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One Night Stand or Re-Readers?


Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II

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So I've always been the type to eventually re-read around 60-70% of my books,either because their part of an ongoing series and i need to refresh my mind with all the fine details again,or simply because I loved the feeling I had when I first read them and want to experience that again...My sister on the other hand is firmly of the One Night Stand variety of readers who gets bored with another read and basically never reads any book or series more than once.. She feels the story has lost its suspense.

So which category do y'all fit into?

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I'm generally the One Night Stand sort: there are too many books I haven't read that I need to check out. There are exceptions though - the first copy of The Lord of the Rings I was given for my ninth birthday ended up falling apart due to the repeated readings.

I haven't re-read anything this year, since I've got a reading challenge to finish a hundred previously unread books this year.

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I reread but nowhere near the amount in the OP.  Probably closer to 15% of stuff I read gets reread.  At the same time, I'm pretty picky about what I read in the first place.  I do enjoy rereading before a new installment in a series comes out, this year I reread Bakker's Second Apocalypse before the new book's release.

I also like audiobooks, but since that's a bigger investment (both time and $) I only get audiobooks I've already actually read.  

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This is actually something I was thinking about recently. I am trying to compile a list of fantasy/SF books which reward multiple rereads

I am a rereader. I have found that the Malazan books, and the ASOIAF books reward rereads. I think Bakker who I am reading now is also a good candidate. 

Generally I tend to reread larger more complex books or books which tick of my pet niches. For example I will reread David Weber and Steve White books multiple times simply because they have well organized starship battles in them

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I'm a rereader. I wouldn't listen to a song I like just once, I wouldn't watch a movie I like just once, so I wouldn't read a book I like just once. For me, any book worth reading once is worth revisiting at some point. But, of course, YMMV.

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Rereads are rare and feel like a guilty pleasure, given all of the books I wish I would get through.  Even when I know a re-read would be enjoyable, like ASOIAF for example, I get hung up on the opportunity cost of revisiting work I've already read.

A corollary to this question is asking if one brings a completionist mindset to reading. Do you feel compelled to complete a book (even one you are not enjoying/respecting) once you've started it or to read the sequel(s) once you've read Book One?

I am pretty strict about putting books down after 100 pages or so if I'm not into it. Same with a series if Book One is good-not-great. If the story was decent but I didn't love the prose I may read the plot summaries on Wikipedia.

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53 minutes ago, matt b said:

I'm a rereader. I wouldn't listen to a song I like just once, I wouldn't watch a movie I like just once, so I wouldn't read a book I like just once. For me, any book worth reading once is worth revisiting at some point. But, of course, YMMV.

Same I re read my favorite books like I would re watch a favorite movie or show. They're my favorites for a reason. 

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5 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Same I re read my favorite books like I would re watch a favorite movie or show. They're my favorites for a reason. 

Agreed. I read too many books and my memory sucks that I end up forgetting most of the details. I tend to get similar enjoyment out of re-reads as I do with the initial read.

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I re-read but only certain books and probably less than I used to. E.g. I re-read Harry Potter 1-4 several times while waiting for 5,6,7. But then I basically called it quits and while I am not sure about 5 and 6 (maybe I read them twice) I did not touch any HP after finishing #7. Of ASoIaF (which I started reading in 2010/11) I read only the first one (and maybe not even completely) twice. Even LotR I read maybe about 5 times (guess) in almost 25 years and the last time was quite a while ago.

There are all kinds of books. Some depend rather heavily on suspense or surprising twists and the re-read value is quite low. Others, often classic "Great books" have high re-read value but they are also demanding in time and concentration, so for me it will often be many years between readings. E.g. I read Mann's The Magic Mountain once with 19, once in my late 20s and not in the ~15 years since but I hope to read it at least another two times in my lifetime. But there are also lighter books that have decent re-read value for me, e.g. Wodehouse. Unfortunately, a lot of SF/Fantasy doesn't. I usually still keep the ones I liked but I am not sure if I'll ever read them again.

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3 hours ago, Seiche said:

Rereads are rare and feel like a guilty pleasure, given all of the books I wish I would get through.  Even when I know a re-read would be enjoyable, like ASOIAF for example, I get hung up on the opportunity cost of revisiting work I've already read.

A corollary to this question is asking if one brings a completionist mindset to reading. Do you feel compelled to complete a book (even one you are not enjoying/respecting) once you've started it or to read the sequel(s) once you've read Book One?

I am pretty strict about putting books down after 100 pages or so if I'm not into it. Same with a series if Book One is good-not-great. If the story was decent but I didn't love the prose I may read the plot summaries on Wikipedia.

Yeah sometimes I even abandon certain series when I reach the final book cause it gets too boring/shit. Eg: inheritance series by paolini, ink heart series,  scavenger series kj parker (Got bored by book 3). Lots of time and money down the drain but can't help it... 

And then there are cases where the book is good but my mood is suddenly off for reading that particular stuff. Like I finished reading 800 pages of shogun but can't bring myself to finish the remaining 200 :/

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31 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

I re-read shit tones more back in HS when I didn;t have income and it was pretty much just the Library. My god, some of the 90s fantasy I've re-read 100s of times is just embarrassing.  I could probably dictate the first 3 DragonLance books from memory.

Tell me about it... I used to endlessly  re read hundreds of Goosebumps and Fear Street novels as a fourteen  year old.. 

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Oh I reread plenty...I prefer to buy my books and grow my personal library...but since I can't do that as often as I'd like, I'll reread other things while waiting...and there's simple enjoyment.  I don't need to have read The White Dragon or Dragonquest about 50 times apiece over the years, but I just enjoy them...

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5 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

Same I re read my favorite books like I would re watch a favorite movie or show. They're my favorites for a reason. 

Same for me. I've pretty much re-read all my favourites at least once. 

Additionally, most books I read are parts of a series and I usually do re-reads once a new part of the series is released, in order to re-fresh my memory. 

Still, I don't think that I re-read as much as the OP. Ever since I've started studying I can't read as much as I used to, so I dedicate more of the time I've left to new books, instead of doing re-reads.

However, 2017 looks like a year of re-reads for me, because I'm planning to re-read ASOIAF, LotR, Harry Potter and the relevant compagnion books to these series. 

5 hours ago, Seiche said:

A corollary to this question is asking if one brings a completionist mindset to reading. Do you feel compelled to complete a book (even one you are not enjoying/respecting) once you've started it or to read the sequel(s) once you've read Book One?

I'm usually compelled to finish a book and there are only very few books that I didn't read to the end. However, normally I only read sequels, if I liked book 1. 

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Some books (or rather series) I find reward a reread as you are able to see things that in hindsight certain small details were included as hints and markers of things to come. And of course some authors have such wonderful writing that I take joy from everything they write.

That said, I also reread less these days. Partly because I have less time to read, but also because I have too much else I want to read. My only reread this year so far has been The Farseer Trilogy.

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