Does this book look used to you?
More like abused, you mean? You're so right and I won't even show the inside with the drawings ... I'm afraid I very much did my part, but in my defense, from the style of the drawings they are from before I went to school. I quickly learned to treat my books better.
This is our family copy of the "Just So Stories" (which is the only reason why the book is still around). You won't be surprised to hear that my favorite story has always been "The Cat That Walked By Himself", so much so that we even added a printout of it to the Christmas gifts for our vet practice one year.
I'm totally digressing, sorry.
The other day, a fellow blogger said that she doesn't often re-read books. Thinking about it, I understand that, after all there are so many books out there, new worlds, new characters, new authors, new writing styles, and so little time, but I don't think I ever discussed with anyone or even wondered why I myself re-read.
I couldn't tell you how often I have re-read the "Just so stories" during my life, not always all of them, but at least my favorite ones. In fact, there are a lot of books I have re-read once, twice, ten times or more.
Some people have a schedule for re-reading certain books. I only have that for the Christmas time, both for re-reading and re-watching, by the way, yes, even re-playing. Christmas without at least reading "The Dark is Rising", watching "The Bishop's Wife" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas", and playing "Jewel Match Winter Wonderland 2" is a no go for me.
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| This book didn't originally lose its cover from long time use, but in an accident. Not that you think I treat all my books like this! |
What makes me re-read, though? And what are the pros and cons?
I should mention that this post refers to private reading only and isn't about studying methods. Of course it still includes fiction and non-fiction for which I think reasons for re-reading can but don't have to differ.
Also, I'm going to add some article links below the post, but the post itself will list my personal reasons in random order.
1. If I love a book, I want to recreate the feeling I had when I first read it. Ah! I hear you asking if that can't be dangerous. You're right of course, it can.
It can be terrible to have a book lose its magic over time, for example beloved children's books.
On the other hand, it's absolutely wonderful if my inner child still feels the magic and takes me back again. The magic may not be as strong - it has been quite a few years since I wished for a living Kasperle 😉 - but even the memory of a happy time can be worth it for me.
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| One of the books from the series with the living Kasperle |
Now if I'm shocked of course because a book really didn't age well for me - and that can have all kinds of reasons from a bad writing style to an terrible plot, but also misogyny, racism, etc. (children's book were just an example) - doesn't that just mean ...
2. ... that I have learned something in the meantime? Got more mature? Developed my critical thinking?
Maybe my taste has simply changed, though. As a kid I hated Brussels sprouts and loved Chinese cabbage, now I love the sprouts and am not a fan of the cabbage anymore.
I can determine if my joy over a book has vanished completely or if it's just dimmed.
I have never been afraid of the possibility that I won't like a book anymore, but I totally understand if someone doesn't want to take the risk of spoiling a good memory.
3. Every time I re-read a Pratchett book I find something I had forgotten about or maybe never really picked up on. I'm a fast reader and I'm sure I miss details here and there.
Of course that also goes for other books.
Or maybe I suddenly understand a joke or a quote or a pun because I have learned something since the last time which allows me to get it now. I love those "ooooooh" moments. I read in both German and English and of course I don't get all English puns or references to certain things and of course I can't look them up if I don't even recognize them at the time.
It's also possible that I read the book differently the first time round because I was in a different state of mind and therefore pick up on things when re-reading it that I couldn't see before.
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| "Witches Abroad" was the first Discworld novel I ever read, a spontaneous buy from the old book shop in the railway station. Pratchett had me at the first few sentences. |
4. I have a very selective memory at times. There are books I remember very well and there are books that I would swear I have never read.
That's why I hate books getting published under different titles. Some of the vintage crime books I'm reading right now have those for different German editions, but even some of the English originals were not published under the same title in the UK and the USA.
So yes, I have bought doubles before and got a déjà vu feeling reading the second book which is no wonder because I already knew it, but couldn't tell from the blurb. Now I always check beforehand with older books.
Anyhow, ask me who the murderer is and it's possible I won't be able to tell you anymore if it has been long enough.
Even if I do know the murderer, however, I might just enjoy the story of how they got caught.
5. I like to read series if I like (at least some of) the characters. Chances are I will be re-reading one or the other book of a series if a new one comes out. Maybe I just want to refresh my memory about a storyline or a character or maybe I want to get in the right mood.
I will probably not re-read the whole series, though, because who has the patience for that if a new one is waiting?
6. I used to keep almost all the books I bought, building up my little library. Getting older, I have become ready to let go of those I know I won't be reading again, so I go through my library to see which books I haven't read in a long time and if it's time for them to move on.
Re-reading them - or some of them if it's a series - can help with that decision if reading the blurb isn't enough and can make it easier to let a book go.
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| Books waiting to be released into the wild aka to be taken to the public book cabinet |
7. Ritual. I already mentioned that above. I don't do that with a lot of books, though.
8. Soul food. There are books that don't fall under the ritual category, but that I still re-read quite a lot.
Those are usually books I grab when I feel the need for them, the need to escape, to indulge in happy memories, to laugh, the need for a happy ending, and sometimes even the need for a good cry.
They can be children's books, crime, ghost stories, memoirs, anthologies, short stories by one author, romances, fantasy, cat books, whatever.
It's good to have a bit of everything to pick the right one from for that particular moment.
9. Re-reading something I didn't quite get into the first time or that was a bit meh, maybe even a DNF. I don't that do that a lot, to be honest, and haven't done it in a long time, but it has worked out for me before.
Won't re-reading eat up precious time that I need for my TBR?
No because I don't really have a TBR list, except one on The Internet Archive where I add and delete books quite randomly. The same goes for my library account.
I don't have piles of books lying around anymore. I stopped that when my diabetes cat Merlin had problems making it to the litter box in time (or possibly had started working as a book critic, either way it was no fun).
I also don't keep up with new publications or authors. I'm not on Goodreads, NetGalley, and all of those sites I don't even know the name of. I don't have Amazon Prime or a Kindle. I don't watch BookTubers (unless one of the start page recommendations looks really interesting) or Bookstagram or BookTok, in fact I don't even have a TikTok account.
I only just started connecting with some people blogging about books, but have never participated in a challenge, for example.
Don't get me wrong, though, I'm not saying there's anything wrong about those things (how could I, they are about books), they are just not for me, at least at the moment.
If you are a re-reader yourself or not, I'd love to hear your reasons 😊
Articles:
1. Sage Nestler: The 3 Healing Benefits of Re-Reading. On: Peachy Keen Reviews & Bibliotherapy, August 10, 2023
2. Hellsim Omar: 10 Psychological Benefits of Rereading Your Favorite Books. On: Haven Read, September 16, 2024
3. "C8lin": Why Reread Books? The Pros and Cons of Rereading. On: The Artifice, November 18, 2016