Do you reread books or are you done with them once you’ve read them?
I like to reread books sometimes! Rereading is especially good if I’ve just finished something heavy or intense; I can follow that up with something that I’ve enjoyed before so it doesn’t take too much effort and I can have a bit of a break. I also don’t have the greatest retention for what I read, so even if I’ve read something before there’s no way I’ll remember everything. And there are certain books that are comforting and cozy and those are great to reread when I want that kind of mood.
I only reread my so-called “comfort books”. Whenever I feel like I’m having a hard time in my life I grab my Dune or my Foundation and feel amazing for a little while, being immersed in these worlds I love so much.
I definitely reread my favorite series. The thing about re-reading a book is that you don’t actually ever get the full experience the first time around. Well-written books are full of foreshadowing, not just of plot points, but themes. The first time you read a book, you don’t really know what it’s about yet, what the book will eventually decide is it’s overall thesis, and where the characters’ journeys will take them. Critical moments that shift the trajectory of a story may happen quietly, only important in retrospect.
When you read a book a second or a third time you get to do so with all of the context of where the story is going, and it lets you catch so much more.
This example is from television, but The Good Place is my favorite show, and (spoilers) one of its central theses ends up being the modern world makes unethical choices unavoidable.
Very early on in the show we get a scene of Eleanor making fun of her boyfriend when he says they should find a new coffee shop, after the owner of their current one is outed as a sexist pig. She lists a bunch of other products they buy like smartphones and sports games and says that bad stuff is unavoidable so why bother?
At that point in the show, the scene is just a way to show you what a dirt bag Eleanor was on earth. But on a seconds viewing, with foresight, you can clock it laying early groundwork for one of the main arguments that the show wants to make.
This is one of the reasons I don’t mind getting spoiled on stuff, and in some cases will spoil myself on purpose. When you know how the story ends, you get to pick up all the little things it does to get there, without reading or watching it twice. I went to film school and am a bit of a story nerd so for me that’s the most enjoyable part of watching someone else tell their story.
The Good Place is one of my favorite shows, too! I need to rewatch it, again, soon.
I typically re-read the LOTR, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion once a year. Well, The Silmarillion is once every two years because, whew, it is a dense one.
I’ll get around to The Silmarillion eventually; I have to psyche myself up for it, ha ha!
Wow, that’s a lot of rereading. Me and some friends do a LOTR watch party every year, making food and eating food as they eat it in the movies. But reading the books every year, that’s quite a feat!
It’s just evokes a feeling of deep comfort for me. The Hobbit was the first novel I read by myself as a kid, was so proud to finish it haha
Ever since, returning to The Shire and Arda brings out that same feeling of a warm childhood home.
Makes it easy to go back for a visit every year 😄
I re-read books frequently. But then, I am a fast and voracious reader. I’ve recently been trimming down my library from around 7000 books due to an upcoming move, and there’s a hardcore of about 2000 I’m unwilling to get rid of because they’re either reference materials or old friends I expect to re-read before I die. There are some things (LOTR, much Heinlein, Oz books, Alice in Wonderland…) that I’ve read a dozen times or more.
I do re-read some non-fiction, mainly history. But most of my well-worn books are fiction.
Alright, I like you.
I only reread books I really love like ASOIAF, Stormlight, and Malazan.
I reference books more than reread them, unless I’m actively writing something about a piece of literature. I would love to reread more books, but being reminded how few books one can ultimately read in a lifetime makes me want to read new things instead.
Pretty much every single Disc World novel by the late and great Sir Terry Pratchett, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Barry Hughart’s 3 Master Li novels, Detective Dee/Judge Dee by Robert van Gulik, Martha Wells excellent Murderbot novels, Marie Andreas fun Lost Ancients series, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and more.
Some of these give me great comfort (Terry Pratchett) and some are just amazingly well written.Very often, honestly. I’ll sometimes just remember scenes from a book I really liked and go back and read the surrounding text… too often that turns into a full reread.
I reread if I really liked something and once such a long time has passed that I forgot 90% of it. My memory isn‘t great, so I think at least 7 years maybe is when that happens.
Yes! I love to reread my favorites. It’s like visiting old friends. Pride and Prejudice, Lord of the Rings, the Wheel of Time, Matilda, Watership Down. Can you look at a favorite painting too much? That’s how it feels to me- another visit to a beautiful work of art.
No. I’ve probably got a little over 1000 books left in my lifetime given my rate of reading, age and average lifespan.
There are so many books in the world I want to experience. Re-reading a book is a new book I won’t read.
Definitely. There are books that have hit me differently as I’ve grown. :)
Most books only once, a few a couple of times, and my favorites multiple times.
@TimTheEnchanter the only book(s) I re-read is The Lord of the Rings.
Some books just beg to be read again and again. I am on my 3rd copy of The Lord of the Rings, 2nd of Dune. The advent of good reading apps, like fbreader on Android saved my Ian M. Banks collection from a similar fate. That said my copy of The Algebrist is starting to show its age.
So yes rereading a good book can be fun.
