Why do I keep reading these books?

by Patricia Hamill

Why do I keep reading these books over and over?

Back in the day (read pre-ebook), it was because those were the books on my shelf. I already owned them. They were there. I was there. It was like destiny.

Well, maybe not exactly like destiny. Would you buy convenience?

Great. Moving on.

For today though, why?

If you follow my blog (or my Twitter or Goodreads profile), you've probably seen a few things pop up over and over, and let me tell you, that's just the tip of the iceberg. I don't always post my re-reads. Especially not before Goodreads started letting them count towards the annual reading challenge.

I wish I had an answer for you, but it's a bit hard to pin down. Perhaps it has to do with the story. Or maybe my mood. Perhaps it's a reset between challenging reads. Or maybe a time delay, you know, like the story must be read every x years and always from the beginning. Or it could be that a new installment came out (again, must read from beginning, must!).

Really, it's any and all of these things.

Let's take The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I've read these four books so many times I've lost count. Even though I know what's going to happen, I don't care. For this one it's a mix between nostalgia and the need to remind myself why I fell in love with epic fantasy. I first read these books as a tween, sitting in my room, following first Bilbo and then Frodo on their quests. To this day, I can still recall the chills from that first reading when the Ringwraiths made their first appearance.

On par with these, but a much greater investment in time, are the Wheel of Time books. 

Good golly, there are so many! And each one of them is like reading all of the LOTR books. For this one, the re-reads were necessary. These things are not only massive, but complex, interrelated, and brilliant. To keep up, I had to be fresh. Every time a new one came out, I was picking up The Eye of the World to start over from the top. By the last book, A Memory of Light, book 14, yes 14, of this series that literally takes up an entire shelf in my house, catching up was a year and a half investment in time. I must admit that on that last reading I gave up on the re-reads around book 6 and jumped to book 14. I haven't picked them up since so I'm thinking that my guess must be right. I was only reading these over and over to get ready for the next one. I might read them again, but like I said, that's about a year and a half of diligent reading.

Let's see, what else do I re-read?

Ah yes, Harry Potter. This one I jumped in on when almost the whole series was already out, so it wasn't so much the same boat as Wheel of Time; instead, it was the feeling, that sense of wonder and discovery. That magic is real. That I'm a child again, only this time, I'm receiving post by owl and picking out my wand at Ollivanders. Of course, on the fifth book in, that wonder flees and the story goes dark, becomes a thrilling and tragic adventure, but still I read, and I always seem to pick these up whenever I need that feeling of wonder, even knowing where it will take me.

Ok, here's one. My guilty pleasure. 

The Twilight Saga. Oh yes, sparkling vampires and all. Why do I read this over and over? I literally have no idea. Really. I only picked them up for the first time a couple years ago, but since then, I've read the whole series two or three times a year. I guess if pressed, I'd have to say they're like a reset. They're comfortable. They're fun. Nothing too deep. A bit of YA. Some danger. Some romance (albeit not exactly the epitome of healthy relationship). Do I really need a reason?

Oh, one more!

There may be a trend here, but I also read The Death's Gate Cycle over and over, though it's been a few years since the last time I picked it up. Seven books, normal sized, just as epic as LOTR and TWOT. Haplo, the ultimate anti-hero. You root for him and against him at the same time. Alfred, kindly old man with a secret. The Earth splintered into four broken elemental versions of itself, all to save it from an evil race of powerful beings. This story always blows my mind, and I do like to set it aside for a few years between reading, so it feels fresh, and that probably means I'm due to read it again.

As for standalones? 

Well, Battlefield Earth is one I've read many more times than strictly necessary. I always enjoy that it is really two complete stories in the one book. The part leading up to the conflict at the pad, where the humans fight back against the Psychlos (am I remembering that right?), and the second part where they fight to keep what they won. It's a well-done story, highly entertaining.

And one more, the one I'm reading again right now. 

The Otherland series. These I read over and over because the story is intriguing on so many levels. Much of the action happens in virtual reality, but one that's so real that those involved aren't quite sure the "puppets" aren't sentient. That brings up questions of morality, of mortality (would you choose to live in VR forever if it meant dying in real life?), and of friendship. That the main love interests must grapple with the fact that they're stuck in VR and one of them looks like a baboon always brings a chuckle. But this story is gripping on a visceral level to me. I had to work for it, too. The first time I tried to read this as a teenager, I got about 70 pages in and gave up. I thought it was a war book.  I came across the paperback again when I was in the Navy (thank you to all who donate to the Navy libraries, by the way). I picked it up again, and this time I kept going. Wouldn't you know about 10 pages past that, it gets good!

Ok, one more, promise.

This one also I re-read because I had to work for it, despite the fact that I always fall asleep when I do. The Circle of Light, first of which is Greyfax Grimwald. I first read this one when I was in fourth grade. I read it and then spent the next 10 years searching for the rest (I'm not kidding). It wasn't until Amazon came about that I finally found it and its companions. That's a long wait to find out how a story ends, let me tell you!

And oh my goodness! 

These are in Kindle! My taped up, out of print Circle of Light paperbacks don't have to be the end. Tearing up a little, to be honest...

Ok, since I'm not actually writing a novel here, I think I'll have to stop. Those are my big ones. My must-read-agains.

What are yours? Share in the comments!