This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately. So much of my reading is frontlist, which is incredible and I am so grateful to have access to new releases; however, I often wonder if I am missing out on potential favourites by not giving more time to backlist. I am excited to explore this topic more by answering the questions posed in this week’s Let’s Talk Bookish prompt.
How current is your reading?
As of writing, I have read 122 books so far in 2021, and, of those, 73 of them were published this year. That is 60% of my reading, which seems rather high.
Do you tend to read recently published books or pick from the publishing backlog, and why?
Looking at my stats, it seems to be a mix; however, I think a decent percentage of the backlist books I read this year were published in 2020.
Is there any particular merit to keeping up with current releases, or is it all hype?
There is definitely merit to keeping up with current releases, especially as a book blogger and booktuber. Sure, some of the books are overhyped, but that can be true for backlist titles as well. I love to read current releases so I can give you my thoughts on what’s new while also supporting authors and publishing in general.
How has book blogging changed your habits on this front?
Book blogging has completely changed my habits in terms of reading new releases! Before I started this blog I was not part of the bookish community in any way. I had no idea what was new or what was popular and would simply walk into a bookstore and pick out something based on the synopsis. In some ways, I miss the simplicity of that, but I love being so connected to the community!
And, in the future, are you thinking you want your reading to shift either way?
Ideally, my reading would be closer to 50/50 where I read an equal amount of new releases and backlist. I think this could be difficult for me between ARCs and ALCs, but I have some fun goals for 2022 that I think will help me to focus on backlist. I am excited to share more about those with you closer to the end of the year!
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I assume that my reading falls heavily into the new releases category. I suffer from FOMO! Plus, I think that it helps my blog stats because more people are curious about the buzzed about new release. I love back list, though, because they are usually available without a long wait at the library! I do like to balance my reading life and I deliberately select a few backlist as they come to my attention. So many books so little time!
I think fomo plays a part in it for me as well! It probably does help my blog too.
I’m definitely reading more recent releases because of bookblogging/ bookstagram/ booktube..! Everyone talking about new releases just makes me so excited about them ahah!
Although I did try to read more backlisted books the second half of this year, since there are so many great ones out there. That also means you don’t have to wait for sequels haha!
I think my stats of this year would probably show quite a lot of backlogged books, but in general, I think it’s similar to yours. I have to agree that being part of the community changed things. I was just never aware of so many books, I kind of had to hope to see something in the shops that would pique my interest haha
I can keep up with new releases, but often don’t know about them until they are out! I am often in awe of bloggers who write such detailed posts about anticipated upcoming releases. The hard part is finding time to read them all! Great discussion, Kristin.
It’s tough for sure! I’m definitely something who is distracted by new releases but I know I’m missing out on fantastic backlist books.
I find this topic highly interesting. I used to read a lot of new releases, i think my tbr consisted of 90% of them. But now i tend to read more older releases and wait for the new ones to get more reviews and opinions before i pick them up. I other words I want to be more sure that i’d enjoy a certain book without diving into an unknown how that can be with new releases.
That’s something I want to do as well! I have started to buy backlist books and read ebooks or listen to audiobooks of newer releases!
I’ve been trying to read more backlist books this year. There are so many popular series that I’ve just never gotten around to as I’ve always been trying to keep up with the shiny new releases. I’m really enjoying not having the pressure to keep up and also being able to read the full series in one go.
That’s such a good point. I’m terrible at completing series and I’m sure this plays a part in it!
I’m an ARC whore, I am… I adore reading books that haven’t been released yet! Can’t get enough of them, to be honest. But yes, I do read back list books as well… mind you, they’re almost all print copies, while the ARCs are now almost only eBooks. (Sadly, the last three ARCs I received as print copies I DNF. Well, two DNF and one I looked at the first page, realized it was NOT my genre and put it on my shelf unread!)
I have fallen in love with eARCs. I recently bought a Kindle and have been loving reading all the holiday related arcs!
I definitely read more backlist than new releases, although I think I read more new releases than I might have, because of my blog. It just makes me more aware of what’s out there!
I want to find a better balance. I miss backlist books! It’s so true. It’s hard not to know what’s new when you are a part of the book community!
You made a good point, as book bloggers, we have to keep up with new releases, but I want to set a better balance of old and new for 2022.
thanks to book blogging, i feel the need to only read popular or new releases. but i can’t say it’s a bad thing. they’re mostly great books (although i’m sure i’m missing plenty of older good books too)
Book blogging changed my reading habits too, before I never knew about so many new releases and thanks to blogging its easier for me to discover so many of them. This year I feel like my reading has shifted where I read a good mix of new and backlist titles. Though I do feel like being a book blogger makes it challenging sometimes to keep up and know about all the new books. Such an interesting discussion!
I used to keep up with new releases more than I do now, but I’ve begun to find it exhausting. It’s impossible to really keep up, of course, and I find that I read a lot of things i’m not actually that excited about just to keep in the know. I feel like instagram is a good way to at least see the covers of a lot of upcoming books, but everyone posts about the same two or three, so then again maybe not.
Exhausting is the perfect word. I have definitely become more picky with the new releases I read and I completely see what you mean with Instagram!