Are you a re-reader?

[HighburyLass]

Generally I would say I am not, for 2 reasons. Mainly because I have too many books I want to read, I don't have time to revisit. Secondly I'm scared of being disappointed. Especially if it's a book I loved when younger. I've changed over the years and my memories would be tainted if I reread but didn't like it as much.

The reason I ask is, having heard that Barbara Taylor Bradford died, I wondered if I should reread A Woman of Substance. I read it as a 16 year old and loved it so much. I borrowed it from the library and had to complete it in 3 weeks (fast reading for me) because there was a waiting list for it!

So, to reread or not? Would you? Do you?

I am an avid re-reader.
There are so many books that I have tried to read but been disappointed that when I have one I like I make sure to go back to it again (and again).

I love re-reading! Especially if that book has captured a moment in time for me. I remember picking up the book I'd packed for holiday and finding out it was set in the exact city we were holidaying in (I hadn't realised/read the blurb properly) and now when I re-read it I always think of that holiday. So many books have done that for me, I can remember exactly where I was or what I was doing in life when I first read it, and it takes me straight back there.

On the flip side, there are some books I probably won't re-read again for the same reason. The one I read on the plane home after I found out I had cancer while living abroad is a book I never want to see or think of again. So not always a fun trip down memory lane for each book haha.

Your second point is also absolutely true for me. I remember the exact paragraph I was reading when my granddad died. And that was in 1989!

I reread some books, usually by specific authors and generally still enjoy them providing I’ve left enough time between rereads , have been disappointed occasionally when rereading something that I read many years ago

I do, I always have two or three books on the go and one will be something I've read before. It's The Crimson Petal and The White at the moment, I love Michel Faber.
Once every few years I have a re-read of the Adrian Mole books and Jilly Cooper's Riders etc.

I don't usually reread as I have enough new books waiting to be read. But every year, without fail, I reread A Christmas Carol, it's become a sort of tradition.

I am re-reading Gravity for the 3rd time, I love it

I always re-read The Stand every few years, is my favourite book of all time and am always sad when it ends.

I am also planning on re-reading all my Richard Laymon and Outlander books, love them

I read roughly 70 books a year. I'd say 45 are re-reads, and 25 are new.

The re-reads tend to be short and witty - PG Wodehouse and Georgette Heyer, Terry Pratchett - with the occasional beloved classic thrown it (Austen, or revisiting the Anne of Green Gables series for example).

I romp through re-reads (I take much longer over a new book). They are like ringing up an old mate for a natter - you dive right in like you've not been apart, talk nineteen to the dozen, and feel much restored afterwards.

Oh yes. I have certain books that I reread a lot. Not lofty, intellectual books - comfort books.

I also read A Woman of Substance in my teens - my Mum had it and I can still picture the cover.

I've started to re read some favourites now I'm in my late 40s. Mostly Dickens as I really enjoy his books but I've read them all. I have A Tale of Two Cities lined up next in fact. Other favourites I've re read recently are Master & Margarita, Slaughterhouse 5 and Middlemarch. I think I might start rereading Iain M Banks' books soon , probably starting with my favourite, Excession.

Luckily I have a very bad memory for book details so it's easy to reread after decades!

I have a number of "cosy" books that I return to time and again, specifically because I know what's going to happen and i love the familiarity. They're a different reading experience, for example a murder mystery where you start knowing who done it, but it can be good to have some faithful books lined up as well as titles which are new to you.

I can't tell you how many times I've read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. So good! I do have other comfort books too.

Very much a re-reader. My favorite books feel like old friends and the adventures are a well watched movie in my mind.

I love it, I don't do it all the time but every so often I'll pick up an old faithful and enjoy it.

The only book I re-read is A Christmas Carol every December.

I used to when I was young, I read avidly and quickly, but now I worry that if I re-read something I'll miss out on something new. I'm too old to re-read, at least till I retire.

Mainly not, but I do reread the odd few.

It's not a good book unless I've read it at least 3 times, I have quite a few books on my to re-read list. I sometimes find things I missed the first time round and some things become more poignant when you know the future of people

Generally no. I don't reread anything full length as I don't want to commit to anything I've already read when there are lots of other books I can read. But I will reread books of short stories.

Very frequently. I find re reafing very enjoyable. I tend to devour new books so reareading allows me to enjoy the bits i didnt notice first time round. I also like to pick up a familiar book to de stress and relax.

I reread a lot, particularly historical fiction which is my favourite type of book. Currently rereading the Wolf Hall series and the early Shardlake series.

I probably reread 10 books for every 1 new one. But reading has always been about comfort and escape for me. Slipping into a familiar fictional world has always been a huge comfort. I rarely feel bored and sometimes can't put the book down because I'm enjoying it so much, even though I know what happens. I had a traumatic childhood and it doesn't take a genius to understand my preferences.

Interesting question. It's one of those questions that seems to divide the room. Personally, I'm a big re-reader. But I tend to re-read favourite passages rather than entire books.

These are the books I plan to re-read slowly and carefully from beginning to end:

Bill Bryson: A Short History of Everything
Carl Sagan: Cosmos
Fielding: Tom Jones
Douglas Adams: Hitchhiker books
Oscar Wilde: De Profundis
Oscar Wilde: Essays and Dialogues
Aldous Huxley: Point Counter Point
The Shardlake books
The Narnia books
Harold Bloom: The Western Canon and his book on Shakespeare
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
Evelyn Waugh: Sword of Honour

And these are the books I love deeply and constantly dip into, reading a page here, a chapter there. They are a constant comfort:

P. G. Wodehouse: Right Ho Jeeves (actually, all the Jeeves books)
Robert Graves: Goodbye to all That
Bertrand Russell: His essays, journalism and autobiography
Aldous Huxley: His essays, and also The Doors of Perception and Chrome Yellow (actually, pretty much anything he wrote)
Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Time of Gifts
Dickens: David Copperfield
Orwell: Essays and journalism (not a fan of his fiction)
C. S. Lewis: His non-fiction (I'm not a religious believer, but I can read Lewis on anything, even miracles – he's superb)

I read sci fi/fantasy which often come in series, so I re-read before I start the new one. This can take some time if the series has 4+ books! I’ve got Brandon Sanderson’s fourth Defiant novel waiting for me, but I need to reread the first three first.

But I’ve always reread the good books, even if stand-alone. It’s like spending time with old friends. And like pp say, if it’s one I haven’t read since my teens/20s, it’s fascinating to see if I have a different viewpoint or understanding.

@Sewannoying
I am also a sci fi/fantasy reader

I have the last two Thomas Covenant tomes to read but I need to re-read all the others first, well if not the first two chronicles (six books in total) definitely need to read all in the last chronicle but really probably need to read the first two chronicles again

I also need to have a thesaurus and dictionary to hand as Donaldson has swallowed both

I had planned to read the Wind in the Willows again this year as I haven't read it in a few years. Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit can wait - probably be 2026.

I had hoped for more books in the universe of Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Strange the Dreamer but I've not heard anything

And I re-read most of Guy Gavriel Kays books on a regular basis