Rereading Books and Why I Think It's Important

Now you might not care about my opinion, and that's fine. But I feel like so much pressure is put on us book bloggers, honestly probably mostly from ourselves, at least that's what I've heard / experienced. The thing is, though, is that we shouldn't be putting pressure on ourselves about things. And one of the many things is: rereading.

Mostly because of the sheer number of new books on my TBR pile, and I'm sure yours too. There's always new books to read, stories to discover, characters to love. But - our favorites are our favorites for a reason. And I always discover things I missed in my first read or past reread. There are a few I read or listen to just - randomly, maybe not even reading or listening to the whole thing, just snippets (It, Duma Key, Harry Potter).

And the last one is something I want to talk about right now, though I definitely recommend both of those Stephen King books, but for this part - Harry Potter. There was a period in seventh grade where I got mono from sharing a drink with a friends brother (I'm not even kidding, that's how boring I am, sharing a drink), and there was about two weeks where I couldn't stay awake except for small bursts. I was just completely exhausted and felt awful. Obviously that kind of made school a little improbable, if impossible, so I curled up and started reading Harry Potter, over and over, the seventh book was still new, and - and I just kept reading them.

There's more to this story that is nerdier and also parts that explain how I am where I am right now (no, seriously, if I hadn't fallen into this Harry Potter... lifestyle, I probably wouldn't be doing this. I've always loved reading, but Harry Potter brought me into fan fiction then to wizard rock then to YouTube - fan videos that were like mini fan fictions or just amazing - and then onto vloggers and it, obviously, spiraled from there and has gotten worse/awesome over the years).

I'm writing this post now, bringing it up now, because I'm currently rereading Harry Potter for the first time in years, probably since eight grade. I started at one and am going through to seven. I'm currently on six but by the time I get this up, I'll be done. And - and I'm different now so it feels like the books are different. I never liked Goblet of Fire as much, no idea why, maybe it was that movie because man that movie, but rereading now I completely adored it. And I found the fifth book hell to trudge through at first, and harder not to start crying as hard as I did the first time I read through it. You all know why, I'm sure.

Rereading books, re-experiencing them after years or maybe a shorter time, is just one of my favorite things. I do love reading new books, new stories, but - but the old ones are... there, safe, and in the case of Harry Potter, they definitely feel like home. I'm a pretty big Harry Potter fan and I kind of felt like I forgot that, even going to Infinitus and LeakyCon, because I just hadn't so immersed myself in the world in so long. (Though - watching the final movie in a theater full of Con people who got it, is still one of my favorite experiences).

This is probably a bit of a self-indulgent post, but I also kind of want to remember this and be able to go back and read it later. Mostly because I feel that I forget myself about how much I love to reread books and why I love to. I've already reread quite a few books this year, and I'm thinking of doing a post about it, to list the books I'm read in 2014 with notes, and continue it on. (I know people do a book list normally of the books they've read in the year, I'd kind of like to do that, too).

The point of this long, rambling, and sometimes off topic post was and is: rereading books is important. 

So go give your old favorites some love and please tell me the books you've reread and which you reread the most. (HP related: favorite book and favorite wrock band, if you can choose just one on both, if not just give reasons please, I'm seriously interested).