To Re-read or not, that is the question!

Let's face it folks, we are staring down our mortality! Time is short and there are so many books yet to be read. The question is: do you find pleasure in re-reading or do the shiny new have more appeal?

I have a few old favorites I re-read every few years on an informal rota. A few of them have dropped off because they don't speak to me as much anymore. But it was interesting to see how my response to the books changed over decades. A few newer books are added to the re-read rota from time to time.

I don't enjoy reading when I feel frantic about meeting a yearly quota or cramming in as many books as possible before I croak. Though I did once figure out how many books I would have time to read based on my current reading rate and expected life span based on life insurance actuarial tables.

>1 Tess_W:

I've never really thought about it like that. After I kick the bucket I won't care what I've read and what I haven't.

I reread Lord of the Rings regularly, and for some reason Ivanhoe made a big impression on me when I was young, and I have reread that a few times. Swallows and Amazons was also worth the occasional reread as an adult. From time to time I remember some book which I read a long time ago, or I come across it accidentally, and I reread it. But I'm not in a hurry and I don't have any quota nor "bucket list". I try to take life (and death) as it comes.

LT is to blame for new reading material on audio; as there is little opportunity to shelf shop nowadays. But I have several lifetimes worth of reading material right here at home and still I return to books I’ve already read. They are old friends.
Do you ignore your old friends?

>4 2wonderY:

Do you ignore your old friends?

What a wonderful way to put it!

There are books that I re-read regularly, such as Dorothy L. Sayers' Wimsey-Vane books, Little Women, among others.

I have books that I reread to death. But I haven't reread a book for many years, and really don't think that I want to. I think that I stopped when I discovered that they didn't give me the same enjoyment the next time around. I'd rather seek out something new that would give me the same level of enjoyment that my old favorites did, first time around.

>6 vwinsloe: I'm like you, I've re-read several books and they were disappointing the second time around. The only exception were the Little House books, which were actually better.

I've re-read many times, and usually enjoy it. But there have been times when something strikes me a different way - one of the things of gaining more life experience is seeing through more than one lens. It can't be helped.

But I wouldn't ignore an old friend, as so nicely put up there, if it were sitting there looking at me. :)

I do have a nice TBR stack, and tend to go buy new books once I've read them. But I also keep all my books, so surely the thinking in establishing one's library is the intention, conscious or not, of re-visiting them at a later date?

I've read and re-read many books multiple times. Even more than a total re-read is re-reading certain paragraphs/pages/chapters of books - I couldn't even estimate the number of times I've done this. The same thing holds true for short stories and movies on DVD's. One big plus with respect to DVD's is the ability to quickly search the DVD for the particular scene(s) I want to watch again. As for the pleasure of re-reading/re-watching - always.

I reread all the time. Some series I reread every year ( like The Chronicles of St Mary's and others ) , some just when a new one is coming out, ( Outlander )

I start missing the characters and want to check-in. I'm never disappointed and often find things I have missed or forgotten. I still look for new books to love, but I love rereads :)

I am a self-confessed rereader. When reading a series and the new one is due out in a week or so I go back and read the last title so I am ready for the new one. This is more important in some series than others but there are always large or small points popping up.

Sometimes I reread an entire series. At the moment it is the Chief Inspector William, ‘Bill’ Loramier Glasgow police procedural series by Alex Gray. Her latest will be out soon.

When I can’t decide what to read I most often go to Dick Francis, my comfort read. He is about so much more than horses and mysteries. I learn something new every time I reread a title. I discovered by chance that a friend of mine also turns to Francis so we have great discussions.

I feel like I am revisiting old friends when I reread books.

I'm re-re-re-etc reading all the Nero Wolfe novel and novellas right now. In chronological order.

Sayers Peter Wimsey,Georgette Heyer,Dick Francis Lois McMaster Bujold,Roger Zelazny's Amber series,Jane Austen,Lord of the Rings,Cold Comfort FarmLittle Women. The Alice books.Swallows and Amazons..... Some of these have been close friends for 5 or 6 decades.