How often do you reread books? How often do you read the books you love again? I asked these questions recently, and the answer was rarely. Last year, I only reread 1 book, and the year before, I reread 5 books. In 2022, I reread only 3 books. In 2021, I reread 2 books. And in 2020, none. In total, in these 4 years, I read 193 books, from audiobooks to ebooks and not forgetting comic books. From almost 200 books, I only reread 11. But this isn’t a problem. It’s not written anywhere you have to reread books. You don’t even need to reread a book in a series to continue it. Rereading is a choice based on the type of consumer you are. And I love revisiting stories I like, so why don’t I do it more often?

I’ve already realised that I love to rewatch shows and movies. I’ve rewatched so many episodes of Friends without ever watching it from start to finish. I’ve rewatched Two Broke Girls more times than I can count. I know chunks from episodes of Castle from memory I can recite whenever I want. I still laugh at the same jokes in The Big Bang Theory. How I Met Your Mother is my Sunday morning companion, even though I still don’t like that ending.

Every time Oblivion, Ready Player One, Mortal Engines, or The Martian are on the TV, I have to watch them again. I’ll sit there like seeing these movies for the first time. I let the sounds of the robots in Oblivion send chills down my spine. I’m trying to find all the pop culture references in Ready Player One. I’m marvelling at the imagery in Mortal Engines and wishing for Mark Watney to be rescued.

My life is filled with rewatches. And I love it. I probably do it every day. Cross that. I do it every day. Sometimes, I prefer to rewatch a movie rather than find a new one. There is comfort and ease in already knowing a story. And revisiting something you already have a connection with will always be a good experience. Just because I’ve seen a painting I love that inspires and moves me, it doesn’t stop generating those feelings because I’ve seen it more than once. They will always come back when I look at it or even become amplified by my life and my emotions at a given time when I revisit it.

But why don’t I do the same thing with books? Why don’t I reread more often? Not a single time when I reread a book did it change my appreciation for it. Even Ready Player One, a book I first gave five stars and then later turned down to 4 stars, still didn’t change my opinion of the book. I still maintain the same relationship with the story. But now I’m more assured of what I enjoy in the story and what I don’t connect with so much. Those are the same things I saw when I first read it. I just ignored the downsides and focused only on the positives.

When I reread, I’m always happy to be back in the stories I love. So why don’t I reread more often? Why do I need an excuse to reread, like continuing a series? Why do I need to always read something new?

When opening Instagram, it’s hard to avoid being excited by the new book of the moment. It’s the potential of finding a new favourite that draws me in. Finding the next best story. And so my Want to Read list keeps growing. But it will always grow. I will never be able to read every single book I want on the face of this earth. And while that’s a sad thought, it also should be liberating. I don’t need to read only new books. I don’t need to keep discovering new authors. I don’t need to be on top of new releases (especially since they can be expensive. Sorry Suzanne Collins and Dan Brown, but I’ll wait for the paperbacks).

If I don’t mind not being on top of the hit show of the moment, why do I need to do that with books? Isn’t well spent time when you read something you enjoy? Then why don’t I spend my time reading what I already know I like instead of playing the roulette with a new book? Wouldn’t I be happier to spend my time rereading a favourite than to waste it on something new I’ll enjoy less?

I want to be back in the OASIS. Meeting a new friend again in Project Hail Mary. Come back to Earth with The 100. Help unite the world with Tris and Four. And discover Westeros. I want to do these things all over again because I loved it. And no, I’m not reading new things. I’m not shortening my TBR. But I’m spending time reading what I love. And that should be worth 10 times more.

Currently, I’m determined to not consider myself in a reading slum. I reject that word. I don’t care. I’m not going to call it that. Although I’m in a drought. A reading drought. The tape is running but only passes a thin stream of literary water. Since December, I’ve been in a complicated relationship with reading. I read almost every day, but I lack the passion. I want to read. I just don’t know what. And the books I pick up take me a long time. I’ve been reading the first half of A Storm of Swords by George R R Martin for a little over two months. At this pace, it will take until the end of the month to finish. So, two and a half months to read only half of the book. Half! The worst part is that I enjoy it so much. A Song of Ice and Fire is like coming home to me. A comfort place I can easily dive into whenever I want. Since I find it so easy to immerse myself back into this world, I haven’t given up on it because this is far too long to read little over 500 pages.

So, I’m also craving something easy and quick to keep me company, and that’s when this craving for rereading appeared and made me question why I don’t allow myself to do it. Why do I need to grab another book I haven’t read yet when my TBR doesn’t have the quick read I want? Those are all on the read shelf.

During my Project TBR Zero, I’ve thought about not having my books separated into read and unread, instead having them all together as reading possibilities. To look at my shelves not as an objective to move books from one shelf to another but as a collection of all the stories I can read right now. While I haven’t done that transition yet, I can still open up to that idea and introduce rereading as part of my reading routine.

The best part is that I don’t need to only stick to the books I enjoy. I can revisit any story I might be in the mood for. Last year, Max released a miniseries adaptation of Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. It was beautifully made and gave me a tremendous need to reread the book, specially since the first season it’s only half of the story. I’ve forgotten about a lot of things, and since season 2 it still not out yet, rereading is where I can get my answers. However, I was apprehensive to pick it up since it wasn’t a favourite book. I still have some good memories associated with it, but I don’t know if that’s enough to enjoy my second time.

But it’s just a reread. I don’t have to read from cover to cover. I can just read passages and stop whenever I want. It’s a win-win situation, so why don’t I do it more often? Why do I always have to grab the new one? New stories will always appear. In the meantime, I could be having the best time of my life, reading what I already know will give me the best time of my life. I’m sorry TBR, but right now, I’m going to grab my next book from your sister, the read shelf.