Discussion: My Thoughts on Rereading

Since I posted my first re-review of a book this week, I thought discussing rereading in general would be appropriate.

There are many different views on rereading in the book blogging community. Many people don’t do it because they can barely keep up with all the new and review books as is, which I totally understand. Some people don’t do it because they just don’t feel like reading a book where they already know what’s going to happen. Some people reread simply because they want to remember what happened before reading the next book in the series, while some people only reread when they need a pick-me-up after a bit of a reading slump.

I have multiple reasons that I reread books, and it’s something that I do a lot. Not as much as I did before I started blogging, of course, but I still mange to reread quite a bit. As I write this, I’ve currently reread eight books this year, and that number will probably be even higher by the time this post goes up. And there are just so many reasons that I want to reread books, as I already said.

Reason 1: Catching Up

This is probably the most practical reason. When you go roughly a year between reading Book A in a series and want to read the latest Book B, you tend to forget some things. If it’s a series that I really like, I tend to pick up the previous book or books and reread them right before I read the latest book. Sometimes I don’t read them all in one go, but that’s very rare, and I never really go a week or two in between rereading/reading the latest book. It can be kind of annoying with the latest book starts off with a minor recap when I already know what happened because I just read the previous book, but for the most par this is just really, really helpful to me. I read a lot of books every year, and even when I like a book, I don’t always remember everything that happened. Rereading makes things easier.

Reason 2: It’s Comfortable

I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but I read so much to escape. Sometimes I want to escape a bad day, a bad week, whatever period of time that’s sucking; sometimes I’m stressed out and just need a quick break; and sometimes I’m perfectly happy but I want to read the adventures of someone else for a while. So, it makes a lot of sense that I want to reread the books that help me properly escape over and over again. The more and more I read a book, the more comfortable I am with the story and the characters and the world they live in. I can escape to them in my head if I want, but there’s just something about escaping to the worlds between the pages of a book. Rereading favorites can be like wrapping yourself up in a warm childhood blanket with a bunch of stuffed animals all around you – it’s comfortable and wonderful and just what you needs sometimes

Reason 3: It’s Better than Drowning My Sorrows in Alcohol, Right?

Well, I can’t even legally drink yet, so there’s that, but even when I turn 21 I’d rather turn to books than vodka or something. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I sometimes like rereading books to help me get over painful books. So, it kind of goes with Reason #2. Sometimes just reading books that I know are fluffy can help, but there’s always a chance that I won’t like the book and I’ll get even more sad or frustrated or whatever. It’s much nicer to turn to a book I already know I love after reading a book that I loved but crushed my emotion or one that I kind of hated. It’s comfortable, yes, but it can also be soothing. And, unlike actually drinking, this can be a cure for a (book) hangover rather than something that causes a hangover!

Reason 4: Why Else Would I Buy Books in the First Place?

As I recently wrote in a discussion post, I don’t really buy that many books. Most of the non-rereads that I read are from the library, either physical or ebook. I only really buy a book if I’ve already read and loved it or I have a lot of faith in the author. So, the few books that I do buy, I might as well read them, right? I mean, what’s the point otherwise? I buy these books because I love them enough to reread them or because I think I’m going to love them enough for that. If I don’t reread them, then I feel guilty and like I’m wasting my money. I’m not saying that anyone who buys a book and doesn’t read/reread it should feel guilty – that’s just my personal issue. So, yeah, I might as well reread the books that I spent my hard-earned cash on.

Reason 5: Because I Can!

Despite my status as a Really Big Book Lover, I’m not a fan of being told what and when to read. I rarely liked the books I had to read for class, which is why I want to reread some of them on my own terms later on. I love reading books for the first time, but I don’t want to be told that I can only read new (and newly released) books because I need to write reviews for them and such. No one’s ever said this to me, but I definitely feel the pressure to try and read as many new books as possible so that I have reviews for them and my stats go up and all of that. So, sometimes, I just want to say “Screw it! I’m going to reread something that I already know I love and there’s nothing you can do about it!” This isn’t directed at anyone (except perhaps the annoying little voice in my head telling me that of course I can read a book or two a day, why am I so slow?!), but it’s nice knowing that I can do that without having to deal with the pressure of writing an essay or a review at the end of the book.

So, yeah, I’m definitely a rereader, as you can obviously see. There are months where I reread a lot and months where I barely, if at all, but I am a bona fide and proud rereader. What about you?