As I’m starting to create my list for the Re-Readathon ( a weekend dedicated to re-reading books at your own pace) I’m beginning to get a little bit nervous. You’d think that nerves would be the last thing I’d be feeling as I prepare to visit some old friends and fall so familiarly in their pages…but I have this fear and I don’t know if it’s rational or irrational.
I am terrified that I’m going to pick up some favorites or books that I REALLY loved and find out that I just don’t love them like I first did. I wonder if maybe since then I’ve read better books or if I’ve grown out of them or I got so caught up in the RIDE of the book that maybe it wasn’t quite that awesome anymore. I mean, obviously it’s not a horrible problem as I keep adding new favorite books and loved books to the metaphorical pile of Sacred To Jamie Books but seriously I’ll probably start to have an existential crisis if I find myself falling out of love with my favorite books. Ok, I have a flair for the dramatic here but does anybody else understand what I’m feeling?
So have you ever fallen out of love with books that you loved or were favorites upon rereading them? What do you think changed for you that made it a different experience? Have you just read better books? Grown out of the book or the genre? Or was it just a book that was a strong experience for you but upon rereading there were some major flaws?
readingfuelledbytea says
I have that fear too, but so far childhood favourites have stood the test of time!
JNCL says
Oh, yes, I know this worry only too well, and I have re-read a couple of books and noticed weaknesses in plot or other simple flaws that I missed when I was a teenager or whatever. I usually find that that only makes me more fond of the book, but in a different, nostalgic sort of way. It is sad to lose that first rush of, "Wow! This book is so awesome!", though.
JNCL
The Beauty of Eclecticism
toni d. says
Totally hearing you on this one! Well, my most recent experience was Twilight. I DEVOURED that book the first time around! And when I tried to re-read it just months after I was like, "Drivel! What was I thinking!?" Not too sure what it was that changed my mind about it. Perhaps it was temporary insanity that I enjoyed it in the first place?
Anna says
I enjoyed Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles the first time I read it a few years ago, and I read it again over the summer and didn't like it at all and couldn't wait for it to be done. I would have abandoned it but I was reading it for a read-along. I guess tastes do change over time.
Ginger @ GReads! says
I completely understand what you're saying. Remember that whole Twilight re-read I did this summer? I was so anxious to revisit one of my FAVORITE books, but after a few chapters in I was… bored :-\ I think it's because I've read a lot of GREAT books since then. It's bound to happen. Your tastes will change, and other books will come along to raise the bar.
Actin' Up with Books says
For years I have claimed that She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb is one of my favorite books. I recommended it to so many people after I read it, bought as gifts for friends and keep extra copies on my shelf just so I have one to lend out. And the funny thing is, I Have Read It Only Once! Yep, I am scared to reread it because I'm afraid I won't love it as much as I once had. When I read it, it opened my eyes when they needed opening. It reconnected me with my love of reading. So, yeah, I have it on a pedestal and I don't want to find out that it isn't that great.
I am participating in the re-readathon but it isn't one of the books I plan to reread.And I probably never will.
JessiKay89 says
I hate growing out of books. It seriously makes me so sad. That's probably what happens to me most of the time. There are all these books that I LOOOOVEEEEED when I was younger, but now when I read them, I'm just like "eh." The only other thing that makes me nearly as sad is when I'm reading a book and all I can think about is how I would have loved it when I was younger, but not so much right now.
Reading Angel says
It can also be a mood thing! If something is going on at a certain time in your life that makes that book really speak to you, and now it may not so much…
It may also make you remember that time fondly (unless it was a not so good time), you can always hope š
Burgandy Ice says
YES!! When I'm not totally focused on What's Happening Next, I see the writing style better, the stupid stuff… I analyze why I like it so much. There's a few books that I have reread and found serious life-changing decisions rooted in 'em. Talk about SCARY!!
Linda says
I don't reread many books which is why I'm so excited about the rereadathon. So we'll see what happens after that.
Jen says
I feel your pain! I used to LOVE Twilight (and all the subsequent books), but upon rereads, I was not a fan… but other books I've just grown to love even more! I guess it's just a toss-up!
Fiktshun says
If too much time has passed since my last read, I am terrified of re-reading. I have fallen out of love with a book that I thought was so perfect and then reading it a few years later I was like WTH!?!
Some books just fit so perfectly at a certain time in your life. They hit you at the right moment and have an impact, where you might have overlooked their flaws or shortcomings. But if you go back to them when you're not in the same frame of mind you'll be like, "How did I not notice that before?"
It's why I won't re-read It by Stephen King and probably won't re-read If I Stay by Gayle Forman. Or really any heartbreaking book that I loved so much.
But I loved re-reading The Mortal Instruments and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. So it's sort of a gamble.
I say pick a few ones for you to try that weren't your "die for" favorites. If you don't have much of an issue with those, then take a risk on ones you love more.
Good luck with your re-readathon!
Jenny says
I usually only find this problem when I read books I liked as a kid. Not a teenager, a kid. I find I just sort of grew out of it. I can understand the fear, though. Good luck!
April (BooksandWine) says
I think that's a legitimate fear!
I usually have good luck on re-reads, but maybe I just have good taste! But then, you have good taste to, so no worries!
nea barabea says
It happened to me with Twilight. Ok, not after the first re-reading, or second or even third. But it did happened after a year when I started reading other books. Bella's point of view was I think too slow and boring. I mean after reading Vampire Academy with the explosive Rose Hathaway – Yeah it may be normal that I couldn't fit into the slow Twilight anymore. š
But I think you shouldn't worries too hard. I reread Mortal Instruments and the Iron Fey and I can assure you that I still love it š But then again I think we said it before and meant it, reading the first time it the best experience ever! š Nothing will ever be like that š (ok, except if you hit your head and loose all your longterm memory – which I hope will not be the case š )
Happy reading!
Ashley @ Book Labyrinth says
Oh gosh, I totally understand. I'm afraid of this too because I've had it happen where I've re-read a book I remember being AWESOME and then… yah it was okay, but not the BEST BOOK EVAR that I remembered it to be. I guess, like you said, it's cool because you always have new favourites. And I guess just because you don't love it as much as you used to, it doesn't mean that it's still not a favourite. At that one point in time it created an awesome reading memory and it was spectacular enough for you to build it up in your head… so that still means the book has magic. Maybe it's just not the right book at the right time for you anymore. But then there are also those books you re-read and you go "Oh man, I forgot how AWESOME this book was" -or- "This book is just as great as I remembered it to be!"… that definitely does happen too.
Danielle says
I completely understand! There are books that I read before I became a librarian (and savored books more than I devoured them) that I am petrified to reread because I'm afraid I won't love them as much. But that I actually really want to re-read because I miss them. Books like Middlesex, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Reader, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Wonder Spot, Falling in Love with Natasha, The Time Traveler's Wife, Her Fearful Symmetry, Truth and Beauty…but will my TBR list expanding by the minute, perhaps those loves will just stay perfectly fixed in my mind as books I will clutch to my chest and say "I loved this book. You HAVE to read it."
And for @Actin' Up with Books: She's Come Undone is one of my all time favorite books. And I've literally read it about 8 or 9 times. It stands up to the re-read. š
Michelle says
I honestly don't re-read books. I have too many on my shelf that I want to get to to have the time to go back to my favorites. At least right now anyway. I've thought of doing some re-reads in audio but haven't really embraced it. I hope you enjoy your selections the second time around!