I’ve recently discovered that I love rereading books. People have asked me why I enjoy rereading a book if I already know how it ends. I already know the characters, the storyline, and what happens within the book, so why give it a reread? My response is simple: it’s the exact same reason someone will watch their favorite movie multiple times, or listen to the same song on repeat. Because I thoroughly enjoy reading the book again.
I’m definitely not going to reread a book if I hated it the first time through. I’m not going to waste my time trying to enjoy something that was very clearly unappealing from the start. However, if I absolutely loved the book the first time through, I would give it another shot in a heartbeat! If it’s something I enjoyed, why not give it another read?
Another thing is, if it’s been months or years since I last finished the book, I’ll have forgotten stuff. There’ll be jokes I missed or character interactions that went under the radar that I may end up loving after reading it again. Something I really enjoy is annotating my books: whether I’m underlining, highlighting, or circling phrases or interactions I love, it’s super fun to see what I find important or amusing at a given time. As time passes, my sense of humor and thoughts on specific events will change and evolve, meaning my annotations will also alter. It’s super interesting to me to see what may have been funny two years ago may not be as funny to me anymore. At the same time, it’s interesting to see how my feelings toward a specific character or event can change as time passes.
New content based on a series coming out can also be a motivator in making me read the books again. If a show based on the books is coming out, or an extension of the series is being released, I may be motivated to reread the books involved. Having a refresher on the content is always nice, as well as it giving me an opportunity to better critique the new content (whether it be for straying to unrelated topics or being too different from the original source material).
Rereading books is a really enjoyable experience for me. Although I understand why people may not find it appealing, I think it’s a really good way to relax and revisit content you may have forgotten about. It gives you the opportunity to revisit characters you may have left behind for a bit, while also re-experiencing the story and getting to understand it better than you did the first time around. I really love rereading books that I know I enjoyed, and I recommend giving it a shot whenever possible. You may discover it isn’t really your thing, or you may find you really enjoy revisiting the content!