Before book blogging, I used to do a lot more re-reading. I had some staples, books that I loved and that made me feel good, that I would read once a year, or once every couple of years, including Harry Potter and the Sweep series. Now, however, there are so many books out there that a part of me can’t help but feel re-reading is a waste of my time, which is obviously ridiculous, as I’m not, like, trying to win a reading contest or anything; reading is something I do for enjoyment. But still.
In any case, the other reason I used to re-read a lot is that I have a really, really, really shoddy memory. If the book is packed with worldbuilding, as a lot of fantasy books are, that makes it even more likely that I will forget 90% of what’s going on. Given that most fantasy books are series, this becomes a problem, and it’s why I struggle to finish series unless I read them one right after the other.
Case in point: the following is a list of books I need to re-read just to be able to continue with the series. The list after that is books I really want to re-read soonish purely for enjoyment and also because they’re short and I’m certain I would get through them quickly. And finally, the last list will be books that I want to re-read at some point, also for enjoyment, but there’s no rush.
I Very Much Need to Re-Read These
Do you notice that these are ALL fantasy? The Traitor Baru Cormorant‘s sequel just came out this month, and while I remember the gist of it, I need to read it again to fully experience the sequel. The City of Brass‘s sequel comes out in January and all I remember is that I hardcore shipped two of the characters, but I’ve forgotten everything about the complex politics. Truthwitch and Monstress both have sequels sitting on my shelf, but I’m debating waiting for the whole series to finish before delving back in because they’re both pretty dense, worldbuilding wise. I have the first three books in The Diviners series on my Kindle, but I feel like I should wait for the fourth and final one? Queen of Blood and Daughter of Smoke and Bone are both done, so there’s nothing holding me back except myself, I guess.
I Would Very Much Enjoy Re-Reading These
I have not read the sequel/companion to Simon yet, but I really just want to re-read the book purely for the joy of it. I read it in like a single night and I feel like I got through it too quickly. I wanna re-read it again knowing the big reveal. I read Saints and Misfits entirely on my phone, in ARC format, and even with that I adored it, so I want to re-read it as a book. The Beautiful Ones is one of my favorite books of all time, and I want to re-experience it’s gorgeous language more than anything else. When the Sea is Rising Red is an odd YA fantasy book that I remember adoring but don’t remember much else about. Dreams of Shreds and Tatters is a Lovecraftian horror type story and I feel like I would appreciate it and understand it way more now.
I Would Like to Re-Read These At Some Point
I do remember I liked Uprooted, but I also remember that it was hard work to get through. As was Six of Crows and its sequel, actually. I adored The Shadowed Sun, one of Jemisin’s lesser known books, as well as The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, her debut, both of which I actually enjoy more than The Fifth Season, so I would like to read them again at some point. I read Kissing the Witch years ago and remember literally nothing about any of the stories in there. As for Pride and Prejudice, I read it in high school and remember that even then I enjoyed it, and my tastes have changed very much since then, especially regarding classics, so I really would like to read it again!
How do you guys feel about re-reading? Do you do a lot of it or are you too often seduced by brand new unread books like I am? What are the books you really want to re-read?
Hadeer Elsbai 