Friday, 8 July 2011
Do You Re-read?
In case you’re interested most people read one book at a time, in bed at night is the preferred reading place, YA was the genre of choice 🙂 and audio books were nowhere near as popular as I thought they’d be.
I really miss talking books (much as I loved reading/writing reviews it’s not quite the same) so until I find a book group I thought I might ask you guys ~ till you get bored anyway.
So today’s questions are all about re-reading, which I’ve been doing a fair bit of recently.
Do you re-read books?
I re-read about ten books a year.
Which books to you re-read?
My most re-read books include Saving Francesca, Perfect You, His Dark Materials (always re-read this at Christmas) The Pursuit of Love, I capture the Castle, Pride and Prejudice (currently re-reading after finally watching the Keria Knightly version ~ it’s so good I shouldn’t have been prejudice against it!), What my Mother Doesn’t Know, The Truth About Forever, Hideous Kinky, Wyrd Sisters,
My re-reading habit has grown since I started reading YA. Also I tend to re-read in the winter time. maybe I need the comfort when the weather is bad and the nights are dark.
What makes you re-read a book?
For me it’s the characters. I want to revisit them. Looking at my list the books tend to be the slower paced books, not the ones where I’m reading fast to finish.
I definitely reread, but not to the extent that I want to. For example, I used to reread Harry Potter endlessly, but i don't think i've done that in… a year? It's terrible and I've been meaning to get around to it but just haven't 🙁
For YA books in general, I always find myself picking up Jellicoe Road, SF, and The Piper's Son :p I just flip to any page and start reading. Also, I have my comfort reads for rainy days: Sarah Dessen (<3), Graceling, Heist Society and North of Beautiful. Seriously, they're awesome comfort reads 🙂 I reread most often right after I finish the book, like with Where She Went, I finished it and then reread bits of the book for the following weeks. Is it weird that I don't often reread action/adventure books? Just thinking about it 😮
I think I like rereading because i like the feeling of getting caught up in a story I already know, but experiencing it again. Like you said- revisiting characters is just lovely too 🙂
I love these discussion posts! People always have awesome responses– and I think I fit every single part of the "how do you read" thing xD
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holy smokes, just realized i wrote a darned essay– haha, my bad xD
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No I LOVED it Audrey, thanks for commenting. I do that with my comfort reads too just flip to any page and start. Sometimes I just read a chap or so and put it back. It's exactly like having tea with old friends 🙂 cheers me up. I think it doesn't work with action books because you need the build up, also for me when the adventure is over i'm done. Where as I can endlessly re-read people falling in love, making friends etc 🙂 although The Demon's books are an exception.
LOL I wrote an essay back 🙂
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I would love to re-read more books! I have a ton of books that I always think "I must get around to reading that again soon" such as The Book Thief and the Harry Potter series and all of Melina Marchetta's books (I read SF about 50 times in high school… but I STILL want to read it again!)
But lately I find myself attracted to the newer, shiny books.
I guess the main things that make me want to re-read novels are the characters (I love books to be very character driven) and also I'm trying to capture that feeling I first had when I fell in love with a new book… It's nostalgic and comforting 🙂
Great post, this makes me want to go re-read something straight away 😀
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I tend to re-read parts of my favourite books regularly.
I also if I absolutely love a book I will re-read it straight away. I did that This Gorgeous Game and I also just re-read it with Nomes as well.
And I definitely agree it is the characters that make you re-read. I love re visiting Thomas Mackee!
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For years, I re-read The Anne of Green Gables series (up thru Anne's House of Dreams), A Girl of the Limberlost, and the Chronicles of Narnia (except for the Last Battle) every year. Every. Year. I have also read A Little Princess multiple times.
Recently, I haven't been much for rereading, because I've become aware of how many books there are out there to read (Out there? No, try my bookshelf!) But I do read Laini Taylor's Lips Touch 3 Times multiple times, just to savor the beautiful language.
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I haven't re-read many books, and especially since I've started blogging – I just don't have time!
I like to go back and revisit favourite scenes from books, though. I've done that with The Body Finder (all the Jay parts are bookmarked!) lol! and Anna and the French Kiss.
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Its definately a great thing to re-read books. You might see things that you hadn't previously, or depending on your moood and recent experiences it could affect you in a completely different way.
I love reading all of the classics again, especially if you've read recent books that are inspired by them or similar.
ALSO can i just say that i LOVE this blog, it's nice to be able to converse with like minded people!
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Oh I reread tons! A lot of the time it's because I'm in the mood for a certain kind of book, and I don't have any new ones that fit what I want. I try and reread before a movie comes out, or if I have a friend that I know is reading the book at the same time. And I reread if I haven't got anything new to take on a trip with me – library books are great for at home, but what if the airline loses your luggage with some library books in it! Yikes!
As for what I reread, I'd say the author I reread most (entirely by accident) is Terry Pratchett. This is probably because there's nobody quite like him lol. But I'll reread anything I own – I don't tend to buy books until after I've read them from the library the first time, so the point of buying it is so I *can* reread it.
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i reckon about 1/3 of the books i read would be rereads.
harry potter gets reread pretty much every year, enid blyton for when i need to read before i sleep. mainly i just to the library and think 'that was so good'.
it's a different experience reading a book for the second time. it's not a good book unless you want to read it again and greet the characters like old friends.
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Emily -me too straight after I wrote it I picked up Saving Francesca. I swear I can quote parts of that novel 🙂 you're right about the feeling. There's nothing like finding a new beloved book.
Nic – ah I love visiting Tom too, I think he gets a lot of visitors 😉 although I still love Will best! I must read This Gorgeous Game it sounds great.
Diana – oh I used to love A Little Princess, also The Silver Sword and The Secret Garden. Lips Touch is one of my holiday books, I've heard amazing things about it! Oh and I quite often re-read scenes between Amy and Poe 🙂
Leanna – love that you bookmark pages. Some of mine just fall open to the right spot haha! I must re-read Anna actually because I loved it.
Hannah – thank you 🙂 and yes I often get more out of a book the second time On the Jellicoe Road and The Book Theif being two examples.
Anna – oh yes that is so true, I'm often in the mood for a certain type of book so I'll re-read, so I know what I'm getting. LOL about the library books in the luggage, I once packed an ARCin my luggage and freaked out that my bag would get lost 🙂
Anna – I agree it can be so different reading a book the second time around, I notice so much more! And yes the very best books hav characters you want to see again and again.
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I used to re-read all the time. I must have reread the Twilight saga about a million times, but now with so many great books coming out, I just don't have the motivation to re-read anymore. Sad, because sometimes a certain character really sticks with you. In these cases, I've notice I just re-read my favorite bits in a book instead of the whole thing.
Great discussion post. I love Audrey's essay up there! LOL
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Yes, I reread, but not as often as I read new books (rather, books I haven't read–not all of them are "new" as far as publication date). Some favorite rereads are the Harry Potter books, A Christmas Carol (every Christmas!), Emma, Howl's Moving Castle, Beauty, Shannon Hale's "Bayern" series, Terry Pratchett's "Tiffany Aching" series, Nation, L.M. Montgomery's "Anne Shirley" series, Laura Ingalls Wilder's books about her life…
I also reread children's picture books endlessly, but that's not by choice. My kids control that situation. 🙂
I definitely reread books because of characters. I agree with you that I start to miss them! I want to see what they're up to again. I also reread books because of writing style. If I'm blown away by the writing in a book (whether literary, whimsical, or humorous–doesn't much matter to me), chances are I'll reread it.
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How could I forget Megan Whalen Turner's "The Queen's Thief" series???
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Because of ALA I've reread only one book so far this year, but usually I reread probably about 7-15.
I reread the books that I especially love (the one I reread this year was SWEETHEARTS, by Sara Zarr) and I try to reread GONE WITH THE WIND every year or two, but that's a tricky one to fit in because it's just soo huge.
For me I reread a book if the feeling of it is one i want to revisit, if the characters and story are so great that I want to revisit that place.
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Missie- me too on Audrey's essay. Ys I wish I had more reading time, sometimes when I re-read I think but I could be discovering a wonderful new book! But re-reading is such a treat, I need more hours in the days 🙂
Kim – yes how could you forget Eugenides!!!! I try and read a Christmas Carol at Xmas too. And yes on the children's books they are imprinted on my brain 🙂 I just quoted the whole of Ten Little Ladybirds because I forgot to bring it and Will wanted it 🙂
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Jordyn – I still have to read both those books! You're right about the feeling. I re-read for that reason and some of the books I re-read are also tangled up in times in my life and they take me back to that, which is lovely.
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I re-read books all the time–especially when I'm too poor to buy new ones and the library's letting me down.
I usually just re-read my favorite parts of books, and Sarah Addison Allen and Robin McKinley are my favorite authors for that. The books that I always re-read all the way through (no skipping around for these!) are Jellicoe Road, The Sky is Everywhere, and To Kill a Mockingbird.
I re-read books for the characters and of course for the swoony romances(!).
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i love to re-read books.I have a number of books and i read them every night.It's a great way to relax your mind and pass your spare time..
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I re-read so many books, all my favs like 'on the Jellicoe road', 'The sky is everywhere', 'perfect chemistry' etc..
Sometimes though i just re-read my favourite parts and not the whole book.
I'm so glad you watched the Kiera Nightley version of Pride and Prejudice, it is my favourite movie of all time, even if its not as close to the book as other versions, i just love the cinema photography.
I love re-reading my fav books (especially if i'm in a reading laspe) because it gives me an extra push to find more books like it and reminds me of why i liked it so much.
great post ideas by the way!
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I definitely re-read, and I do it for comfort. When I'm stressed or very busy, I read something I know I'll enjoy. When I'm searching for a fix in my own writing, I might read a book that I know does it well. I read The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper every Christmas. I'm about to start Danny The Champion Of The World, which is a beloved re-read.
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I used to reread books, but with college and so many wonderful books coming out I haven't got the time! I used to read Emma by Jane Austen twice in a year, but this year I still haven't read it. I really want too, because it's one of my favourites.
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