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  14. My reading changed as well since I retired in 2015. Children's books have also been added as I now have 3 granddaughters and, yes, less patience for stories that don't hold my interest after a few chapters. There are very few books I've reread, and, I tend to donate my books once I've read them.

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    1. I delight in Children's books that have recently been published and enjoy rereading the old ones.

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  15. 60 titles in 3 months?! I love that you still add some YA. It must be wonderful to have the time to read books on your actual shelf. ;)

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