May 6, 2014

Re-reading: The Books I Can't Get Enough Of

Top and bottom shelves: frequent re-reads. Middle: not so much.
I used to be a bigger re-reader. Blogging has sort of put a cramp in that; since I'm pretty sure you'd all get bored if I was like "here's my 6th review of Georgette Heyer's Frederica".

I do still reread books; although I'm noticing they tend to be very specific types.
  • I almost never re-read nonfiction.
  • I almost never re-read mysteries (even though it's my favorite genre; because once you know "whodunit", they're not so interesting). Exception - I've enjoyed a few Agatha Christies in the last couple of months, because it's been nearly 20 years since I read them for the first time.
  • I re-read Georgette Heyer a lot.
  • I re-read other romance-y books fairly often: Jane Austen, Mary Stewart.
  • I re-read kids' books quite frequently: I'm in about a 5 year re-read rotation with The Dark is Rising, and Harry Potter seems to be happening about every 3 years. I just re-listened to all of The Little House on the Prairie series in 2012, and I'm thinking that I'm past due for an Anne of Green Gables series re-read. 
  • Around the holidays I have a handful of favorite Christmas books that I rotate through.
I find that when I'm stuck in a book rut, turning to a beloved book is often the way to jumpstart myself into reading again. Or, when I want to be able to actually read before bed, a re-read is generally safe.


Do you re-read? Why?