There’s more to it than that though. I have an overflowing bookshelf filled with books that I’ve read and some I probably haven’t. So why this book? It made me wonder the reasons behind why I choose certain books to read twice (even three times) and others I don’t ever crack open the spine to bother with again.
Mind you, this is a rarity itself. I almost never re-read a book.
So here’s my top five reasons why I will re-read a book (with one bonus reason thrown in there too) –
1) I love the characters.
This is the reason I’m re-reading ‘And Then We Came to the End.’ I love the characters in this book so much that reading this book makes them come alive for me all over again. Their lovable and hate-able all at the same time. For that reason, I will probably read this book a fourth time in the future.
So if a book has vivid, memorable characters, I will more than likely return and revisit them again. That’s partially why I love books that are series related because these characters DO come back to you!
2) I love the setting.
I personally love the office setting in this book I’m re-reading. Not enough authors use that setting. It’s so real to me and fun that I can almost walk up to the water cooler myself and gossip with the characters. Also, another book I plan to re-read soon is “The Man in the Picture” by Susan Hill who uses the winter setting and the desolation that surrounds her characters to enhance the creepiness of her stories.
Another setting I love is a school or college setting. And one writer who does this effectively is Will Lavender! These are mysteries, but I just love the setting and this may be the exception to “not re-reading whodunit books,” (see number 3) because the use of the college setting just takes me away.
3) There is more to the story than “whodunit” (once you know whodunit, what’s the point?).
I hope to be proved wrong, but part of the thrill of reading murder mysteries and other books like that is the excitement in figuring out who the killer is. This may not always be the case, but the book I’m re-reading now doesn’t have a big mystery to solve. This helps keep the entertainment fresh every time I return to it.
The exception here is if the book has other intriguing factors that draws me back in again! So far I haven’t re-read a “whodunit” type of book yet, but there’s always a first for everything!
4) Short story collections.
Another book that I’ve read a couple of times is “Twice Upon a Time” by Denise Little. I love the variety of short story collections and usually my first time around reading it, I don’t read every story. So the second (or even third) I’ll get something new out of it!
5) Seeing the movie.
Sometimes seeing the movie for a book I know I’ve read inspires me to re-read it. Because the second round of reading will let me compare the book from the movie! And I can learn why books are always better than the movie all over again (not all the time, but most times anyway!).
One book I’ve read before and now I really want to re-read is Amityville Horror! I saw the movie again recently and it’s so creepy! Creepier this time around! So now I want to re-read the book.
6) BONUS REASON: Five or so years go by, and I still remember the book. Or I own it and have forgotten I read it.
I recently remembered the title “The Phantom Tollbooth” which is a book I read as a kid. I don’t really remember a lot of the books I finished and I’m not too great about keeping track of them, so if a book stays with me over the years, I plan on going back at least once and re-reading it, just to refresh my memory!
Or if I’m browsing through my own bookshelf, if I spot a book that I can’t remember reading, it may have a shot on getting in re-read VIP list.
Do you ever re-read books? What reasons do you have for giving a book the second go around?
Did you know the Amityville Horror was an entirely made up story? You've probably heard that by now. Kind of annoying. Well, the story about the guy killing his family with an ax wasn't made up–and that's the spookiest part! The Lutzes were just opportunists and creeps, trying to capitalize on the popularity of The Exorcist.
REALL6? See, I I'd knew that the book wasn't really a true story but I had no idea the real murder that was the background for the house actually happened! I'll have the check this out!
Ack, REALL6…was supposed to be REALLY. Darn misspelling.
Characters. If I feel them I miss them and want a visit sometimes.
Yes! It's a way to meet again 🙂
There's a line in a television show from years ago that I always liked- some books are like old friends. Every once in awhile you have to stop in and see how they're doing.
Of course! 🙂 I like that! You must check in on a friend! 🙂
I've noticed that when I love the characters of a story, I tend to run out to the book story and purchase the same genre and try to find the same author (especially romance). This doesn't work for me, because I always feel disappointed that the same magic didn't happen.I will then re-read the story that made me elated at the end.
I find I want to experience the read again, be in the same environment with the same characters. I can't quite put my finger on what causes this for me. Still today, I have the same two characters in my mind of that one Harlequin Romance which took my breath away.
All other romances pale in comparison! Maybe that's why I pick on the genre as much as I do? lol
YES! I've done the same thing before – I've sought out books by the same author (not necessarily genre fiction all the time, but lit fiction too) and I notice that the author doesn't have the same touch in all of their books as they did for that ONE. It makes me hesitate to re-read books by the same author!
enjoying this list, can you believe I actually haven't read Amityville Horror yet? but great list!
You haven't??? You should read it! The book is so good! 🙂
I read my favorites over and over. It's like running into an old friend I haven't seen in a long time. Plus, you can find hidden points you didn't see previous times because you were busy consuming the main story.
Good point! I think that may be another good reason to re-read! 🙂 This is also another valid point about why I should buy books more often. Especially the good ones!
I reread for similar reasons. There are some books that I've read so many times, I've practically memorized them… but to me reading them again is almost like looking at a familiar piece of artwork.
Exactly! No one says you have to enjoy a piece of art once, so why a book only once? 🙂