As part of the Fall into Reading challenge, Katrina at Callapidderdays is going to be posting a reading related question each Wednesday. I'm hoping to answer them here each week, partly to keep me motivated for the challenge itself (I find it way too easy to forget about challenges) and partly because there's a great group of people taking part and I'd like to see their answers.If you're wondering what the whole Fall into Reading thing is about, check out my original post here or Katrina's "The Basics" post here.
This weeks question is: How often do you re-read books? What does it take to make you re-read?
I re-read all the time, almost compulsively. I'll re-read a series of books when a new one is released, although with some series (like the Dark Hunters by Sherrilyn Kenyon) I no longer do this, purely due to length. If I love a book it'll be read and re-read time and time again.
I'm a strong believer that you can never read the same book twice, as every time you read a book you're a slightly different person. It's definitely true of books like The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge which I've read countless times since I was a little girl - my opinions about characters have changed, and I've noticed details I missed the first time through.
It's also interesting to me how books are affected by re-reading. Some books improve with re-reading while others are mind-numbingly boring the second time through. It's always a bonus when I find a book that can stand up to multiple re-reads and still make me laugh.
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You make some really interesting points. I've found sometimes when re-reading a book or series something that I totally loved 5 or 10 years ago I may not enjoy or get so much out of now, because as you say, changed from that time or view things differently. Good answer to this question.
ReplyDeleteI love The Little White Horse!! I've re-read it countless times too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've found that many books that I read in college I see with different eyes now. Which makes me a little excited to track down more those reading lists!
ReplyDeleteLOVE your answer (I was starting to feel pretty lonely as a re-reader!! lol) and I'm pretty sure we could be good friends, wink. I'm looking forward to posting my answer to this question tomorrow, but I agree wholeheartedly with your point about a book not being the same because *I* am not the same person I was the first time through.
ReplyDeleteAnd I chuckled at re-reading the series--I did that with the HP books after reading the first three, I had to re-read ALL the books each time the next installment came out! :)
And I agree-you KNOW it's a great book when you like it just as much (if not more!) on successive readings as you did the first! Thanks for answering the question, it was nice to "meet" you! ;)
Thanks for all the comments guys :)
ReplyDelete@Shonya - nice to "meet" you too!