I've been trying not to think about current events

[conuly]

and somehow this means I've built up an enormous fucking backlog of fic and library ebooks and some fucking webcomics and do you know what I've been doing with my 50+ open fanfic tabs and my several books that I've just renewed repeatedly?

I've been re-reading.

Why is it always like this? Why? Just freaking why? I would like to read something new, perhaps a tab I've had open since November. But no, it's another re-read for the twelfth time in a row.

Comments

[dine]

for me, at least, it's because new stuff brings some risk (even if it's slight in the case of reading); a reread of something known and enjoyed is a comfort, you're not going to run across something that will heighten negative emotions, or relate to Current Events even tangentially

[hafnia]

+1, this is how I described it to my therapist. (I'm currently working on breaking out of this pattern myself.)

[howsmyenglish]

I call that "comfort reading", and I do that a lot when life's hard.

[nancylebov]

For me, I'm apt to reread when I'm stressed. I'm not sure it's so much the risk of what might be in a new story, it's the comfort of going back to past good memories.

Or sometimes I reread because it was something I loved and it's been a long time even though new stuff is also calling to me.

In any case, it's alright to read what you want. The things you thought you wanted to read is a guess, not an obligation.

[conuly]

I want to read what I want! I just keep not doing it!

[elisi]

I'll agree with everyone else and say 'comfort reading'.

[elayna]

Re-reading is very comforting and sometimes that's what we need. *hugs*

[adafrog]

Rereading is fun and comfortable. I do it a lot.