In general, life is too short to reread books–even great ones–when there are so many amazing books out there that I haven’t read yet. There are mountains of books to be consumed and I’m greedy. But there are always exceptions to general policy LOL!
Unfortunately, this year I’m slower than usual in my reading, making every opportunity to read something, that much more valuable. So, to find myself doing more rereading than usual surprises me. I lost huge chunks of time when we moved and when my boys changed schools. But when I took a peek at the book I do have under my belt for 2014, I found that more than any other time I can remember, a large percentage of these books I’ve read before. In my read column 4 out of 33 are rereads and in my currently reading column I have another 2 books that are rereads with the potential for more. (I have a couple in the que of my iTunes audiobook list.)
As I noticed the number of rereads creeping up higher, I began thinking about why I was returning to these books. I discovered I had a variety of reasons…
*I’m rereading books with my younger boys that I’d read with my older son. He had a different school schedule and we’d pick out books he and I could share in the car when the other kids weren’t around. If we loved the story (audiobooks aren’t cheap) we’ve been happy to recycle. THE AIRMAN by Eoin Colfer and UNGIFTED by Gordon Korman were fabulous rereads for everyone.
*I’m also sharing great books I’ve read as ARC’s (and didn’t have time to read with the boys) or books they weren’t ready to read with me before, but now they are. Like BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY by Ruta Sepetys
*I also love reading books on craft using a tangible paper copy I can underline and make notes in. I feel writing books are meant to be written in, but I often like to do follow-up reads of the same amazing book on audio. So far I’ve done this with Stephan King’s ON WRITING and I’m currently soaking up BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott. I HIGHLY recommend BIRD BY BIRD on audio BTW–it is amazing. I am also confident that these amazing books will be listened to over and over again over the years. Inspiration and motivation!
Do you reread your favorite books? Do you reread books in new ways, like a paperback and audio versions of the same story? What’s your favorite reread and how many times have you consumed it? Inquiring minds want to know.
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I have a few books I want to re-read but can’t find the time for! Yesterday, I calculated that I have over 260 Kindle books (most of them unread). Yikes. I need to get crackin’.
P.S. I have a new book for you soon! 😉
Yay!!!! I hear you with being short on time. I’m way behind this year.
Thanks for this post, Kim – my sister and I were just discussing this very topic the other day. She thinks that life is too short to spend re-reading books when there are so many unread titles out there. But I think that some books are just so great that they deserve to be re-visited. There are some times that seem to call for a sure thing to read – like when life tends to get crazy-busy, such as when I moved. I’m sure you can relate, given your own moving experience. And when a new volume in an on-going series is about to be released, I like to re-read the earlier volumes, if I have the time. I’m doing that with Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander” series this summer. Also, when a book I’ve read becomes a movie, I like to re-read it before seeing the story on screen – I just re-read John Green’s “The Fault in our Stars” before seeing the movie (actually, I re-read it twice, because I also read it out loud to my boyfriend Ian – reading aloud is a fun way to share books that I love, even though I’m not a parent with kids! And I agree with you that great, inspiring writing books are always worth re-reading – and Stephen King’s and Anne Lamott’s titles are also some of my favorites! I just wish that I had a lot more time for reading and re-reading, and of course, writing!
Gosh, those are all great reasons to reread. Dang it I wish I had MORE time to reread now LOL!
Oh, I love BIRD BY BIRD. It’s my favorite book on writing. Of course, I still need to read Stephen King’s book.
I re-read books too, more so since the bookstore closed and my source of ARCs dried up. 🙂 But also because I know I’ll learn something different each time I read a book. I write mostly MG and I recently re-read HOOT by Carl Hiaasen to study how he handles multiple POVs.
I do that too!!! It’s just smart learning and I think BIRD BY BIRD is my fav!