The privilege of reading - My Story

*Please take note - this is going to be a bit of a long post, since I'm going to go through my reading life.

I was just sitting and thinking - I am REALLY privileged to be reading the books I am. I started off as your normal reader (take note, I'm 27 years of age, so the books that I'm going to mention might not be what is read in today's book reading world), reading books for kids; things like Goosebumps (a favourite of mine); Animal Ark was another series I liked reading, also Farthing Wood by Colin Dann...and then near the end of primary school (standard 4,5 - grade 6,7) - my mom got me into the (adult) horror genre (yes, that young - shocker!), so I started reading the likes of Stephen King and Dean Koontz; this carried on throughout high school, with me reading other authors like Danielle Steel and Virginia Andrews. That was basically the bulk of my reading those years; with me making various trips to the local library every now and then.

I remember I was in high school when the Harry Potter phase came about - or rather - I was introduced to it (by two of my cousins) in high school. I wasn't one of those that got hyped up about the phase (there's only two books in the series that I haven't read - Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire), and the only copy I own is Order of the Phoenix. 

Then after I finished high school, my range of reading became a bit wider: I started reading crime/suspense/thriller and general adult contemporary. That's also around the time when the YA phase erupted. 

I delved a little into this genre, not quite latching on like a lot of people did; for me it was just some light reading. Yes, I read the Twilight series; found it ok, I have read The Hunger Games series (found that one good though I was sceptical at first), I've still got to finish the Fallen series, I have also read The House of Night series. One YA series that I LOVE (still got to finish it) is the Evermore series by Alyson Noël. Other than that I haven't really gotten into the YA genre.

Then about 2½ years ago, I started getting into Adventure fiction (think Wilbur Smith), and a little Historical Fiction as well. I've sort of delved into Erotica; but I don't really like it, I prefer your Danielle Steel and Nicholas Sparks romance.

This last year or so, I have been able to have the privilege of delving into Chick Lit and Women's Fiction; this is where my reading life really starts getting interesting. It started off by winning competitions, to participating in read-a-thons, and then I came to a point of watching Booktube. At a stage, I started Booktubing myself, which I really enjoy doing. 

At the beginning of this year, I decided to make a second Twitter account for myself, simply because my main Twitter account was becoming too cluttered. This second Twitter account is where my reading and writing goes. 

It wasn't long before I was approached to do book reviews - there was only one problem - I needed to be able to do Amazon reviews. And to be able to do that, I needed to purchase something; which I finally managed to do - 270 (South African Rand) later!

Being able to build and keep relationships with people who offer books for you to review is important (thank you Booktips/Booktasters - you guys are awesome!). The next three book review companies I decided to sign up for, though two of them is only when I've got the time to do other book reviews (i.e. you approach them with a book from their list that you would like to review, then they organize it for you), the other one is where you sign up to do book reviews, and from there you have three months to review the book (I also love reviewing for them as well - think Chick Lit/Women's Fiction). The last person I review for - is someone who does a book blog - and who also approached me to review books for their blog, and I'm absolutely privileged to be reviewing for them!

The only thing I hope - is that my book reviewing will go up from here - that I'll be able to refer readers to authors whose works they might like, thus introducing new fans that love delving into the world of reading.

Last Word:

Please note that these are my own honest opinions - which everyone is entitled to have - and be aware that everyone has their own taste in what books they choose to read. Now...let me get on with my book reading (and reviewing!)...