I love YA. They are my favorite type of books and I have always gravitated toward them. Or so I thought. Lately, I've noticed that I've been reading a lot more adult books, which is interesting because just a few years ago I didn't read any. But to figure out whether I'm really reading more adult books than YA these days, I decided to gather some data and look at my reading stats from previous years. What I found was very interesting...
The chart from 2020 was my norm for many years. But as you can see, over the last couple of years, I've been reading way more adult books, going from 8 books in 2020 to 44 in 2022! And so far this year I have read 20! That's 5 more adult books than YA this year!
HOWEVER, I like to re-read books. A lot. Last year I started a re-read of the adult urban fantasy series Elemental Assassin, a re-read that lasted through the beginning of this year. So, when this question popped into my head, whether I'm reading more adult books these days, the thought that re-reads are affecting these numbers also crossed my mind. Because at first glance at the charts above, yes, I am technically reading more and more adult books than YA as the years go by. But what if I remove those re-reads?
HOWEVER, I like to re-read books. A lot. Last year I started a re-read of the adult urban fantasy series Elemental Assassin, a re-read that lasted through the beginning of this year. So, when this question popped into my head, whether I'm reading more adult books these days, the thought that re-reads are affecting these numbers also crossed my mind. Because at first glance at the charts above, yes, I am technically reading more and more adult books than YA as the years go by. But what if I remove those re-reads?
How interesting. So, I'm still reading a lot more adult books than way back in the day, just as I suspected, but I'm technically NOT reading more adult than YA overall. I don't think this is a good OR a bad thing, it was just something I noticed and wanted to confirm because I found it kinda interesting. I started this blog when I was a teenager, but I am officially in my 30s now, so I think it's only natural that I would start gravitating toward more adult books as I grow older. But I honestly don't see myself not reading YA anytime soon. I love YA. Obviously. Lol. But you see my blog header up above? Yeah, the one that says 'A Mostly YA Book Blog?' Yeah, if this trend continues, I'm gonna have to change that soon. Lol.
Let me know if you've noticed any interesting changes to your reading as you grow older or just as your reading preferences change.
I was a teen librarian for many years. When I retired I vowed I would keep reading YA because I loved it so much...and just like you I have found myself gravitating to adult novels, reading fewer and fewer YA. Now I also see the simplicity of YA novels in terms of conflict and character development. I often find the problems the teen encounter to be trite or obvious. I guess it is finally time for me to grow up. Ha!
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I completely get you on that! I was the same way, thinking YA is what I was going to read forever and ever. But no. It's been an interesting change, but not a bad one.
DeleteI, like you, used to read mostly YA. I have cut back a LOT since 2020 and read very few YA books. The ones I select are usually from favorite authors.
ReplyDeleteIt's been interesting to see that I'm not the only one. At this point, I'm not terribly selective with YA, but that might change in the future. Lol.
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