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How much time should pass before you reread a book?
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kisha, The Clean Up Lady
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Aug 13, 2016 06:29PM
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It depends on the book. When my kids were younger I would read Harry Potter once a year. It got to the point where I could only read Harry Potter and nothing else. Maybe one or two fast reading mysteries a year. Now the kids are in school I am catching up on 7 years of reading. I have my favorites and read every 5 years or so, some books I might skim and read my favorite passages. Anything else, I don't bother to reread.
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There's so much I haven't read that I avoid rereading in general. Lately, I've been thinking that I should reread more. I read a lot of my favorite books over 20 years ago, and I'm wondering if I would still like them today.I'm sorry you haven't found anything fulfilling lately, kisha. Reading shouldn't be a grind, but it can feel that way when it's not rewarding. Instead of rereading, my strategy would be to switch up genres and take a break from the ones I read the most. Maybe you could try YA?
So many books are out, that I don't have time to re-read anything. Kisha, maybe your having a reading slump. I get like that if I read too many books in the same genre. I try to switch it up often. Also, short reads helps too. sometimes I will read a book under 300 pages to get out of my reading slump
kisha wrote: "So I'm having a hard time finding an awesome book like literally for over a year now! So I'm thinking about rereading one of the last three books that I found to be amazing. The only issue is it's ..."About five years except Homegoing I started to reread straight after the first read - a record for me
I have not been able to enjoy re-reading except when I was reading to my kids. That experience replaced my experience of the work with experiencing someone else's positive reaction to a work I enjoyed. It's like watching a friend fall in love for the first time. At this point, I don't re-read because I'm more aware than ever of the # of works I want desperately to read, and the fact that I am over 50, lol. In terms of breaking out of a slump, though, which has been a problem for me more than once: it's depressing to have to go through the first 25 - 50 pages of book after book, and the more works that don't work for me, and I put aside and start over, the more I feel like Sisyphus with that boulder, wanting it to turn into a butterfly. Since GR, my solution has been to identify 2 readers whose experiences of novels most matches my own, e.g., and prioritize one of their recent 5 star reads over what I would otherwise have selected based on my top TBR selections, the next scheduled book club read, or the latest greatest with the most buzz, even if written by a favorite author. They'll all be there when I break out of my slump.
YMMV
I think it depends on the book. The Hunger Games is a series I've read and reread almost every year. I've been through it at least three times. It's an easy read and I find knowing what's about to happen makes it more intense. For me it's all about the connection I feel with the characters and how absorbed I feel in the story. It's a treat each time I read and allows me to dissociate from reality for the time I'm reading it.The better the writing is the more likely I am to reread simply for the pleasure of experiencing it again.
for me to re read a book I need at least 10 years so I can completely forget the book and then once I begin to reread it, hopefully it does not all come crashing back onto my ! Memory! i don't want to remember how it ends. Once that happens there is no need to keep reading. Good luck with the slump.
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I heard Sister Souljah speak when I was in college (not saying when ;) ). That's a good choice to read more than once.
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Oh yes that's a great one!
Some of my top favorites have beenThe Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
Homegoing
Slave: My True Story
Douglass' Women
The Color Purple I read this one at age when I probably shouldn't have been. lol. This is one I would re-read just for new perspective
I think I read The Color Purple in high school. Probably time to reread. This year I have reread a lot of books I read 15-20 years ago. It is liking reading those books for the first time. Other than Isabel Allende who is my favorite and Harry Potter books which is its own category, I'd have to go with at least 15 years or I remember the story completely.
I read the Twilight series and most of the True blood series when I was in to the whole supernatural thing. I thought those were good.
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The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
Homegoing
Slave: My True Story
[book:Dougla..."
Oh the Color Purple is also a book that I've read multiple times. I love that book1
Kindred by Octavia Butler is an outstanding book I would reread one dayThe Thornbirds is another wonderful book I may pick back up
Winter Garden, by Kristin Hannah is phenomenal also. I just finished it today. Wow!
Here are some recommendations, Kisha. I picked books I really like because of how different they are. But the first three are not lighthearted reads.A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Attack
The Sirens of Baghdad
Lion's Blood
I think take a break from reading for a while or find a good collection of short stories:-)
A D short stories is a great idea for a slump or a novella. I just read a Stephen King novella today. It took literally 30 minutes and put me on track to read another book. If you don't enjoy short stories, books like Homegoing which are really books with 20 page vignette style chapters could also work.
Stephen King's short stories are really the only short stories I tend to read, Brina:-)
I only read this story because it was about baseball. It was well written so I'll have to read more King. I don't generally read short stories but a lot of my goodreads friends have noted that this is the year of the short story. Many good collections including: American Housewife Stories- Helen Ellis, A Manual for Cleaning Women- Lucia Berlin, In the Land of Armadillos- Helen Maryles Shankman, Best Place on a Earth- Ayelet Tsabari. Last year I read New York Stories by Ariel Sabar. Hope this helps.
Thanks, Brina, I'll have a look at those. It's always nice to have a collection of short stories around for when I don't have the time to immerse myself in a long book, but need something to keep me going.
Exactly. That is why I read King's novella this morning. I only read the Sabar collection but the others I listed come highly recommended by my gr friends.
great qu as i keep my fave books close by and was planning on re reading one (the lovely bones) to see howi feel aboutit now after a good hanful of years and life experience has passed. always have the faves close by. i agree with maya.... with thereading slump its good to chose a smaller (under 300pg) book to jolt u back in. also kisha..hit me up if u read read book thief. my copiesstill here. ive half to go.
I bought one six months back, fascinating, intriguing, couldn't put it down... and I made notes in the margin all the way through to the last chapter. Then I thought... this seems familiar... and checked my book shelf. I'd already read it five years before... the worst thing was not that I had forgotten, but that I'd made the same notes in the margins...
kisha wrote: "So I'm having a hard time finding an awesome book like literally for over a year now!..."That's a terribly long time for a reader's slump! I'm not entirely sure what to recommend (and a quick skim tells me you've gotten plenty of recommendations), so how 'bout something completely out of left field that you might not have stumbled on otherwise: Knut Hamsun's Pan. It's short. Best of all, the English edition on Kindle is FREE
If you want something African-American, well, I don't know, my tastes run towards the experimental, odd, literarily quirky, etc., so you may or may not like it, but Ishmael Reed's The Free-Lance Pallbearers is something to experience one of these days.
Meanwhile, yeah, rereading. It's never too early or too late for a reread. If enjoyment of a book depends only on its capacity to surprise, then I guess being too familiar with the plot from a recent reading just won't do, but I think most good books are something you could plunge back into at any time. There's always another angle from which to appreciate them.
I once proposed a horrible horrible readers' "challenge" which I entitled the Friedrich Nietzsche Eternal Return Readers' Challenge. The challenge is simple. Look at your goodreads bookshelf of books that you read last year. Then read all of the exact same books that you read, in the exact same order this year, with no additions and no omissions.I don't have the courage to do this myself. Will you?
ETA: Upon reflection, I had a pretty good reading year in 2016, and I think there are only two books that I wouldn't particularly want to reread, and they're short. There's a third book, In Praise of Shadows, which I had a rather mixed and not particularly positive reaction to, but again, it's short, and I think I could profit from a reread, even if it convinces me to hate the book more.
Zadignose wrote: "I once proposed a horrible horrible readers' "challenge" which I entitled the Friedrich Nietzsche Eternal Return Readers' Challenge. The challenge is simple. Look at your goodreads bookshelf of boo..."a year isn't enough time for me to reread a book. i'll remeber way too much of it in just a year. then i'll be bored and skip ahead or just stop reading.
No! My books weren't out last year, and wouldn't get read, so no! Read from the group, is my suggestion! Support the group!
If I really loved it then a year is how long I usually wait.
Mine are so good, that I have read them twice, after they were published!Toni Mariani, Author
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Books mentioned in this topic
In Praise of Shadows (other topics)The Free-Lance Pallbearers (other topics)
Pan (other topics)
A Thousand Splendid Suns (other topics)
The Attack (other topics)
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