Reading Books Again (and Again)

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly series hosted by Rukky at Eternity Books and Danie at Literary Lion. The full list of January topics can be found here.

This week’s topic is Re-Reading Books.

How many times is enough? Why re-read at all?

I love to read books more than once. In many cases, the reason I do so is to refresh my memory of a series by reading the previous books before the next installment comes out. Or, if I do remember enough of the necessary information to dive into the newest book, I’ll read the rest of the series again simply to build up the excitement. I’m starting to lose track of how many times I have read the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith. Considering that there will be a minimum of ten books in the series, I think I will be reading them many more times in the future.

Then there are books like A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle that I seem to find myself reading every three to five years or so. Why? It’s a classic that I have read at different ages in my life and I have found something new to love about it each time I read it. On the latest read, which was done via audiobook, I saw so much more depth in Meg’s character, and developed a greater understanding for the Mrs.’s, too. I also came to understand her parents so much more than I did on my first reading, when I was ten years old.

As much as I find reading books a second or third time to be an act of seeking out comfort, I also think it is a matter of reflection. I am choosing to dive back into a story from a different perspective to understand it better. Sometimes I come away with learning something new, and other times I’m content with just experience that world for a brief time all over again.

Reading books over and over is half the reason I buy books for my personal library. Why have books unless you intent to use them again, or at least refer back to them from time to time?

That’s one of my favorite things about books. They are always there waiting for the moment when they are needed.