7 Ways To Switch Up Your Reading Experience

For the past couple of days, I kept getting this idea in my head for a blog post but I wouldn’t write it down and forget about it again after a short while (note to everyone out there: write down your blog ideas – you’ll need them at some point). Finally, while making myself breakfast this morning the idea popped up again and this time I actually wrote it down? And that’s how you guys are finally getting this blog post! 😀

Audiobooks

How about we start this list off with something most of you guys probably expect to hear from me at this point: audiobooks! If you’re a regular reader of The Caffeinated Bookworm Life you might even be tired of hearing me talk about audiobooks at this point but I just love them so much? And to me, they are a fantastic way of switching things up.

I’ll even listen to an audiobook while reading along in my physical copy of the same book. It’s mostly about experiencing the story I’m consuming in a different way – especially with rereads! I feel like at this point, I do most of my rereads via audiobooks.

And if you’re someone who struggles with audiobooks, give it a bit of time. Try different narrators, try different speeds (that was a big game changer for me, personally!) and don’t give up after the first try. It took me a little bit to fully get into them too. And same with Sandra who now loves them.

Travel Book With Friends

This is something I just very recently tried and I absolutely loved it! I had gotten my UK copy of Ace Of Shades pretty early thanks to the publisher and had asked both Sandra and Caro if they wanted to read it after me, which they did so I send them my copy after I finished reading and they both left their notes and tabs in there too.

Honestly, there is nothing more fun than being able to flip through that copy after and seeing what each of them wrote into the book and we actually enjoyed this so much that we’re planning on doing more traveling books in the future! 🙂

Just in case you’re not familiar with the concept, you basically just read the exact same copy with other people and leave your notes and comments in the book as you go. Once everyone is done reading, the book goes back to its owner.

Read A Webcomic, Graphic Novel, etc

To be honest, I have only ever read one graphic novel and that mainly just because it was part of The Lunar Chronicles and I already felt attached to these characters and their stories. But it was a great reading experience none the less and I can’t wait to hopefully read more in the future!

With webcomics, I also just recently gave the first one (Heartstopper by Alice Oseman) a try because I saw someone rave about it on Twitter. But both of these have been fantastic ways to switch up my reading a little and give me renewed motivation to read more which is always fantastic. 🙂

Buddy Reads

This might be somewhat similar to traveling books since you’re reading the same book with someone else, but this time around you’re actually reading it at the same time as the other person so you can talk about it immediately which makes reading a less solitary activity.

I’m still trying to figure out the best way for me to do buddy reads as I often end up not actually talking about what I’m reading much which I feel goes against what a buddy read is supposed to be. xD But it’s still super fun knowing that someone else is reading the exact same book at the same time as you and that you can talk to them about it!

Annotate / Don’t Annotate Your Book

Annotating! One of my favorite things to do with my physical copies! But if it’s something you do all the time anyway, maybe don’t annotate the next book you read. Just read it. Or you can try and annotate less – basically, do the opposite of what you’d usually do.

I’ve been annotating my books for quite a while now and I love looking at the books on my shelves and seeing them in their read states! Plus, using tabs can be another way to mark things without actually writing into your books if you don’t like doing it but still gives you that exterior ‘evidence’ of your books being read. 😉

Read A Book In Another Language

For those of you guys who speak more than one language, try reading a book in any of the other languages you speak! And if it’s the first time you’re reading a book in a different language try going for a book that you know and love!

I know it took me quite a bit to actually start reading mainly in English because I used to think my skills weren’t good enough to understand an entire book written in a language that wasn’t German. Especially because I often felt like I didn’t understand everything I read in English class during my junior and senior years in high school.

Turns out, my English skills were more than enough to read my beloved young adult books!

Switch Up Your Genre

This is hands down something I try to make sure to do more often than not to make sure I don’t fall into some kind of rut that I can’t get myself out of.

I mainly reach for fantasy and contemporary novels within the young adult category, so I try to make sure that I don’t just read one or the other. If I’m feeling super adventurous I might even pick up a sci-fi or maybe even a middle-grade book. I know. Especially with middle-grade books, I often find that they are so much fun and the narrators do such a fantastic job that I feel this renewed love for reading! Highly recommend giving them a try!

As I was writing this post, I slowly realized that this might also be really helpful for those among you guys who might feel a reading slump approaching them, so if this is you please give these tips a try? I wouldn’t want you to fall down the reading slump hole!

What are some things you guys like to try to switch up your reading experience? Do you maybe even have a routine in place to make sure you don’t get into a rut? Let me know in the comment below – I’m super curious to hear about it! 🙂