Although this isn’t today’s Top Five Wednesday topic, I really loved this month’s first topic, bookish things us readers have changed our minds about in our reading lives. Since I really loved this topic (let’s not talk about it, but blame it on finals for not allowing me to do it then and there), today I’ll be discussing some bookish things I never thought I would see differently.

Borrowing ebooks from the library

Let’s be clear: I am still not the world’s biggest fan of ebooks and I will always turn to physical copies whenever possible. As much as I would love to have my hands on some ARCs, I would much rather wait to read a finished copy than using NetGalley or Edelweiss. I think some of this may have to do with that fact that the only tablet I have access to is an iPad. Maybe if I had a tablet that was primarily meant for reading, like a Nook or Amazon Fire, I would be more open to ebooks. Nevertheless, I am a firm believer that nothing is better for me than being able to physically flip pages.

However, for certain titles, I do make exceptions and read ebooks. For example, I recently was on a blog tour for a book that was only available via ecopy and I was too interested in the book to pass up the opportunity to be on such a fun blog tour. While reading on my iPad wasn’t perfect- I had to read it in iBooks and the zoom wouldn’t stay the same as I flipped pages- I enjoyed the reading experience much more than I thought. There’s a few books available via my local library only as electronic copies that I plan on reading on my iPad. Instead of buying physical copies like usual when my library doesn’t have them, I am going to try and read borrowed ebooks when possible. The only thing I think I may not like about doing this is that I don’t want to bring my iPad when I read in the pool or on the beach.

Some books I’ve recently read as ebooks:

Posting my monthly TBRS

Until last summer, I never posted my monthly TBRs on the blog mostly because I was (and still am) very much a mood reader. I also felt that publishing my TBRs placed more pressure on me to actually read said books that month. I’ve been creating monthly TBRs both offline and online lately for a few reasons. One, I’ve had more time to read lately with summer time. Two, I need to figure out what books I can get from my local library and what ones I need to place on hold through the county system. Three, if I have books that I’ve been sent for review, they need to often get prioritized in my reading plans. I’ve combatted my moody reader self by planning out books that suit my reading mood. For example, I’ve been in the mood for a lot of contemporary lately, thus my May TBR was filled with contemporary books. I also realize that I don’t need to read every single book on my TBR—I often end up slightly adjusting my plans or reading even more books (which I include in my intro in almost every TBR post).

I haven’t posted TBRs every single month, but I’m starting to enjoy posting them. I like the discussion in the comments these posts encourage, from fellow readers sharing their thoughts on some of the books or their own TBR plans.

Unhauling books that I don’t love

I admit that I haven’t read or watched Marie Kondo. While I am certainly not purging my bookshelves, I’ve recently been putting aside books that I didn’t necessarily love or really enjoy. A lot of these books tend to be ones that I realized I didn’t enjoy so much until after I finished or books that are loved by many readers or are popular, but not necessarily by me. Regarding the first concern, I mostly unhaul these types of books so I can free up my limited shelf space. Regarding the second concern, no one needs to know what books I’m unhauling unless I want to share! When I unhaul, I either donate them to my local libraries (I also want to find a free book library around where I live) or put them up for #booksfortrade or #arcsfortrade on Twitter.

Using page tabs to keep track of my favorite quotes

As an English major, I am constantly annotating texts, aka writing and highlighting all over the text and margins. I also love marking pages with post-it notes and most of all, multi-colored tabs. I love annotating my school books, but I often do not do the same for ‘non-school’ reading. I’m not sure why I’m don’t care about marking up a text for school, but will scream if anyone takes a pen near my Rainbow Rowell collection. However, as someone who loves keep track of her favorite quotes and funny one-liners, I’ve been increasingly placing tabs in my books. This is super helpful for when I want to share a quote in a book review or for when I really want to revisit a favorite book, but don’t necessarily want to reread it right then and there.

Instantly checking a book as currently reading on Goodreads

This change may be out of pure laziness. Previously, as soon as I started reading a book, whether it was one page or one chapter, I would instantly scan my current read on the Goodreads app and mark it as ‘currently reading’. However, lately I haven’t felt the need to instantaneously do this. As much as I love using Goodreads to keep track of my shelves and yearly reading challenge, and I do still mark my books as currently reading or read, not rushing to the app has helped me continue to distance myself from my phone when reading.

Top 5 Wednesday is a collaborative group of book bloggers from various platforms who love sharing lists on Wednesdays. The T5W group can be found here on Goodreads.

What bookish things have you changed your mind about? Any of the above? Share in the comments!