Thursday, April 10, 2014

The Hazards Of A ReRead

Hello All.  So we all know that I reread pretty much all of my books on a regular basis.  I have gone on and on about the various benefits to rereading a book, everything from picking up stuff I didn't before to having the comfort of knowing ahead of time that a book is really really good.  What I haven't talked about is some of the hazards of rereading a beloved book. So here they are.
1. Lack of tension-Books that have a twist ending, or have a lot of tensions do tend to lose something in a reread. I can still get a lot out rereading books like this, nuances and hints that I did not pick up before, but it does lose that page turning, sleepless feel.  Books that fall into this category are The Hunger Games, The Candymakers and most Sherlock Holmes stories
2. Uneven series-This is one of the biggest things when I reread my series, I usually have definite favorites in most series that I read and tend to neglect the books that I don't like as much.  Of course then I have the weird ability to quote books 1, 2 and 5 of a series and then have to rack my brain to even remember the plots of the other books.  Some examples of this are Harry Potter, The Immortals series, Tower and Hive series.
3. Favorite parts-Certain books I just reread certain parts, there are books I just like the beginning or the end or a certain chapter.  Seriously there are several books I own that fall open right to my favorite parts, while the rest of the pages are in pristine condition for lack of reading.  Books with dogeared pages Little Women, Crown Duel , The Mysterious Benedict Society
4. The inability to read a new book in a series without rereading the preceding books- This one pretty much speaks for itself.  I prefer to wait until at least a couple books in a series are out because then I can know them out in a row, but if it takes a while for the next book to come out...I have a tendency to reread the entire series so I remember what the heck is going on.  Series that don't come out fast enough, Septimus Heap , Inheritance Cycle, A Song of Ice and Fire.
5. The sad parts-This is probably the biggest hazard in rereading a book, especially one with beloved characters.  I have avoided whole books because I know whats coming and I just can't handle it.  I get way to attached to these fictional characters and when bad things happen to them it just tears me to pieces...I admit I sometimes cry :-(  Stupid books that may make me cry, Dragonquest, The Last Battle, The Snow Queens Shadow.
Obviously these hazards will never keep me from rereading my precious books, and the pro's far outweigh the cons.  These are just some examples of why reading is such a personal and potentially emotional experience.  It is always interesting to me to see what people choose to reread and why, and the reasons they avoid certain books for a second go around.  I know that once I have read a book, I usually give myself permission to reread it in any way I want, which is why I have books that are thumbed through a thousand times, books that are a mix of pristine and grubby, books that I have had to replace because of too much use.  Despite the hazards I love all my books and cannot wait to reread the next one.
What are some of your rereading hazards?  What books do you avoid rereading?  Am I the only one who puts this much thoughts into his/her rereads?

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