Rereading Old Favorites | Discussion

I had a lot of thoughts pertaining to rereads as I was writing up yesterday's post on The Lies of Locke Lamora. I thought I'd take advantage of an opportunity to spark some discussion.

The first thing I'd like to know is do you reread?

I am a rereader. I love it. I reread books for pretty much the same reason I sit down and binge watch old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's great to visit old friends, and I love re-experiencing really great writing.

If you reread, why?

I will sometimes reread books in a series before a new one comes out (like The Lies of Locke Lamora), but I don't think I've ever done it just to remember the details. I think I only reread out of love and not out of necessity.

Bonnie (from For the Love of Words) mentioned this week that she's considering rereading Justin Cronin's The Passage series before the final book The City of Mirrors is released. I had an OMG moment because it hadn't crossed my mind. I immediately knew I wouldn't be able to get the idea of a reread out of my mind. I didn't love the second book, though. I think I might just have to reread The Passage and hope that I remember what happened in The Twelve.

If I were a much faster reader, I would probably be willing to reread a series book that I wasn't in love with, but my current reading time is precious to me. Rereads do take up time that could be spent reading new stories. At 766 pages, rereading The Passage will not be insignificant, but I know I will be getting a story that I love so it's a fair trade for me.

The fact that I'm a slow reader and a rereader brings me to a bit of a rant:

Goodreads

Having no way to log a reread is hell on my challenges. I've tried adding multiple copies of the same book, but then that messes up my stats and book comparisons. I recently realized I can at least keep track of the dates in the "private notes" of my review, but I'd love to have the dates reflected in my challenges. The stats I share at the end of the year aren't actually correct because I go by what Goodreads tells me and that doesn't include my rereads.

How do you log your rereads at Goodreads?

The past few years has found me rereading a lot of books with my kids (which has been awesome). There have been a few books I wouldn't have necessarily reread on my own so it has been great getting to remember the things I loved about those books when I was younger. I have also been exposed to some really great books I didn't read as a child. One of those books is Charlotte's Web which I have already reread since first experiencing it two years ago. I may just continue to reread that one every year...

Audiobooks

One thing I've started doing is rereading books via audio. I'm really loving experiencing my favorites in a new way. I've been using my audible credits to gather up Robert McCammon's Matthew Corbett books. I have some catching up to do on that series anyway so I thought it might be great to start back at the beginning with the audiobooks.

What books have you reread?

While I've managed reread a lot of my favorite books, Harry Potter is probably the only series I continue to reread over and over again. I can't help myself.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on rereading (or the reasons you choose not to reread).