this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2023
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Literature

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yes.

Sometimes it's because I'm sure there are depths and nuances that I missed before, so I want to go through it again to pick up additional things. And there have even been times that I've done that immediately - gone straight from the end back to the beginning.

Sometimes it's because I remember enjoying a book but I don't remember much of the details, so I get the urge to reread it to enjoy it again and refresh myself on the details.

And sometimes it's just a world or characters that I love, so it's like taking a vacation to visit old friends.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I reread great books frequently, good books occasionally, and mediocre to poor books not at all. But I'm lucky: although I have a great memory, I can reread a book and get as much enjoyment or more from it as the first time.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I've only reread a couple. Ghost Story by Peter Straub and I am re reading the Malazan series so I can finish the last three books without being too lost.

Generally I enjoy the experience of reading a new story and rereading I end up a bit bored.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I never understood rereading books. There is so much content in the world, so many books, and reading is time consuming; why reread when you can read something new? I don't get much from rereading because I already have most of the plotpoints at the tip of my tongue so nothing really wows me anymore about, as much as I wish I could relive my first time with them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

There are some books I read every five years or so. Every new read resonates differently and kind of helps me figure out where I'm at now. I just feel them so much. They're:

  • Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino
  • Soul Mountain - Gao Xingjian
  • The Abyss - Marguerite Yourcenar
  • Fictions - Jorge Luis Borges
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@TimTheEnchanter the only book(s) I re-read is The Lord of the Rings.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I read LOTR 3 times in the 80s during summer vacations from high school & college. I plan to read them again in a couple years after I retire. I hope to reclaim the experience of my youth, but with more experience under my belt.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I reread books all the time. I have several I go back to regularly from my preteen/teen years. It's like watching a movie from your childhood, lol, nostalgic and comfortable. I always pick up new/forgotten tidbits .

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

There are a few books I like to relive every now and then. For me, it's a guilty pleasure, to be honest. Wish I could do it more often, and for more books.

The ones that come to mind are Little Brother, by mr. Doctorow, Sandman by mr. Gaiman (mostly the Death chapters) and... Let's see... Ah, yes, Neuromancer, because I'm a sucker for mainstream books, and that's the one that got me through life.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Constantly. I read Harry Potter every year (despite any misgivings I have about the author), lately to my kid before putting them down to sleep.

The God of Small Things, LoTR, the Hobbit, Dune, the Foundation series, the Nightrunner series (by Lynn Flewelling), the Left Hand of Darkness. One of my favorite things to do is to reread novels I loved as a child and see if they held up.

Reading a book again, you notice things you've forgotten or missed. And you've changed as a person, so your understanding is different every time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Back before the Internet was really a thing I would sometimes reread some of the few favorite books that I owned. Like a lot of other posters, LotR was a staple though I did find myself skipping through the parts where things got slow. Jurassic Park and the Lost World were another set that I enjoyed every time through.

When I was much younger, I read all of the star wars books that I could get my hands on. A few years after I had stopped reading them, I randomly got bored and decided to check what new stuff had come out. I picked one out and got about 3/4 through before realizing that it was not a new book and that I had read it before. So much for retention!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Never did for novels, but I often re-read light novels, manga and artbooks.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

When I was a kid I read Harry Potter 6 times forward and once backwards (going chapter by chapter starting with book 7)

Now it's hard to justify rereading a book when there are so many books on my reading list (and on my shelf) that I haven't read yet.

Though I have read HPMoR twice because I was going to recommend it to someone but wanted to check if it was as good as I remembered. Read the first few chapters and then got sucked in and read the whole thing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yep, totally do. I'm usually on the lookout for something new, but I have no fault with rereading a book when the mood comes up. A lot of my reasons seem to line up with yours: it can be a good decompressor, the novelty kinda returns after a while, certain books are Comfort Books. Besides that, I think there's already a default understanding for games being replayed and TV and movies being rewatched. Why does reading have to be any different if I don't want it to be 😅?

There's also the utility in doing so with textbooks or literature I read for professional reasons. Sure, manuals focused on tech rather than practices and technique might not be as evergreen, but even tech specific manuals often have specific strategies that could be worth taking the time to get a reminder of. Just gotta make sure that information is indeed still applicable and hasn't been deprecated somehow.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I like to reread a loved series/book between reading other things. It helps keep me from getting in a reading slump.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Sometimes! My favourite series I've reread twice. Which at nearly 50 books (at the time) was quite the endeavour.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I only reread, when reading a book to a child. Otherwise rereading is very rare for me.

I do like to read some very generic fantasy genres, like for example Isekais/Portal Fantasies or fan fictions. Novels in that area are so similar to each other, you may as well count that as reading the same thing over and over again. Each novel has its own twists and strengths though, so it always feels fresh.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Honestly, I Have yet to try such thing. Partially, because I have always something new to read, but hmm... Maybe I will try doing so later. Who knows, might be fun :D

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yes, I reread them and take notes. After many years of being an active reader I've realized that it doesnt matter how many books you read, but how many books you read well and what you can recall from them further on that can bring meaningful context to new contents or situations.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
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