[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by LadyKate

I have a huge "to read" list yet I find myself drawn to reread some old favorite series / authors (Weber, Lackey, Harrision, Ashley etc)

I just can't seem to get into new reads right now, drawn back to old favorites. Some of the series that have been completed are drawing me in for a complete nonstop reread.

With all the books I want to read, it somehow doesn't make sense that I am drawn into a rereading session. No real understanding why...

So I ask you. Am I alone in this occasional obsession to reread?

You're not alone. Although I read a lot of new books, I often search for ones that appear to be similar to ones that I have enjoyed before -- by the same author, similar subject matter, etc. but somehow that can make me want to re-read those books that originally inspired the search even more.

For example, I got into reading Nordic Crime recently after reading Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö's Martin Beck series, and even though a lot of other books in the genre have been influenced by that series, and I have found many that I enjoyed, very few of them manage to capture everything I liked about it. So it seems the more I read in the genre, the more I come to appreciate how good the Martin Beck series really was, and the more I want to re-read it.

Along the way I come across other books that incorporate something different that I want to read more about. For example I found Leif G. W. Persson's books have some of the things I enjoyed about Sjöwall & Wahlöö's books, but also something else that is interesting in itself, and so I expand my search to include books similar to those ones, and so now I want to re-read Persson's books too, and the process continues.