Why I Reread

So just a few days ago, I reread the Harry Potter series for possibly the tenth time. Now, ten times is excessive, but as I was reading it, I was wondering what productive conversation I could create from the experience.

I know that some people are against rereading (my grandmother, for example, firmly stands by the fact that she has never reread a book in her life and never intends to), but what I realized as I reread Harry Potter is that the reason I reread books or series that I love so often is because I see it as having countless benefits. And in that vein, I realized I should write a blog post explaining why I reread.

First and foremost, I want to talk about this as a reader:

Rereading makes you a better reader. It is my firm opinion that when you reread a book, you pick up on ties and hints and linguistic things that you didn't the first time. Rereading things often will teach you as a reader about the moves that authors tend to make and will give you the intuition to pick up on hints and clues earlier and quicker in new novels that you're reading. I think this makes you a better reader and also a more active one.

Books are full of hints and clues and clever little details that we often miss or don't appreciate, and rereading can let us pick up on those in our second or third (or tenth) read through.

Second, I believe that rereading books can remind you why you read. If you're in a reading slump and nothing is pulling your attention, or you just feel like you're falling out of love with it for one reason or another, sometimes rereading can light that spark in you again. Returning to the pages of novels that you fell in love with from the first chapter can remind you how fantastic reading is, can remind you why you do it and why you love it so much. It can be a beautiful escape that creates a moment of rejuvenation. From personal experience, rereading series like Harry Potter or like Throne of Glass or Percy Jackson and novels like V.E. Schwab's or Rainbow Rowell's, even if I don't connect with them in the same ways now (not meaning I don't love them all the same or connect with them still, it's all just from a different perspective and for different reasons) have infallibly pulled me from reading slumps or hard times in life because they give me the same energy I used to feel when I first read them.

Third, rereading can be a beautiful release of nostalgia. If you're a reader, that means your life is narrated in part by the characters and the words of your favorite novels throughout the years. It means when you were really sad or really happy, when you were tired or overworked, when you were angry or apathetic, you read. Those pages of old novels you once read will hold those memories and can give you the feelings you had when you first read them.

Opening The Fault In Our Stars again can give you that same feeling it did years ago when you first read it, even if you find it cheesy or un-relatable now. And I think sometimes, just that alone is worth it.

If you're a writer, I still think rereading has benefits.

As I'm sure you know, reading can be a helpful exercise in writing. It can show us what works for us and what doesn't, allow us to look at what makes characters seem like real people and how an author stretches mystery and action to keep us turning pages.

Rereading can be even more elucidating on these things. When you're reading something for the first time, you're likely reading for enjoyment. You're figuring out the world, theorizing on the plot, forming opinions on the characters—you're not focused on the technicalities of an author's writing. But when you reread, you can focus more on craft and structure. You can analyze their point- of-view work, how their world building and dialogue and clever one-liners and foreboding chapter titles can all contribute to a book feeling fresh or clever. But you'll notice more of these, or even descriptions and unexpected metaphors, if you reread a novel already having a grip on the characters and the world building.

And this can even be a benefit of rereading bad books. I know, I know, nobody wants to dive back into the book that they found boring and vapid, contentless or too meandering, but at the end of the day, you have to know what mistakes that author made that didn't work for you to ensure you avoid those some errors in your own work.

Furthermore, beyond just learning from the rereading, you can also re-inspire yourself through rereading. Obviously plagiarism isn't cool, but all of us have books that make us want to tell our own stories, or see world building that is so detailed and honest that we can't help but itch to try our hand at it. And sometimes, when the writing well is dry and the books you're currently reading aren't filling it for you, rereading an old book that gave you that feeling can kickstart you back into writing and can remind you what you wanted from that work in progress.

All in all, I understand people's aversion to rereading, but I found such delight in it myself I thought I'd go into why I myself like to reread and the benefits I find it having.

Until next time!