Has blogging changed my reading behaviour?

I have been blogging for over a year now and I think it's time to analyse my reading behaviour before and now.
And I can already tell you, it has changed a lot.


Before I started my blog I already have been writing down which books I have read in which month but not to count the amount I have read. I liked being able to look back and especially with series I wanted to know how long it's been that I read the first book for example.

But since I have been blogging I kept track of everything concerning my reading: the amount of books, the page count per month and per day.

And don't get me wrong, I really like statistics but I have to admit that it has put a lot of pressure on me to get my page count up. I end up feeling bad when I don't get around to reading a lot. On the other hand I am proud of myself when the pages I read are above my average.
So there are advantages and also disadvantages with regard to documentation.

But there is another aspect and I don't know how to feel about it. And that is book buying.
Before I started my blog I didn't have many unread books, in fact I bought a book or two, I read them and then I bought the next book. The only exception to that was when I went to the library. I went there about once a month and took four to five books home with me. And that felt a lot to me.

Now my TBR pile counts more than 30 books and it is still growing. I buy more books than I read and that makes me feel pressured to read more.
I haven't been to a library for more than a year and I don't plan changing that in the near future. I already have too many books at home that are still waiting to be read.

Currently I'm trying to reduce my TBR pile but it just doesn't work, there are too many cheap books everywhere that I just can't resist buying.
And that's another habit that I developed although I don't know if it's because of blogging. I rarely pay the full price for books anymore as I have discovered a lot of alternative ways to get my hands on them other than in a bookshop.

So I can say that my reading and book buying behaviour has changed significantly. I am more aware now of how I read and how much I read.
Sometimes I wish I could just walk into a bookshop again without knowing all the books that I see there. So that I could choose them without having all those opinions of other book bloggers and booktubers in my head.