The Guilt of Rereading — and a Hopeful Solution

My mind needs all the brand new tales, not as a result of they’re new, however as a result of it’s attempting to outrun some imaginary time the place I’m going to expire of time to learn all these books I’ve but to get to.

Yes, all of us die and technically run out of studying time, so it isn’t that imaginary, however I’m actually not excited about that. I’m simply observing my checklist of unread books, and they’re demanding.

They’re loud. Immediate. Needy.

The books I’ve already learn are quiet. Cozy. Snoozing. Even those which have burrowed underneath my pores and skin, that I carry round with me, they inform me I’ve already charted them.

The unread books shout, “There is all this new to explore!” That’s why from round my teenage years to now I’ve not been a rereader. I wish to be, however my mind may be very a lot not on board.

With all of the tough issues which have occurred since 2016 and the present pandemic, my mind continued to need the brand new, however it began to hit roadblocks. Sometimes the brand new was about plagues. Or about abortion being unlawful. Sometimes a new guide punched me within the throat and left me gasping for air. It’s how I discovered myself at some point grabbing Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu and rereading each volumes. I wasn’t in a rush this time to get to the HEA. I knew it was there. So, I received to linger on candy scenes and actually deal with the illustrations and catch little particulars I’d missed the primary time.

It was comforting. It was precisely what I wanted. It was why I’d at all times needed to be a rereader and why as a idea I’d at all times understood rereading. Naturally I assumed, “Finally, I can be a rereader!” and eyed my copy of The Princess Bride, simply as my mind laughed and laughed and laughed and began itemizing all of the titles I’d but to learn. Just like that, I used to be caught proper again at sq. one.

That is, till a dialog with a pal asking me for love suggestions modified the whole lot. In my pleasure of promoting Alexis Hall’s Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake for a way humorous it was, I mentioned, “I wish I could read it again for the first time.” As my pal debated on which format to seize, I spotted I’d learn a digital galley for the guide although I’d wished I’d learn the audiobook. That’s when the guide gods smiled down on me: my mind shouted nothing about new books whereas I needed to reread Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, as long as I used to be doing it in audiobook. It counted it as new sufficient as a result of of the completely different format.

Rereading unlocked!

It’s necessary to have completely different codecs accessible for books for accessibility, and as at all times, when accessibility is obtainable, everybody advantages. Reading in several codecs can actually change the expertise of a learn. In the case of an audiobook, the manufacturing selection of a narrator (or a full solid) already provides a new factor to the story and the way it’s learn. It additionally feels completely different to have a story instructed to you out loud. Audiobooks can create a feeling of not studying alone, which for consolation studying functions could also be a bonus.

Now, as I take a look at books I’d like to reread in audiobook format for the vacations, I’m additionally excited about how every reread will open the door for locating issues I’d missed the primary time. Looking on the similar info years older, possibly I’ll reread a scene and view it in a different way. Maybe I missed a theme, or will now like what I disliked beforehand and vice versa. Old terrain doesn’t essentially imply nothing can be new; I’m without end altering as I expertise life, and I can be sufficient of the brand new.

I’ve additionally realized that whereas this helps with my subject of eager to be a rereader for consolation, altering format to permit for rereading opens a new world for me in the case of nonfiction rereading. It’s a format that I at all times select the audiobook format for, particularly when the creator is the narrator and I get to listen to it learn the way in which they wrote it, however it comes with the one draw back of not permitting me to spotlight issues I’d like to come back again to. Now I can decide up the print copy after the audiobook for nonfiction titles I liked.

I’ve discovered that rereading by switching guide format permits me to not solely have the ability to consolation reread, but additionally bust out my assortment of coloured pens, highlighters, and sticky notes.

Do you too battle with letting your self reread books? You may also wish to take a look at How to Do Nothing: The Case for Rereading Books and The Joys of Rereading Books on Audio.