Re-reading books, vice or virtue?

I'm fairly new to LIBRARYTHING and as I'm cataloging, I find myself thinking, "I didn't remember I had this, I should read it again." or "It's been a long time since I've read this one, I should get to it again." Part of my dilemma is that I've moved four times in the last six years and most of my books were in storage for part of the time.
My TBR pile is about fifty books high, I need to read new books not old ones. Anyone else experience this?

It's neither a vice nor a virture. Different people read different ways, you do what works for you, it doesn't matter what anyone else does.

My TBR pile is around 90 books high. I really, really want to reread some of my books that I haven't read in years. I finally capitulated and reread Kushiel's Dart a while ago, and I'm going to reread the rest of the trilogy soon.

In my opinion, if you really want to reread something, you should just read it. Your TBR pile will always be there. So will the book you want to reread, it just depends which you would like to read more. =)

Welcome to LT, siubhank. There's lots to see and learn here!

You might find re-reading a book when you're older will give you a new perspective on it; you might find things you appreciate about it in a whole new way. You might also find yourself wondering "what ever was I thinking???" ;o)

I understand the virtue of rereading a book, but when I consider by TBR pile I think... "I could be reading something new right now." In a way it is a vise to reread because there is so much to be read!

Thanks for the input. I have always been 'terrible' about re-reading books. My M-I-L once asked me why I didn't check books out of the library instead of buying them. I told her partly because I like to re-read, sometimes in the middle of the night I'll wake up and hunt up a book and start reading it. She looked at me like I had two heads and told me I had too many books. AS IF. My mom didn't understand this either, she said, "Once I've read it, I'm done, I don't want to see it again." I wonder if I was adopted?

I get antsy when I am re-reading thinking about all the books I want to read that I haven't read. I can however see the merits of re-reading -- it sounds rather regimented but I have decided that once a year on my birthday I am going to either re-try a classic that I gave up on in the past, or re-read a favorite.

I did that this year with Middlemarch which I had given up on ~ 15 years ago -- and I loved it! It astounded me to think it had been sitting on my shelf all these years, unloved. I am going to re-try The Brothers Karamazov next year. And I would like to re-read some of my favorites from my 20's such as A Hundred Years of Solitude, Unbearable Lightness of Being, Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood again soon to get my now older cynical opinion of.

I have a few favourite books that I like to re-read. When I get the urge to re-read a book I usually follow it as re-reading a book doesn't take as much time for me than a new book and I really enjoy it which is what I aim for.

I always reread books, they are a great break when you are tired enough that even reading new books isn't enough of a break. Particularly old children's books, I can read them a million times without getting bored. I especially do this late at night, because I find if I start a book at 11 and read just a chapter or two, I end up starting all over again the next day to reintroduce myself to the characters. So I try not to start new books late at night anymore, and instead reread parts of ones I know I love.

I have only re-read a few books, but I really think it's a matter of personal reading choice. Like others have stated here, sometimes when you re-read a book, you discover something new about the book (or yourself). And isn't that the whole point of reading? =)

Kira, I agree with you. It's like putting on your favorite jammies and snuggling up. Your brain is still percolating, but the rest of you can just relax. Several times I've reread an old favorite and discovered something entirely new. Almost as if the writing fairies had snuck something in while I wasn't looking.

Interesting topic - something I've been thinking about lately. We moved from Chicago to London about a year ago, and put a lot of books into storage. I took some of my "comfort" books with me, but I find that I really want to re-read something and it's not here! Really made me realize how much I enjoy re-reading certain favorites. Also, looking at other peoples' catalogs here on LT, I realize that I have certain books that I'd like to re-read because I can't remember them, but know that I liked.
Stupidest thing I've done is leaving all of my Bujold's Vorkosigan books in storage - I re-read them at least once a year.
My local library is iffy - not much selection, you have to order books from other branches, and they actually charge you for it!

My husband and I have this discussion often. He considers it a waste of time to reread a book. I reread books all the time. I liken it to listening to a great symphony or opera or jazz often over the years. Something is always discovered or brilliance is remembered and savored. I also reread new books especially fiction because I am a lover of a good story and I read quickly at first to discover the plot. Then I reread the book to pay attention to the authors craft and skill. Recently I reread Water for Elephants and truely loved the storytellers quality about it. I also could pick up on threads in the storyline that were raised early in the novel that I had missed the first time.
I also agree that rereading certain novels is a cozy jammies feeling. I have reread the Harry Potter books more times than I should admit. Pride and Predjudice gets an annual read at least. There are a slew of garden writers that I reread again and again. Then there are the poets.....Dick Francis To the Hilt is a bedside insomnia cure. My reread list could extend to every book I choose to keep in my library. Hmm. That may be a new editing criteria.

13 florahistora
My reread list could extend to every book I choose to keep in my library.

That is basically my criteria for buying fiction (at least, new fiction). Do I think I will want to reread it some day? If so, I buy it. If not, I'll borrow it from the library or read it at the bookstore (ah, B&N, my dear friend - although maybe the library in my new city is more comfortable than the one in my old city, since the B&N is less so...).

It's only a vice if, like me, you can recite most of V For Vendetta, but still have several hundred books in your TBR pile.

I've never read a book twice, but I always feel as though I should; Dickens, David Foster Wallace, Neal Stephenson - they all call to me from the shelves. Sigh.

I saw an interview with Shelby Foote once where he admitted to reading Proust *once a year*. Now, THAT is rereading...

I'm a compulsive re-reader, but have been trying to stop and get on with some of the books that have been sitting unread on my shelves for the past year or so.

Re-reading is good when I want to read something that I know is good and that won't take as much concentration as a new book.

If there were fewer books in the world or I had more time, I would probably reread more. As it is, unless I particularly loved a book or think I might want to use it in a class I'm teaching, it generally gets donated to the scholarship fund book sale once I've finished it. There have been a few cases where I've actually given a book away, regretted it, and bought it again. But there are always so many new and wonderful books coming out (not to mention my TBR stacks/bags/shelves, which must hold about 400 books) that I keep forging ahead. I've even started to lick my compulsion to finish a book I'm not enjoying. I used to feel that I owed it to the author to keep going, in hopes it would get better. Now, if it's just not grabbing me by the time I'm halfway in, that's it.

>18 Cariola: Cariola

"I've even started to lick my compulsion to finish a book I'm not enjoying."

Good for you! I can't do that. There have been times when I'm more than half way through a book and I still hate it, but I feel like I have to finish it. I have such a hard time letting it go. I feel like if I don't finish it then I'll always regret it, but usually I end up hating it all the way through.

I finish books I hate to cement my hatred. That way, when discussing the book, I can say I read every awful word, so my opinion is the right one.

Like about half of you, I love to reread, and only keep books that are rereads...or for reference reasons, or are TBRs. I try to guess before buying, but I can hardly afford to buy anymore, so it doesn't matter in that sense. However, as well as being a rereader, I find that I need to have a new book available at all times, quite often I alternate the two, the reread being a wiser choice before bed, and the new book being for more concentrated reading. I also find that with school I do more rereading and more 'junk' reading for pleasure, since the schoolwork is a little bit challenging.

I probably spend half of my reading time with rereading....I try not to sometimes, but there are some books I just can't resist a reread! Sometimes I think of it not as "re-reading the book for the millionth time," but kind of entering the world of that book for another visit. Anyone else feel this way?

Geez, I go out of town and this site fills up. I'm posting from Chicago, city of wind, except since I've been here it has been city of rain and humidity.

Sorry, back to topic. I am of the 'force yourself to finish the book'group. I feel that the author worked hard to put this on paper and a publishing company thought it was worth the risk, so maybe I'm missing something. However, with age comes knowledge and I, too, am attempting to overcome that compulsion.
Lucinda, I almost always feel I am entering another world with a book. So looking at it that way, would you let the fact that you've been to Lisbon keep you from going back?

#22 I'm one with you. Re-reading is like visiting a dearly world and talking to old friends about shared memories.

There are so many books to be read that I think that I would miss something interesting but I can't do anything, when I feel in the mood of re-reading a book I have to do it as soon as possible. That's why I only keep the books worth re-reading and give away the rest.