Do You Re-read Books?

In my adult life I’m not sure I’ve ever re-read a book. I’ve tried, but never completed any. As a child I made my parents read me the same bath time story every Sunday, as a teenager I was often grounded with nothing but books I already owned to entertain me. Now with an endless supply and instant access to new books I still see so many bloggers talking about re-reading but I can’t seem to do it, lately I’ve been wondering why? Here’s my reasoning…

I might want to re-read because:

– I remember greatly enjoying it but forgotten why

– I’ve recommended it to someone and want to rediscover it alongside them

– I want to buddy read

– I want to do an in-depth review but my thoughts and feels have gone stale

But here’s why I don’t, can’t and won’t:

Rediscovery

I’m a forgetful one, I can remember reading a book by the title/author but sometimes even the blurb can’t jog my memory as to what happened. I usually remember loving it or hating it, but I’d be hard pressed to recall character names or plots.

So I’ll start to re-read it. Maybe I get a couple chapters in, maybe I’m halfway. At some point everything clicks and I remember exactly what happens. I can’t enjoy what I’m reading now I know how it all ends. I’m out.

Time constraints

We all have full lives. I myself have a 50 hour working week, my partner and family, a puppy to walk and friends to keep up with. Plus housework, this blog, an unlimited cinema card, a cooking hobby, an endless list of RPG video games and an ebook TBR that wouldn’t even fit in my house as physical copies. Phew. That doesn’t leave me much time for retracing steps.

Wanderlust

This applies to me in all walks of life. I’m all about discovering. I don’t like to holiday twice in the same place when there’s so much out there to see. I don’t re-watch television shows and very rarely see movies more than once or twice (Annual Harry Potter marathon and Disney films excepted!) when there are new releases every day and so many passed I’ve not yet seen. Every week I cook or order in at least one dish we’ve never tasted before because there’s so much out there to try. I feel the same about stories.

The world is big, I can’t go backwards.

Morbidity

I’ve seen somewhere online a little widget that calculates how many books you will read in your lifetime. I assume it uses the averages in length of books you choose, words read per minute and time allocated. I never tried it out. I don’t want to know!

Imagine knowing the (estimated) limit on how many books you’ll read in your life. Those readers who track their progress each year must already have a good idea. Which is also why I don’t track my reading annually. It’s already hard enough to choose what to pick up next. My TBR choices vary from 200 pages to 900 pages per book, I’ve no clue what my figure might be. I just want to cram as many into my life as I can..

Do you re-read?

Which books have you read the most?

Tell me..