Why I Never Reread Books

Hello, lovelies! I know I’ve been a bit inactive on here, I’m still struggling with answering to your comments and I have no idea when I’m going to finally blog-hop. It’s mostly because I’m writing my thesis for college and I’m also trying to get ahead on some projects. It’s a bit hectic, I hope you’ll understand.

I’m back with another discussion about my reading habits and this time we’ll talk about how I’m a bookish weirdo that never rereads. I know I’ve mentioned it briefly in certain comments or posts, but I never talked about it more and what’s behind it. So here we go…

   Every bookworm on the planet seems to love rereading. They say it’s a great way to discover new aspects of a favorite book that you might have missed on your first read. They love getting lost in familiar fictional worlds, the characters of the book they are rereading already feeling like old friends that can offer great comfort in life-or-death situations (such as a reading slump – also known as the greatest curse that can be inflicted on a reader by the reading gods).

It all sounds amazing, right? In theory I should love rereading as I’m not very focused on details during my first read and I miss lots of important clues that other more analytical readers are quick to point out. I also get reading slumps constantly and rereading favorite books is considered the best way to get over one in the bookish community. I should jump on this rereading wagon right now because of these reasons.

          What’s stopping me though? Well, I think one of the main reasons why I don’t reread my favorite books is the fear of not liking them the second time around. What if I’ve been completely obsessed with a book for years, recommended it to everyone plus their cats and then I reread it and nothing is the same? I don’t love the plot-twists anymore, the world-building doesn’t make sense anymore, all the characters don’t seem as cool as the first time. What if the book turns from a five-star read to a mediocre three-stars read or even worse to a dreadful two-stars book? As a mood reader, I think that could easily be my reality and I’d rather not risk it as I’m not sure I could cope with that.

Another reason is the fact that thousands of books are being published every year, my to-read pile is so huge that I can’t see anything past it. Absolutely nothing. It’s bigger than my life aspirations, actually. How can I not become anxious when I chose to reread something when there’s so little time and so many books out there in the wild? I don’t know how bookworms ignore the side-eyes of the unread books on their shelves so easily. Please teach me your ways.

          I also think that knowing everything from the most shocking plot-twists to the endgame couple puts me off rereading a bit.

If you’re like me, you might wonder if I found an alternative to rereading because there are serious and incontestable advantages to rereading from revisiting a much beloved fictional world to understanding the complexities of your favorite series. Well, some of my bookworm friends suggested a solution: rereading only portions of the book instead of rereading the full book or focusing on your favorite scenes or quotes. I think this advice is actually very helpful if you’re like me, too impatient to read the whole book again or afraid of not enjoying it as much the second time. This way you get the good stuff: you protect yourself from disappointments, you don’t waste a lot of time that you might otherwise spent on your unread books and you get to immerse yourself in your favorite book once again – on your own conditions.

Do you love rereading?

What is your advice for me since I’m so afraid of rereading?