[gmw]

For the first twenty-something years of my life I didn't re-read at all. Then I met someone who convinced me to give it a try. So I did. Some twenty-something years on and a very significant part of my reading is re-reading. In fact, my own 1-5 star rating for books these days is largely based around how much I want to come back and re-read the book.

Just like some movies aren't really up to being watched a second time, some books aren't up to re-reading either. But I find it's very rare for me to have really enjoyed a book but not want to come back to it.

For me personally, I find that a second read of a good book can be very useful, because the first time around I tend to read quickly, wanting to see how it all comes out. The second time through I can relax a bit more and enjoy the ride, often finding subtleties that I missed the first time around. ... And then there are my favourites that I re-read quite regularly, just because I enjoy being there.

Someone mentioned Pratchett above. And sure, if you read Pratchett's books mainly for the humour then once is probably enough, jokes wear with age and familiarity. But his books are more than the one-liners - though the context still means that I get many laughs even from familiar lines. As a contrast/comparison: I really enjoyed many of Tom Holt's books the first time through, and enthusiastically recommend them to others, but on re-read it becomes more apparent that the much of the humour comes from set pieces, and once you're familiar with the stories you can see the pieces being built up, and that spoils the punch-lines. They're still very good books, just not as good for re-reading.