Can we have a heart-to-heart about something we’ve been a little shy to admit? In a world obsessed with the newest, latest releases and ever-growing TBR piles, we’ve been finding the most profound comfort in rereading books we’ve loved before. And girls, it feels like reuniting with old friends who know exactly what we need!
Remember how we used to reread our favorite books constantly as children? Laura would read “Anne of Green Gables” every summer without fail. Jessica knew “Little Women” so well she could recite entire passages. Somewhere along the way, we got the message that “serious readers” are always pushing forward to new literary territories, never looking back.
Well, we’re here to declare that this notion is ABSOLUTE NONSENSE! At this stage in our lives, with all its beautiful complications and responsibilities, returning to beloved books has become a form of self-care we refuse to feel guilty about.
There’s something uniquely comforting about opening a book where you already know what happens. The anxiety of “will I like this?” disappears completely. Instead, you get to notice new details, appreciate foreshadowing you missed the first time, and experience familiar emotions in new ways. It’s like visiting a favorite vacation spot—the landscape is familiar, but your experience is always fresh.
What we’ve found most surprising is how differently we interpret these books at different stages of our lives:
- Reading “Pride and Prejudice” in our twenties, we were all about the romance. Reading it now? We’re noticing the economic realities for women and thinking, “Mrs. Bennet actually had a POINT about securing her daughters’ futures!”
- Those coming-of-age stories hit completely differently now that we’re watching our own children navigate adolescence. (And yes, more than one of us has ugly-cried rereading “To Kill a Mockingbird” while our teenagers looked on in horror!)
- Even those beach reads from a decade ago reveal new layers when revisited through the lens of our accumulated life experience.
The practical benefits of rereading are undeniable too. When life gets particularly chaotic (hello, pandemic/work crisis/family drama/fill-in-your-catastrophe-here), being able to slide into a familiar literary world without the mental effort of processing new characters and plots has been absolutely ESSENTIAL for our sanity.
We’ve started creating what we call our “literary comfort food” shelves—books we return to when we need that particular form of nourishment that only familiar stories can provide. These aren’t always great literary masterpieces (though some are!). They’re the books that feel like home, regardless of their critical acclaim.
There’s also something deeply rebellious about rereading in our current culture of consumption and novelty. Choosing to revisit a beloved book rather than chasing the latest bestseller feels like a small but significant act of resistance against the pressure to always be current, always moving forward, always consuming more.
So we’re waving our rereading flag high and proud! We’re giving ourselves permission to revisit literary landscapes that have shaped us, comforted us, and helped us make sense of the world. Because sometimes the best new reading experience comes from an old, familiar book.
What about you? Which books have you returned to again and again throughout your life? We’d love to add your literary comfort food to our rereading lists!