I know many romance readers are also ritual re-readers, with books they re-read or seek out at different times of year.
Some folks read The Hogfather every holiday season, for example. Other people re-read a specific book once a year, but the timing is more flexible, and might be whenever the mood strikes them.
I think that’s so neat, both as a unique way to celebrate a book that is precious to a person, and that has reached a very personal status with whoever re-reads it. That’s so cool.
So I asked the folks here about their annual re-reads.
Do you have books that you read every year? Is there a time you read them, or do you wait for the mood to arrive?
Shana: I’m not sure if this counts but I reread a Talia Hibbert book every year, usually one of the Ravenswood series. They all feature an interconnected group of friends/fam who are super kind. I usually find myself picking it up when I’m grumpy as all these books have prickly heroines.
I also seem to end up reading Rebekah Weatherspoon’s low-conflict sugar baby romance So Sweet at least once a year. I actually read it twice last year thanks to grad school stress!
Sarah: That’s nifty – do the books still give you all the happy feels when you’re done?
I think one of the hallmarks of a solid re-read-able romance is that it’s so well crafted that it doesn’t lose its emotional power even if you know, like really really know, what’s going to happen
Shana: Yep, I totally agree. I actually think I enjoy the Ravenswood series more as a reread, it’s nice knowing exactly how the Big Bad in each book will be vanquished.
Lara: I don’t have an annual reread book, but I do have a little first aid kit of books. If I’m feeling disconnected from people, I read Murderbot.
If I need to be swept away, then I read A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare. If I need reassurance that things will work out, I read Poison Study by Maria V Snyder.
Sarah: Do you re-read them frequently? What a good first-aid kit
Lara: Reflecting on it, it probably is around once a year that they each get deployed. Murderbot is more frequent though. I need reminders that being human is good albeit annoying.
Sarah: Murderbot is my insomnia read. If I’m up with a REALLY LOUD ACTIVE BRAIN I can pick up any of the novellas and calm down/
AJ: I reread the first 2 Murderbot books while getting tattooed one time. It was a perfect level of “distraction from the pain but familiar enough not to need my whole brain.”
Tara: I’ve been rereading Truth and Measure for years. First as a fanfic, now that it’s a published book by Roslyn Sinclair (with Above All Things as the other half), I read that version and I don’t go back to the fic.
I’ve just never seen passion captured that well before, so it’s worth losing 3 or 4 days in a row.
What about you? Do you have books you re-read each year, or romances you revisit at a particular time? Which ones?
I revisit Ilona Andrew’s’ Kate Daniels and Hidden Legacy series at least once a year! Also some of my fave Psy Changeling couples (I tried to list them and then realized almost all of them are my favorites ). I love a good romantasy or adventure series re-read, ever since I was in middle school and reread Tamora Pierce’s multiple Tortall series over and over. There’s something comforting about the high stakes, the competence, and knowing in advance what will happen and that it will all work out.
When we were young my brother used to joke it wasn’t a matter of if I had read a book, but how many times. I do still love rereading, although with romance novels I find part of the joy is that I can just read a new one and it mostly works the same as any other, with a couple of notable exceptions: Georgette Heyer, KJ Charles, Cat Sebastian, Katherine Addison, a select few of Alexis Hall’s. But they aren’t tied in to certain times of year.
I suppose I have reread either the Illiad or the Odyssey most every fall of my life, actually – I think something about the light on the ocean in late August triggers a weird Homeric yearning.
When I’m waiting at an appointment or to donate blood (actual bleeding takes 6 minutes, yet the entire process takes an hour or more somehow), I open a Courtney Milan novella on my phone. “A Kiss for Midwinter” always distracts me from the inefficiency and needles. And despite my grumpiness about it, if you can, please donate blood. It’s a fantastic Valentine to a complete stranger. ♥️
Seconding another commenter’s frequent rereading of Robin McKinley’s Sunshine! It’s my ultimate comfort read, to the point that I have to ration it out to myself to make sure I don’t reread it more than once per year.
I reread Shelly Laurenston’s Pride books regularly, as her GA Aiken Dragon Kin/Blacksmith books – something about strong amazing women who will BURN IT DOWN for each other and their families (found included) is soothing to me. I also reread MurderBot and Ilona Andrews Innkeeper regularly. I reread Nalini Singh’s Psych Changing and Archangel series, but not as regularly,because there are so many books now. Hmm, they also have that same vibe… I think I’ve identified a pattern.
my comfort reads are Bujold’s Pen and Des books (new one out recently, EEEEEEEEEEEE!) and AJ Lancaster’s Stariel series.
I re-listen to several audiobooks/series for reasons others have mentioned: insomnia, commutes, anxiety, comfort, familiarity. It’s usually a combination of the authors/books/narrators that make these special. My list includes Murderbot (top fave), Rachel Reid’s hockey books read by Cooper North (especially Role Play and Time to Shine), Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material/Husband Material (Narrator Joe Jameson is genius at accents), and Mary Jane Wells’ narration of Lisa Kelypas’s Ravenel series as well as Devil in Winter from the Wallflower series. Oh, and a lesser-known Sarina Bowen called Coming in from the Cold.
For actual reading it’s been less frequent the past few years due to a masters degree program and then starting back at work full time. Mary Balogh’s back list and Laurie R King’s mystery series featuring Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes are some of the few fiction books I still own in hard copies. Audiobooks have become my dominant form of consuming books!
I love to reread and have been doing so my whole life; it’s comforting to me to know that I’ll be happy reading from start to finish (which is different than knowing a romance has an HEA—sometimes it’s a roller coaster to get there and I’m not having it).
Like @AMG I love Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare. I adore Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas and then also her entire Hathaways quintet. I’m probably going to start a reread of Mary Balogh’s Survivors’ Club series as I just finished her most recent (Always Remember—so great) and want to stay immersed in my Balogh love.
Completely different than my historical love, I’ve read Lily Morton’s The Sunny Side three times already in like 18 months; it’s an MM set in London between a model and his model agency owner, and it’s utterly fantastic.
Well I think all of this is sending me into a reread tunnel for a while; I’ve been rereading fanfic lately as that’s my ultimate comfort, but I need to dig into more of these again.
When I was younger, and poorer-I used to re-read a lot. Rosamunde Pilcher for sure-especially the Shell Seekers. Mary Stewart’s Merlin novels-I’ve probably read them all at least 20 times. Now? I just re-read for probably the third or fourth time, Shelley Laurenston’s shifter novels, all of them. Read them over my winter break, so fun! All of the Jane Austen novels, maybe every 3 years. Charlie Adhara’s Big Bad Wolf series are a comfort read that I go back to.
I’ve re-read Rosamond du Jardin’s teen books over and over (I’m 63 by the way, and they were older when I read them)-to me going back and reading them is like hygge, total comfort zone.
I reread frequently but not at a certain time of year. Authors whose books I enjoy rereading include Karan K Anders/Andrea K Höst; Michelle Diener; Nathan Lowell; S. K. Dunstall; Katherine Addison; and more.
So many books and authors already listed are on my rereading pile! (and the ones that aren’t will be highlighted for future purchase and reading.)
Looking over my stats from last year, I reread almost as many books as I new read (is that a thing?). I will reread series before I pick up the newest addition, but mostly I will reread when I need to adjust my mood or when the news is bleak and I’m giving up hope that things will work out for us.
I joke that I can’t die until my TBR is down to zero (HA! That’s a never-gonna-happen event) and I’m satisfied with my rereads and don’t need them anymore.
I’m currently rereading the fourth book of the Mo and Dale Mysteries by Sheila Turnage, which is set in winter with Valentine’s Day approaching. These are middle grade mysteries starring kid detectives in a cozy small town full of oddball characters. Each of the books has its season, starting with summer, then spooky season, Thanksgiving, and finally this wintery one. I like to reread them in the appropriate season, or out of season, they’re just so dang cozy and comforting. There’s some drama and peril but I know exactly when it’s coming so I can skim those parts and get back to the coziness. Audio is excellent, narrated by Lauren Fortgang.
Other seasonal rereads: Greenglass House by Kate Milford, peak Christmas cozy fantasy; there are more books in the same world but this one is special. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett in springtime – some parts didn’t age so well but I absolutely love all the scenes of awakening nature after the long cold winter. There’s a charming graphic novel version, wish I remembered the author.
For a while there I was regularly rereading the Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold, the third book has autumnal vibes – starts with harvest season on the farm, then boat trip with lots of apple pies, then defeating villains, as one does.
Two more authors I reread are Lyn Gala (her Claimings series) and Patricia Briggs (particularly Alpha and Omega and stories in her Shifting Shadows collection).
The first 12 Clorinda books by L.A. Hall in The Comfortable Courtesan series. I try to make sure there’s at least a year between reads because I remember stuff really well (I can’t read Lord of the Rings without several years between). I like the follow on Clorinda’s circle books, but after a while I lose track because there are so many other characters.
I probably re-read more than I read new books. I love this thread so much to just know I’m not alone and to read reasons why some of you are also re-readers.
Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series is still as much of a re-read for me in adulthood as it was when I was a kid. Definitely reading through a different lens now, but I adore the stories.
My other most frequent re-reads:
The Long Walk – Stephen King (Bachman)
Tribute Act – Joanna Chambers
The Duchess War – Courtney Milan
Pricks and Pragmatism & Muscling Through – JL Merrow
Housemates Series – Jay Northcote
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
Like No Other Lover – Julie Anne Long
I reread Jane Austen’s Persuasion every year.
Beyond that, I usually reread at least one series I love, but not the same one every year. Last year, it was the Aunt Dimity books. This year I’ve started rereading the Lord Peter Wimsey series.
Sharon Shinn’s series are reread favorites, as well as Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Lois McMaster Bujold, and sometimes Robin McKinley or Faith Hunter.
Seeking a particular emotional journey is definitely a large part of the enjoyment of rereading. There’s also sometimes things I catch new on a reread, knowing where a story is going and I appreciate a clever foreshadow with a long-game payoff!
Like many of us here, I also re-read Martha Wells a lot – not just Murderbot, the Raksura and the Fall of Ill-Rien get plenty of love from me too. Seanan McGuire as well – October’s series i reread a chunk every 5-ish books that come out, to remember how much has changed on this journey, and Incryptid whenever i need a dose of The Mice. Incryptid is also nicely broken into a couple books each from different protagonists in the same family, which for me makes it easy to reread just one segment at a time, and not feel compelled to redo the whole series at once.
J Kathleen Cheney’s Palace of Dreams/The Horn (connected series) I started with rereading every year when there were fewer, now i’ll often do one half or the other instead of the whole thing. Anne Bishop’s The Others is another i’ll reread that has stretched out from every two years for the first 3 books, to cycling around every 3-4 years now that there’s a lot more.
Some series that were yearly or almost rereads through my teens and twenties i’ll still go back and dip into for one or two books at a time now, just less frequently. I feel like it keeps me in touch with both the places i was in when rereading them often, and with the changes i’ve been through since. Sort of like having a very indirect diary, but with less cringing 😉
@SpinsterRevival: You said, “it’s comforting to me to know that I’ll be happy reading from start to finish (which is different than knowing a romance has an HEA—sometimes it’s a roller coaster to get there and I’m not having it)”
And that’s so very true! I think you’ve identified one of the reasons re-reading, especially ritual re-reading, is satisfying: you know you’ll be happy at every part. That’s such a good examination as to why re-reading works in a unique way.
I can get impatient if I remember a book too well when rereading it, so I mainly reread when new books come out in a series and I want to remind myself of what happened so far. T. Kingfisher’s paladin books, Murderbot, KJ Charles… The Locked Tomb series is likely the one I’ve reread the most among books I became a fan of in adulthood; I think I’ve read the first two books three or four times.
That said, there are some books I’ve loved since childhood that I still enjoy going back to: Patricia C. Wrede’s Mairelon series and Enchanted Forest Chronicles. They’re just so good! I always wanted to be Morwen when I grew up, and that hasn’t really changed.
Just a quick observation–
One of the most important things I’ve learned from my rereading habits is to recognize that even a favorite series may have entries that are never going to be rereadable. Sometimes you just have to kick your own completist ass in order to enjoy a reread of a much loved series. I love Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changelings but I will NEVER read #7 Blaze of Memory because even in a series so heavy on Alphas, Devraj Santos is the worst alph-hole evah. Same goes for Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series where #3 Iron Kissed needs a cw for rape. I don’t condemn either of these books, but both fail to meet my criteria for a comfort reread. Life is too short to miss a good series reread because you can’t say no. I can’t help but wonder if anyone else has dealt with this issue.
@PamG: Oh, yes. I definitely have. I have books in a series that I skip when I reread, like you because something is upsetting or not the experience I’m looking for, or it’s less engaging than the other books.
I re-read series…
Bujold – Vorkosigan Saga
Bujold – Penric & Desdemona
Wells – Murderbot
Balogh – Survivors series
Balogh – Bedwyn Saga
My Signet Regency Christmas anthologies
… it’s a good thing that I’m retired now and have all this spare time.
I’m a frequent rereader but I can only think of two books that I seem to read annually:
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny in (duh!) October
A Deadly Education and its sequels right before school starts
I used to reread and rewatch V for Vendetta every November but drifted away doing that a few years ago.
I relisten constantly, especially when trying to fall asleep and avoid anxiety brain. You don’t really have to find your place or worry you missed something. I’ll listen to anything by Sherry Thomas, Tessa Dare, KJ Charles, and or N. K. Jemisin. And of course Murderbot.
I LOVE re-reading. I have a folder on my kindle titled ‘Comfort Reads’ and I’m constantly in there when I’m feeling overwhelmed or anxious or if I’m just in between books. My most re-read books are
-Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
-Wall of Winnipeg & Me by Mariana Zapata
-The Brutal Truth by Lee Winters (my absolute favorite sapphic romance ever!)
-The fanfiction of Truth and Measure by Telanu aka Roslyn Sinclair (the best fanfiction ever. I love the published versions as well but nothing touches the ff for me personally.)
-The Lily and the Crown by Roslyn Sinclair
-Those Who Wait by Haley Cass
-Waited So Long by J.M. Dabney (my favorite M/M of all time. It’s ridiculous how many times I’ve read this)
I don’t reread super often anymore (way more new books via my job + buying them than I used to), but I do revisit:
“Pride & Prejudice” (of course): Because it’s perfect.
The “Faith, Love & Devotion” series by Tere Michaels: Matt and Evan are <3
"The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo: I read it at least 2-3 times a year – it's so cozy and exactly the kind of low-stress, female-focused (that doesn't involve being a mother) domestic manga I really want. The next closest thing I've found in my search has been "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat".
"Red, White & Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston: I love this book. The romance sucks me in every time and I love the extended family/found family and the banter and really, just everything about it.
"Circe" by Madeline Miller: Outside of her early story with the gods and the horrible men, it feels like cozy domestic fiction as Circe goes about living on her island alone.