Talkin' About: Reading & Re-reading

Hey! Welcome back - today, I wanted to talk about a topic that's been increasingly relevant in my bookish world: re-reading. 

I think it's safe to say I used to be like most readers when it came to re-reading. I would rarely re-read anything, unless I absolutely adored it or wanted to re-read it to refresh for a book club, or an author panel. I think the only books that I religiously re-read were Harry Potter (each one I read at least 10 times), and The Book Thief (I've read 5 times). The Book Thief especially has been a special one, since I've continued to read it again and again since 8th grade, and I read it every time I feel like I'm losing faith in books or writing. 

But aside from that, I was definitely not a re-reader. I knew people said each read brought something new and meaningful, but I was mostly preoccupied with trying to get through the huge pile of books I hadn't ever read. 

Until this year. Academically, I've had to focus on revisiting certain books/stories: I'm writing my Extended Essay about On the Road (hello IB folks) and I'm also trying to pass the reading quizzes in English so I've just been re-reading all sorts of works. 

Maybe because my academic work with books has kicked up, or because after years of constantly reading challenging books I need a little break, I've also turned to re-reading old favorite books of mine. The past few months, I hadn't been reading outside of school barely ever. I had a stack of books to read - other classics, some global books - but for some reason, I just found myself turning away from reading them. 

So I put those down, returned them back to the library, and picked up a few books from my shelf. I re-read Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa, and then I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. Those books got me out of my rut. 

But you know what? I think I also started to appreciate the art of re-reading. Nabokov said that "all reading is re-reading." I might not go as far as to say that, but I do definitely agree that re-reading a book brings it closer to your heart. Especially for someone like me, who tends to read and forget all the details but remember the feeling of the book, re-reading helps to engrave the story in my mind. 

I know it can seem counterproductive for a reader to re-read: why would you when there are so many other books you haven't even touched yet? But besides re-invigorating your enthusiasm to read, re-reading marks certain books as your home base. You start to adopt certain books as your own. And everyone else was right: you do notice new gems as you read over and over again. 

It's a new kind of reading beauty.