Beyond Reality discussion

Do you re-read books? If so, why?

I am a rare re-reader. I will re-read earlier books in a series if a significant amount of time has passed between books in a series or if an author later decides to add onto or continue what had been thought to be a completed series. I try to avoid that problem by not starting a series until it’s completed. I do, however, occasionally break that “rule”.

Otherwise, no. So many books, so little time! I want to use that time for new adventures!

While there are a few books from my tweens and teens that I would like to reread (at some point), my response is the same as Kathi's.

Reread earlier books in a series, yes.
Childhood favorites, yes.
Other good books, sometimes, yes, to get out of a reading slump.
Great books, just because, y'know, they're great.

I have a whole shelf here on GR called "to enjoy again."

Oh yes, I am a rereader. In fact, a good portion of why I joined Goodreads in the first place was to help keep me from just rereading all of the time. Its also the reason why I don't mark books with multiple read dates. I don't want to encourage the practice.

As for Why, have you ever heard the term Comfort Food? Its a similar concept, though I am having troubles coming up with the right words to explain it. There's something about knowing what is going to happen, the anticipation of hitting maybe beloved scenes, or spending time with characters I enjoy. They are, for the most part, easy to read.

A few examples would be

Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

Belgariad and Mallorean series by David Eddings

A Bad Spell in Yurt - I have purchased a few paperbacks of this book. I kept reading them so much and so often that the books literally fell apart on me and I had to keep the pagers together with rubber bands.

Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold

Young Wizards by Diane Duane

Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - books and radio series

Murderbot would be added to this list if I wasn't struggling to keep it from happening :)

You'll notice all of these are either good sized series or part of a good sized series. That's another thing about rereading, especially series. You don't have to figure out what you feel like reading next. You already know and are already committed.

I prefer not to re-read. I will re-read health books to refresh my memory. I have also re-read Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery so many times, (that is my one and only comfort read). And I will also re-read previous series books if I've been away from it for awhile, but most of the time I'll just wing it and hope I remember enough to make it work.

I re-read less than I used to but still quite a bit. Definitely for comfort - favorite comfort reads are Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books, David Eddings’ Belgariad and Malloreon, and childhood favorites like Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie.

I’ll re-read earlier books in a series when a new one comes out if I feel like I need a refresher.

I’ll re-read books that I don’t remember well but do remember enjoying. This usually happens when I’m in a mood for something very specific and I’m not sure if any new books I have on hand will deliver.

Some books I read over and over and over again. I love finding a writer I want to re-read. William Gibson, Ken MacLeod, Michael Marshall Smith, Alistair Reynolds, Iain Banks. I've been on a Becky Chambers re-reading jag as well.

I reread extremely rarely. Only for books I really enjoyed that I haven't read for 10+ years. And still it's 1 reread per year or fewer. There's so many books I haven't read that I want to it feels like a waste of reading time to reread.