Books, Out of the Box Blogs

Do You Reread Past Books/Series?

Karen

I just finished the new JR Ward book as you all know and it inspired me to reread some of the older BDB books. The more I thought about it the more I realized that when I’m in a reading slump or before one of my favorites puts out a new book, I’ll reread some if not all of their series. Is this odd? Do you have favorites you continually go back to? Are there certain series that you have to reread past books before the new one is released? I’m curious to see where I stand..

Published by Karen

I'm a nerd. Kinda got that from my website huh? Fine I'll tell you more. I have a small book obsession. I'd like to say I read anything as well but truth be told when in doubt I'll always go back to my first loves, fantasy and scifi. Read it and we haven't discussed it? I love a good recommendation. Don't agree with me? I live for a great debate.

51 thoughts on “Do You Reread Past Books/Series?”

  1. Not usually. Clive Barker is an exception, but that’s primarily for his amazing vocabulary and language skills.
    ;o)
    In the last coupe of years I have reread some of the science fiction from my childhood, out of curiosity.
    Amazing how formative they were.

    There is just too much to read out there to go back over old ground. Unless you are trying to learn something.

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  2. I should actually do that more often. I tend to not reread books. For the month of December I am actually working on a few books I want to reread. I don’t know why it’s just something I don’t do, but wish I did more. Especially with series. It’s nice to have a refresher.

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  5. While I tend to avoid re-reading fiction, I’ll re-read nonfiction often enough. I love essays by Sedaris, and he’ll forever be a favorite return read. 🙂 Lately, I’m just happen when I’ve got a free minute to skim a page of something. Oh, and poetry! I’ll re-read a poetry book a million times. –Sondi

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  6. I don’t re-read much at all, but the times that I have were usually eye-opening. There’s just usually SO MUCH to read on my TBR list that I feel like I can’t get ahead of it…maybe it’s something I should factor in?

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  7. I have several series that I re-read occasionally. They are like good friends I need to visit with every so often. For me (and not to sound maudlin), but when I am going through a tough time or am especially stressed, I find comfort in my favorite books.

    The early BDB by J.R. Ward are among my favorites. I also re-read Nalini Singh Psy-Changeling (especially Hawke) and Lori Foster is always a go-to author for me who has several books I re-read as well as D.B. Reynolds. Great question, Kar!

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  8. I re-read a lot of my books, if I liked it I’ll keep it so I can go back and re-read it later. When the new year starts, I’m going to re-read all of the books that I’ve read on my shelf before I got my book journals and review them. As you can tell, I don’t find it odd lol

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  9. I do, and I do so often. For a feel good pick me up, as a palate cleanser to change directions, as refresher before reading the next book, when I’m too tired to read something new, and lately before the series finale.

    My favorite rereads include:

    Jayne Ann Krentz and her pen names.
    Julie Garwood
    Nalini Singh
    Ilona Andrews
    Patricia Briggs
    JD Robb
    Older Christine Feehan

    And I just reread the entire MaryJanice Davidson Undead series this year in preparation for the second to last book.

    Frankly, that’s how I rate books, based on his likely I am to reread them. 4-5 Stars means I’ll absolutely reread them.

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  12. I have read and reread all of Kresley Cole’s IAD series (so far about five times). They never get old. I am also rereading The Raven Boys series right now. But this is not the norm for me. I have to really love it to read more than once.

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  14. I sometimes reread favorites from the book series I read. I did this with IAD by Kresley Cole and some HR series by Lisa Kleypas. I’m trying to reread Anita Blake series atm. I never get to reread my book series much since my TBR pile is huge and I always have so many new books to read.

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  16. I’ve got a few that I re-read – ESPECIALLY when I’ve hit a run of bad books. They’re no necessarily bad, just bad for me – don’t hold my interest, etc.

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  17. I’ve only really done this a few times. R.A. Salvatore’s The Legend of Drizzt, Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, and Terry Brooks The Shannara Series. For me, any single one of the books in the series is lost without the context of the others (save for #1 in each). I have read the Wheel of Time 8 times, primarily because I reread the entire series each time a book came out. So I guess you could say I have read the beginning of the Wheel of Time eight times, and subsequent books less and less.

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  18. Not so much since I started my blog, but am dying to get into Asimov’s extended Foundation series right now. I just don’t have the time. Sci fi and Fantasy are my life’s blood so I have Robert Jordan, David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Asimov, CS Lewis and Tolkien on standby for any time I just need to get lost in a story. It is not my fault that they write in a series format. =)

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    1. Eddings is one of my all time favorite Authors, he and his wife make very compelling characters. I try to emulate my own character development based on their style. I also love Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan. It is hard not to write a series. I started my first book with the intent on writing a series of 2 books, now it is easily going to make three I think. I recently published my first at the beginning of November, but I’ve written the first draft of the second book. I wonder how Eddings, Brooks, and Jordan managed to be so prolific.

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      1. I have no idea. I can write forever about something, but I can’t write a story to save my life. They all come out “Once up a time something happened. The End” I am amazed at an author like Jordan who didn’t just write a 14 book cycle, but rather a 14 book- 1000+ page each cycle (Well he didn’t actually write all 14, but he would have if he hadn’t died). My son is currently reading book 4 of the Eragon Trilogy (I know it is named something else, but it isn’t coming to mind) My thing is simple. Tell me a story and take as long as you need. Just don’t die before you finish it. I am sure your family and friends will miss you, however I seriously need to know how the story ends.

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  20. I used to re-read books a lot more but lately I don’t tend to… perhaps it’s because I have too many new ones on my to-read list, and the potential of discovering a new favourite trumps my desire to lose myself in an old favourite. Also, with series, as long as I’ve read the previous book within the past few years I can continue without re-reading.

    However, one author who’s series I’ve been reading since my early teens has taken so long to bring out each new book (her publisher often promised a book would come out soon, then announced delay after delay) that I forgot everything and had to reread the whole series again before each release (or promise of a release that never came). After years and years of this re-reading I got annoyed and promised myself I wouldn’t read any more books till the series was finished. I made this promise about 8 years ago and I believe the last book just came out! So once I get my hands on it I’ll do a final reread of the previous ones and continue with the new ones… I’ve forgotten almost everything so it’ll be almost like reading them for the first time.

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  22. I rarely reread books. There is just too many TBR books! The only book I have reread constantly is Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. I have to read it about once a year. I love it every time.
    I want to reread more though. I do want to reread Harry Potter and I have finished the first one. I also want to reread Megan McCafferty (the Jessica Darling series), the Dark Materials Trilogy, and the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix (he recently released a 4th book and it’s been SO long since I read the series, I need to reread to re-familiarize myself with the series).

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  23. The Host is my all time favorite book and I reread it a million times a year, does that count? And speaking of being in a slump, I have been in one for 2 weeks and I am strongly considering rereading a new favorite, Carry On to get over it.

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  24. Yes, I reread. 🙂 Sometimes because I need to get caught up on the story, and sometimes because I have books which are like old friends and when I’m in a particular mood, or need comfort or whatever those books come out.

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  26. I don’t re-read often, only because I have so many books I haven’t read at all yet. I do sometimes re-listen to audiobooks, and there are a few I’ve done that with multiple times. The Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld and the Vampire Empire trilogy by Clay & Susan Griffith come to mind. (Oddly, I’m not interested in reading the fourth VE book they just released. I feel like it worked too well as a trilogy.)

    I re-read The Hobbit this year, and I think I was like 8 when I read it the previous time, and I consider that one of my favorite books. I’d like to re-listen to the Dresden Files, but there are just so darn many of them and I’ve got so many audiobooks on my TBR list.

    I actually started re-reading (well, listening to the audiobooks when I’d previously read the paper versions) of the Harry Potter series, and I ended up stopping mostly because I just noticed so, so many plot holes and things that didn’t make sense, now that I knew the secrets. Some series, sadly, just don’t hold up well on a re-read. I think that ideally a series will reward you for re-reading, that you’ll pick up on the little hints and foreshadowing that you didn’t notice before. My experience with HP was kind of the opposite of that, sadly.

    So, to sum up, I don’t re-read often, but not because I don’t want to.

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  27. I tend to always go back to the Harry Potter books, the books by Christine Feehan, the Firekeeper series by Jane Lindskold, the Warriors series by Erin Hunter and the Redwall series. Those are my absolute favorite books and ones that I have re-read for years and will continue to re-read. In fact, it’s only this year since I started this blog that I’ve read other books that I haven’t read.

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      2. I know we both started Marie Hall and Kim Harrison this year, I stole one of them from you. I’m almost positive it was Kim, I can’t believe I never read her before!

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  28. I reread Robin McKinley’s Sunshine regularly, and if a book comes out in a series, say McKinley’s sequel to Pegasus, I’ll reread the prior book or two before I read the new one. Did that with HP before book 7 came out – I reread the first 6 to be ready for 7. I also have a couple series I own, such as Briggs’ Alpha & Omega series, and I reread those every year or two when I’m between books. And some books are so great (such as my first exposure to Black Dagger Brotherhood) that I read them a second time right after I finish them the first time.

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  29. It’s not a series, but I’ve been tempted lately to re-read Andrew Davidson’s book The Gargoyle. Something inexplicably moving about that story. Maybe I’ll figure out what it is next time. 🙂 There are others – I want to re-read Don Quixote, since I didn’t finish the last quarter and it’s been awhile – but of course the list of things to read is big so we’ll see.

    Thanks for liking my post, by the way!

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  30. I don’t re-read books. there’s Only one book that appealed me enough to do (forty rules Ov love) – I started ett again but a bit differently; I made a commitment to myself that whenever I’d feel anxious Or something like that. I’d continue reading da book from where I left en da last time! Strange, I know. but that’s how ett es with me 🙂

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  31. I’ve reread a few but not lots. That being said, I have about five or so books that I need to reread the first book or two before reading the newest one(s) because I have no idea what happened in the story anymore! 😦

    I’ve been putting off reading these though because I have a ridiculous amount of books currently to read (160 fiction books in my house, not counting things on my Kindle/non fic/library books). But I do hope to get to them eventually!

    I also keep things I really like with the intention of going back to them eventually!

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  32. Sometimes when a sequel comes out and I want to read it, I re-read the previous books to remember what was going on. However, there are series that I re-read all the time. In fact, when I’m in a reading slump, I don’t stop reading books, I just start re-reading and re-reading old books and never anything new. That’s how i know I’m in a reading slump. And I totally have favorites. It depends, of course, on what types of books I’m “craving” at that period, but even so i definitely have favorites and the Black Dagger Brotherhood is one of them.

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