The Pros and Cons of Rereading

chat.jpgI have a huge problem with rereading. I don’t mean that I hate it, I just mean that I constantly reread books (or want to at least). For the past two years, one of my resolutions is to reread less and make sure I pick up a new book or one that’s been gathering dust for the past few months or years on my shelf. I’ve been sticking to it! I think there are pros and cons to rereading and I wanted to talk about them here.

Pros

Overanalysing your favourite characters and moments
Let’s be honest – who DOESN’T love this? I adore reading my favourite books over and over again to find new meanings and find out unnoticed things about the characters or the places. It’s why I’ve read the Harry Potter series seven times (don’t judge me, please). I read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe less than a year ago and I’ve been itching to read it for months because I adore it so much! Overanalysing fictional characters is fun and one of my favourite things to do.

The comforting feeling
Rereading a book is like curling up for a cute night in with a close friend. It’s always ones which have a special place in your heart that you want to read again so picking it up gives you a sense of comfort and homeliness. You can sink back into the familiar settings and it feels as though you’re already there. There’s no need to be introduced to characters and places because you’ve already done that. You know your favourite parts and you can skip straight to them if you wish.

New excitement
As well as the familiarity of the story, you also get a buzz because you know you will enjoy it. There is no doubt in your mind that you will not enjoy this book because you love it already. Not only this, but if it’s a book you read when you were much younger and you pick it up again years later, you understand things differently and in a more knowledgable way.

Cons

You don’t read anything new!
If I gave into my wishes and reread a book every time I felt like it, I’d never read anything new! I got stuck in a rut of only rereading for a while and I realised how much I was missing. Everyone was talking about new releases and recommending different books and I had nothing to talk about!

You stick to similar books or genres
This might just be me, but I find that when I constantly read the same books I always stick to similar types of genres. I think it’s because I get in the mindset of wanting familiarity and easy choices rather than something I would never normally try. I am a person who likes safety and comfort so sometimes I can nestle into a genre and not leave it for ages until I get the fear that I’m missing out on so many good stories!

I know I can’t be the only person who does this! Are there any books you reread (or want to reread) a lot? Let me know!

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6 thoughts on “The Pros and Cons of Rereading

  1. Another problem with rereading is that you don’t get the same magic as you do the first time. The best thing about reading a book is the fact that you have NO idea what is going to happen next, but you don’t get that with a reread. I really wish sometimes that I could forgot everything about my favourite books so I can reread them and experience them again!

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  2. I love rereading books (Harry Potter is a yearly must-reread!)! I have also had issues in the past. One year I reread HP 3 times. The whole series..in one year…I read nothing else that year, which was bad for me, so I haven’t done it to that excess since. I also wrote a post about rereading, so I am definitely with you on that! I love the idea that you are never the same person you were when you read the book(s) the previous time so it is always a different experience in some way!

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  3. I really love rereading 💙 But some books are not the same on a second time. What was a plot twist is not new anymore, and it might even become boring! Other books are almost MADE to be read again and again. It’s true, and frustrating, that rereading is no step forward to conquering your TBR, and it does make me feel like I’m missing out on amazing new releases! Those don’t mean I don’t still reread and wish to reread more 💙

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