The Thing About Rereads

Ahhhh. Spring Break. It is a beautiful thing. The first few days have been quite busy, but I am finally getting to a place where I can just read. Being suddenly and unexpectedly snowed in at my sister's certainly doesn't hurt either. I should finish the next book this evening.

However, this one is different from than books I have thus far discussed. I have already read it. It has been several years. I no longer remember almost anything about the plotline. But I have read it before. The only thing I really remember was that I really liked it. Yet this time, the read feels rather different. I can't pinpoint it, but it just doesn't seem like I remember it. Why is that? This difference has led me to really examine the role of the conditions around one while reading.

The first time I read it, it was all in one sitting. I spent the entire day, quite literally, comfortably on the couch, wrapped in soft blankets in front of a crackling fire on a cool autumn evening and read it start to finish. I was enthralled by the book and could not put it down. Fortunately, it was the kind of day when I did not have to.

This go around, however, I started the book under very different circumstances. I picked it up one night during paper writing and only made it through the first chapter before I was overcome by stress related exhaustion and pass out into a deep sleep. Then I could not pick it back up for several more days until I was at a stopping place in writing. Even after the papers were finished, I had packing and trip related errands that needed to be done and so only got to read in bits and pieces over the next many days. It has only been in the last 48 hours or so that I have really had time to get serious with it again.

Unlike the first time, when I found it absolutely a page turner, at first this time I struggled to maintain interest. Until, that is, the last day. Today I have once again found it almost as interesting as the first read and am continuously, even now, thinking about it. So, how much of that is related to the time I am able to dedicate to it and the mood I am in when I read it?

One could assume from this experience that when a book is read in large chunks of time rather than bits and pieces, it is easier to get involved with it. Similarly, reading while stressed makes a book seem less amazing than a book read while calm and comfortable. This all makes sense, but it makes me wonder about all of my other book experiences. I have never before taken notice, let alone recorded, the circumstances of my readings, but now I must wonder how accurately my reviews would read if I tried each book again, potentially under different circumstances. Intriguing.

Anyway, I am enjoying this book again and plan on finishing it this evening. So check back tomorrow for my thoughts on it this time, whatever the circumstances might have been.

In the meantime, happy reading!
Sarah