Why Do We Reread Books?

Hello readers! It’s Kamama, with a more contemplative post than usual. I will admit that most of my posts have to do with book tags and challenges, more of the fun game-like stuff, but every now and then I have an idea for a more “serious” topic. Today is one of those days.

When somebody asks why people read books for entertainment, there are a few answers one could receive, but a popular answer is “to find out what happens.” This answer is satisfying enough for most people to take at face value. It wasn’t an answer I used to think much of either, but I noticed a flaw in this statement. If people read books “to find out what happens” then why do we reread books? We already know what happens, we’ve read the book before, so why are we reading it again? I love rereading books, in fact, I have favorite books that I would rather reread over others. Why? Why do I do this? What about Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn makes me want to read it again? Why do I keep going back to Ella Enchanted, a book I’ve had since middle school, over and over again?

To find my answer to this question, I decided to take a poll, of sorts. I have a few friends who love books, and they read (and reread) books just as much as I do, if not more. I came up with a game plan, and I asked them all the same question: If we reread books “to find out what happens,” then why do we reread books when we already know what’s going to happen? I phrased the question as if we’re assuming that people actually do read books “to find out what happens,” and a few people expressed that they thought this was inaccurate, but that’s another can of worms I’m not opening today.

I got quite a few responses, some varied, and some much longer than others. I have categorized them based on similarity. Some of the responses have been split up, because they fit into two (or more) different categories, but I have them all recorded and ready for analysis.

The first category is what I’ve dubbed the “reliving it” category. These answers have to do with something about going through the experience again. In fact, “relive” is a word that multiple people used to describe the experience. Keep in mind that I asked each person separately, and none of them had any prior knowledge of other people's answers before or after theirs.

“When people are asked why they read books, a popular answer is to find out what happens. If that’s true, why do we reread books?”

“Well, it's like redoing most things because you want to. It's because you enjoyed it; were moved by it; touched by it; and/or just had a good time. You may know what's going to happen but you're reliving when you first found it”- Serena Stellington

“I think it’s for the same reason that serial killers are a thing or the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is still going. I think that people reread books to relive the relative high that they got while reading them”- Robert Carlyle

“Your brain connects with the characters like they're real, so rereading books is to your brain what going out to coffee with an old friend is like.”- Abigail O’Keefe

“In my personal experience it's to relive the moments I enjoyed or that stuck out to me…”-Smudge Viel

“If we read only to find out what happens, I would say that the only real reason to reread a book is so that you can go through the experience again with a different perspective. A good book is one with enough subtlety, enough reflection, and enough content that you get a different reaction going through each time. One of the things I noticed is all about anticipation. If you don't know what is coming you have the reaction of, "Oh no, what is going on, what is about to happen?" However, if you already know what is to come, your reaction is closer to "Oh no, it is ABOUT to happen." a different reaction, a different sort of entertainment.

Another possible reason is just for sheer enjoyment, either just getting the pleasure of reading a well-written section of prose, or watching a good story unfold. Just the plot structure, the setup, or the words on the page are good enough that it is something worth spending time revisiting. This would be sort of like eating something you really like, it's not something you want to do once, but you want to do it over and over.”-Nathanael Hill

“I would say it is to get reinvested with that world again! To feel a part of it again.” -Rachel Ruth

“Rereading a book means we liked it (or loved it, in many cases). We want to live the story again, in a sense…”-Auriel Martin

The second category has to do with things like noticing things you didn’t before, or attempting to understand the world the story takes place in better. These answers have more to do with the book itself, rather than the person reading it.

“When people are asked why they read books, a popular answer is to find out what happens. If that’s true, why do we reread books?”

“To find out how/why it happened”- @lilybet.writes on Instagram

“To find things I missed the first time.”-Elijah Hall

“ …[To] look for new things we missed.”-Evelyn Knight (brackets are mine)

“…To catch the details I may have missed from the first read through”.- Smudge Viel

“…If the story is full of detail and well crafted world, then you can read through again to learn more about the world, though if you're just reading "to find out what happens" this is not a likely reason.”-Nathanael Hill

“When I'm reading books for the first time, I usually find myself forgetting details as I read, because I'm so eager to find out the ending. But when I read it for the second (and sometimes third time) I learn more about the characters and find things that I missed the first time.

Like the Wingfeather Saga… I read it the first time and really liked it, but when I read it for the second time (and the third time and the fourth time and so on) I found small details that I had just missed, or things that I didn't understand the first time that made sense the second time around.”-Caroline

“...Even though we know what happens, there still are things we have forgotten or missed the first time we read it and we can discover them through a second reading. Especially foreshadowing. We can easily miss foreshadowing the first time we read a book or series because we don't know that it's foreshadowing. But when we know what happens, we recognize the significance of something earlier in the story that we didn't really understand how important it was the first time we read the story.”- Auriel Martin

The third and final category is the miscellaneous category. These answers don’t fit into the categories above, and they don’t have anything to do with each other either. They’re interesting nonetheless.

“When people are asked why they read books, a popular answer is to find out what happens. If that’s true, why do we reread books?”

“…It could just be making an empathetic connection. If you've spent the time reading a book, it's almost like you've gotten into the head of the author, you feel like you know them. You want to read again because it is kind of a form of interaction, even if it is just one way.”- Nathanael Hill

“They couldn’t let go of the characters. They loved the story. Forgot what happened.”- Karis Kroeker

“I think we reread books to remember the truths that we learned in the story…”-Evelyn Knight

“…Sometimes a story is just really meaningful, making us want to read it again and again.”- Auriel Martin

Well, that’s all of the responses I got. It was interesting to see each person’s opinions and the way they expressed them. Everybody has their own opinion, and I don’t believe that anyone was blatantly wrong with their answers, even if some were different from others. The biggest difference I noticed between the two main categories was that the first one (the “reliving it'' category) had to do with the person reading the book. The second category had more to do with the book itself. And the miscellaneous category is it’s own thing. You can decide what you think from all of this, but from the information gathered, I came up with my own answer.

“When people are asked why they read books, a popular answer is to find out what happens. If that’s true, why do we reread books?”

We reread books because there is something that draws us back in, whether it's reliving moments we enjoyed, looking for details we didn’t notice before, or something else entirely. It depends on the person, and it depends on the book. A person might go back and reread a mystery novel to appreciate the foreshadowing and clues, things they didn’t notice before. Somebody else might read a fast paced adventure book, to remind themselves of the excitement they felt from reading it for the first time. Or, someone might reread a book simply because they forgot what happened, or they just love being in that world. Despite the variety of reasons, I believe that rereading books is undoubtedly a good thing.

That’s all I have for you today! Feel free to come up with your own answer based on the information above, the last paragraph was my own opinion and perspective, but you are welcome to disagree. If you would like, leave your own perspective and opinion down in the comments! I love seeing other people’s views on things like this.

Until Next Time!

~Kamama Deere