I never thought that I would change my reading habits. For a very long time, I only ever read YA fantasy/paranormal. Seriously from the ages 12-16, I pretty much only read that. But then I started blogging and became more involved in the book blogging community, and that started to change what I read. I started reading out of my comfort zone. And you know what? It’s one of the best things I have done for my reading. 

It’s not an easy thing to do—reading something that you aren’t used to, that you don’t know. But it can be an amazing experience. Because it can change your comfort zone. You can love something that you never thought that you would. It can also show you something that you might not like, but you will never know until you at least try it. 

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I think one of the easiest things to do as a reader falls into a comfort zone. To start reading a genre or readership and just stick with it. And for the most part – I think that is totally fine and nothing to be ashamed of. I think to fall that easily into a genre or readership is pretty amazing and perfect. However, I also think that one of the best things you could do to start reaching out your comfort zone and read something that you didn’t think that you would.

I think a lot of this has to do with the bias and stigma we have against other genre’s and readerships. I wrote about this a couple of months ago and I still stand by it now. When I started to really read, I loved having a romance in all my books, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I took the plunge. It is then I started to read books that would class solely as romance. I didn’t believe everything that has been said about romances, but I didn’t know if I was reading to start reading it all – just in case.

But I took the leap. And it’s the best thing that I ever did. Romance makes up 80% of what I read now, and I love it so much. I still read heaps of YA and paranormal, but now there is so much more for me to choose from. There is so much more that can grab my attention. If you ask me 10 years ago if I would be reading romance more and more each year – I would have laughed in your face. 

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One of the best ways to read out of your comfort zone. Is to do it slowly. Read something that is similar to what you love and then move out from there. If you like YA fantasy, but haven’t read an adult fantasy. See if there is an author that you love in YA that has also read adult fantasy. Start from there and then read books that are similar. Or read an adult fantasy that has characters in their earlier twenties.

Don’t jump straight from YA to literary fiction. It’s not the way to go. Pick up a YA that is along those lines first. Something that stands out from the crowd in the writing and all the other trademarks of lit fic. It doesn’t necessarily have to be literary fiction, but close enough that you can get a feel for the writing style. And then you can pick up something more.

Once you are in the genre or readership, it’s easier to move around and find something that you like. In the case for me. I started by reading New Adult romances and then slowly moved more mainstream romance. And in doing that, I found the things that I love and the things that I don’t. From NA romances I found that I love sports romances – a lot. And then I slowly started to like historical romances, MC romances and many different other subgenre’s. 

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And while I talk about here the success of moving out of your comfort zone. It doesn’t always work that way. You can try and genre or readership, and it just doesn’t work for you. And that is totally fine, because you tried. I’m not a massive fan of non-fiction. I’ve picked it up here and there, but I don’t think it’s for me. I rather watch a documentary or mini-series at this moment. But that also doesn’t mean I won’t ever try non-fiction again. Especially when it’s such a massive genre and has so many subgenres.

One of the best suggestions I have for reading out of your comfort zone is – don’t do if you are not in the mood. If you go in thinking you are going to hate the book, you most likely will. Try and keep an open mind and pick it up when you feel like it. 

Reading out of your comfort zone isn’t easy to do. It’s not something that you can do overnight and be gone with it. You have to think about it and work out which way you would like to go. Don’t push yourself to read out of it either. Read something different when you think you are ready. Reading something that you never thought that you would and loving it, is such a great experience. And if it’s something that you are truly thinking about – do it. It is fun at least. 

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Have you read out of your comfort zone and love what you picked up? Has it been the opposite? What are your thoughts on reading out of your comfort zone? Let’s Chat!