Saturday, August 13, 2016

How Watching Game of Thrones Helped Me Appreciate Rereading

Yes, I finished my month-long binge watching of all 6 seasons (60 episodes...about 60 hours) of Game of Thrones last night. Incredible series with such deep character development and plot twists.

Funny thing is I rewatched episode 1 of the first season this morning, and discovered so much I never caught the first time around. Lots of foreshadowing and little character quirks I didn't notice upon first viewing.

Made me think about books, of course. There's something wonderful about rereading a book once, twice, or multiple times. You get something new out of each read. You notice things you didn't notice that first time.

So, if my students want to read the same book a few times, or pick up a book they have already read, I won't tell them they have to read a new book, or tell them that book doesn't count. I'll revel in their enjoyment and their joyful discovery of all that they didn't notice the first time.

With all of the new books coming out every day/week, it was hard to justify reading a book again. Now, I won't feel guilty reading All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, Winger by Andrew Smith or the Unwind series by Neal Shusterman. I'm sure I'll discover something new. There's lots of value in doing that.

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