Why Do We Reread Stories?

Hello and welcome to my end-of-month blog post!

You can read last month’s newsletter here.

Following the very loose pattern I decided to set, these posts are a chance for me to write about one of the things I love: Stories. These are also a chance for you to read about something you love as well. (Because if you are reading this, I’m guessing that you enjoy stories too.) If that’s true, pull up a chair, get cozy, and let’s talk about the reread.

I’ll read most books at least once (I can’t start a book and not finish it, even if I don’t care for it), but there are some, special books that I’ve reread multiple times throughout the years… and I’m willing to bet that you might have those sorts of books too.

What is it about certain books that make us want to read them again and again? We already know how the story is going to go; and it’s not like the ending changes every time we read the book (Now there’s an interesting idea), so what is it about the story that makes us want to reread it all over again?

Sometimes, it’s an appreciation for the story or for the beauty of the words upon the page. I’ve read some books where the prose and poetry are simply gorgeous. Reading such books only once doesn’t do them justice. Much would be lost if such a work of art were only read once and never again. Not to mention the fact that some stories are filled with clever secrets—and the author knows only a reread (or several) will allow readers to discover them. (I’m fond of putting secrets in stories myself…)

Other times, it’s nostalgia. Such books bring us back to fond, childhood memories or perhaps such stories helped see us through dark days. We return to those stories because they helped us in the past, perhaps they can help us once more… I wrote briefly about that sense of nostalgia in my January 2024 Newsletter, The Power and Promise of Stories.

There’s one more reason that stands out in my mind:

Whether we’re young or old, certain stories transcend time. We can read the same books five, ten, fifteen—even fifty—years after we first read them, and there’ll be something new for us to appreciate or learn from their pages. The stories themselves haven’t changed, but we have. And if the stories were written well, they—and their characters—will still resonate with us.

I think that’s simply beautiful.

With April wrapping up and the month of May ahead, here are a couple of exciting things to watch for on this blog site:

My satirical blog series “Poking Fun at Fantasy Tropes” continues with a new post coming out in the middle of the month. And I’m continuing to post short stories on the blog twice a week! You can find them all right here on the blog’s main page for your reading pleasure. These are all from my book, Collected Short Stories: Volume One.

Speaking of stories, do you like eBooks? If so, all four of my books are available as eBooks for $0.99 on Amazon. That’s literally hundreds of pages of stories for less than a cup of coffee! (Even if you buy all four of them!) Check them out via the links below:

• A House Named Haven (The Tale of Rose & Ed: Book One)
• The Storytellers (The Tale of Rose & Ed: Book Two)
• A Cobbler’s Tale (Tales of Minz: Book One)
• Collected Short Stories: Volume One (52 Short Stories)

Don’t want to miss out on any of the fun?

Subscribe to the website and you’ll receive an email as soon as new posts come out! In addition to being among the first to know about new blog posts, you’ll also periodically receive exclusive content such as first-looks at new short stories and books!

That’s all for this end-of-month newsletter—now go reread some stories and discover new ones to read in the future!

Until next time,

Al

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