I've been doing a lot of reading lately but, unfortunately, I've been enjoying it less. The problem hasn't been in the stories themselves but in the editing.
As a retired editor, I notice these things more. Sure, I know how the eye automatically corrects some things, like misspelled words but it stops dead on blatant errors. Things like missing words, or words that were repeated because a phrase was changed and not all the unnecessary words were removed. Words that are in the wrong order and throw off the whole meaning of the sentence. I can't say how many times I've had to stop to reread a sentence because the way it was written made no sense whatsoever.
There have been places where small words, "a, and, the, so, etc." have been left out so the typed line will be properly spaced. Other words have their endings dropped (ly, ing) for the same reason. It might take a little more time and work but it's worth it to find a different word to say the same thing and not disrupt the line flow and spacing.
The use of commas has also been left by the roadside. You have to keep in mind "Eats shoots leaves." Commas make a great deal of difference in the interpretation. Leave them out and you might end up with a sentence that says something that was totally unintended or makes no sense. Sometimes the unintended meaning can be quite amusing while other times you're asking, "What's that got to do with the story?"
I've seen forms of words and their usage change. Lighted instead of lit; shined, instead of shone. "Shined" is only for shoes, not for illuminating a dark space. I understand language changes over time, but let's face it, some of those changes aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Some of those changes only demean language.
I'm not saying that all editors are doing a bad job. There are still some very good ones out there who care about what they're doing. It just seems like the whole process is slowly drifting to the wayside. I also know that some editors rely strongly on editing manuals. In my opinion, just because AP Stylebook says a change is acceptable doesn't make that change right.
I don't know about other readers, but for me, with the overall deteriorating editing, I find myself purchasing fewer books. Not a good thing for the industry.
