Things I Shouldn’t Feel Guilty For (But Do) Pt 2 // The Comfort of Rereading (but also the guilt)

Hi friends!

This is the continuation of my bookish guilt series and I wanted to talk about rereading because I think it’s something most avid readers and book lovers can relate to. And I’m kind of assuming I’m not the only one who loves to reread but often feels guilty about it 🥴

I wanted to do this post now partly because it’s been chilling in my drafts for awhile and partly because the timing works well which I will get to later in the post!

🎉Related Post: Why I Hardly Buy Books

Why I Reread

This is a hard question to answer because I don’t have a hard and fast rule (does anyone??) but it felt important to include partly because rereading doesn’t necessarily correlate to my recommendation level.

There are books I love and highly recommend everyone read, but I may never read again because of whatever reason. And some of the books I love to reread I would put in the general recommendation or even recommend with caution category because while I love them and they bring me a a lot of joy I also am completely aware they aren’t for everybody. Some of the books I love to reread are super popular while others are super random so often I don’t feel like either of those need to be talked about (at least on my blog ask me in person and I’ll talk for awhile).

I have always been a rereader, partly out of the comfort of entering a favorite world or revisiting, but also when I was in high school and especially in college I had a lot less time to read and I found that when I did I wanted to return to old favorites.

Oftentimes I reread because of a comfort character or nostalgia for when I first read a particular book or because I can’t stop thinking about a book or something as simple as I want to finish a series but it’s been awhile since I read the previous books.

Sometimes rereading can be a palette cleanser either after a book that just didn’t meet expectations or after a book that left me feeling emotionally drained because it helps me recalibrate. Rereading sometimes helps me break reading slumps because it reminds me why I love reading.

Recently I’ve been wanting to reread some of my favorite series which is much more of a time commitment than rereading a standalone and thus carries more guilt!

Why I Feel Guilty About Rereading

There are so many great books out there and more coming out on the daily that oftentimes I feel guilty when I choose to reread a book especially if it’s a book I’ve already reread. I think this guilt is fed by my ever growing TBR as well as running this book blog and pursuing a career in publishing because I feel like I need to be reading all of the latest releases.

It seems silly to feel guilty about enjoying a good reread because it doesn’t do anyone any favors for me to force myself to read a new release when I really want to be reading an old favorite.

I’ve learned the hard way that if the new book doesn’t immediately overcome this desire it will leave a bitter taste in my mouth and often I’ll DNF because I didn’t follow my mood. Although sometimes a great book will manage to distract me from that rereading pull if only for a short while especially if I don’t have easy access to the book I want to reread.

That being said if I reread every time I got the urge I would probably be constantly rereading which in turn would lessen some of the appeal of old favorites because at some point I’m assuming I would get sick of a book and no longer enjoy it. All in all I guess I’m just trying to find balance and also stop feeling guilty about rereading in the first place.

How I Manage My Guilt

In the past I’ve managed my guilt simply by waiting to see if the urge to reread passes and if it doesn’t or the urge is really strong I look at how easily I have access to whatever I’m wanting to reread and oftentimes the answer is I have to wait on a library hold or my physical copy is not where I am (I have books in multiple locations at the moment thanks to Covid 🙃) which forces the urge to pass in favor of something readily available.

However, looking back I think this might be responsible for some of my reading slumps because I am a huge mood reader and when I try to force myself to read something I’m not actually in the mood for than I end up just not enjoying it which sucks.

So I saw a post a few months ago (I can’t remember where it was now I’m so sorry, if this sounds like something you’ve done or you recognize let me know please 😭) that either recommended or at least inspired me to decide I would dedicate a period of time almost exclusively to rereading.

1. This helps me plan ahead and anyone who knows me knows I’m a planner.
2. This helps me feel less guilty because it’s time I’ve set aside to reread leaving the rest of the year open to new reads.
3. It’s not a hard or fast system but rather guidelines. I still plan on reading a few new titles during this period just like I will still reread throughout the rest of the year, but by dedicating this time to the books I want to reread it will hopefully cut down on that feeling throughout the rest of the year so it’s more manageable.

So I am dedicating Winter 2020-2021 to rereading 🎉 Hence the timing of this post because I’m planning on starting now and going through January giving myself a full two months to enjoy all the books I want to reread. Like I said I’m still planning on reading new releases specifically ✨Holiday Romances✨ because tis the season, but for the most part I want to spend this time with old favorites.

This winter seemed like the perfect time because rereading is a guaranteed serotonin boost to combat seasonal depression + pandemic AND I’m still home which means easy access to physical copies of some of my faves. Also my rereading list is starting to get out of control.

So yeah that’s my plan! I don’t want to go much beyond January because there are so many books from 2020 I want to catch up on and there are so many books I’m already looking forward to in 2021 that I don’t want this plan to backfire and make me feel more guilty if I get behind on new releases so I figure giving myself two months should be plenty to satisfy my craving!

I plan on posting my Winter TBR here shortly so you’ll be welcome to see what’s made it onto my reread list (if I can I will try to explain why I want to reread a particular book, but sometimes it’s just the vibe) and what holiday books I’m picking up this winter!

If this interests you at all feel free to join me in this endeavor and we can keep each other company!

Other ideas I had for this series of Things I Shouldn’t Feel Guilty For (But Do):

• How reading romance went from guilty pleasure to my favorite rant // I’m aiming for this to be my next post especially since I’m planning on reading so many holiday romances but no promises because I want to do this subject justice and that takes time and energy I’m struggling to find atm.
• My Starred Rankings Not*always* Matching My Recommendation Level (aka my Goodreads is a mess 🥴) // I wanted to do a dedicated post to why I don’t star reviews on my blog by looking at the mess that is my Goodreads + how I’ve tried to clean up my GR. And what my starred rankings even mean to me vs. my recommendation!
• My overwhelming TBR and recommending books I haven’t read // I always feel guilty recommending books I haven’t read, but it’s also impossible for me to read every book and there are so many good books on my TBR I want to scream about and ugh I just would like to unpack this and discuss.

If you have any questions/suggestions for these posts or other bookish guilt that you would like me to discuss feel free to let me know! 😊

✨What makes you reread? What are your favorite rereads? If you also feel guilty about rereading, how do you manage it?

💫What guilty post are you most interested in? What bookish habits do you feel guilty about?