Some read a novel as a first and only experience and when done move on to another book.
Others have a few books they will reread once or multiple times. This makes taking a book to bed relaxing, enabling the reader to turn off the light, instead of staying awake to find out how it ends.
What brings a reader back to the pages of a novel once they know the story? If a thriller the reader may want to guess the clues and red herrings before they appear on the page, and knowing the outcome of the story enables them to focus on the twists and turns of the plot.
Some read a novel because it mirrors something they are going though in real life. Loss of a family member, job, or pet. Having read the book with the character going through a similar loss can provide comfort and a way forward.
Then there are the tales of romance where the main characters meet, fight and make up. Readers may fall in love with the characters and want to relive the love portrayed in the story. Sometimes the author has captured a relationship that mirrors a reader’s own romantic experience.
Science and technology may be the focus of a novel and give the reader a peek into the future. When the reader picks that book up ten years later, they see the author’s imagination is now part of everyday life. When I learned that the author and creator of the Buck Rogers cartoon series was being investigated by the government in 1927 because he drew a wingless rocket, it proved that the creative mind will and can precede science. Then of course you have Jules Verne and his submarine, and Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury’s science fiction.
Some characters so fascinate a reader that once they have read the story and know its outcome, they revisit the book trying to find answers they still have about why the character behaved the way they did. Why did Dorian in The Picture of Dorian Gray not break the curse earlier in life? Why did Lisbeth in Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, once she regained her freedom remain a solitary sole? How does Ayla in The Valley of the Horses spend three years alone, expertly providing for her needs of food, shelter and clothing, without modern man’s knowledge or skills? Could the reader do the same?
If you have a book that you have reread you might write a review and share your enjoyment with other readers. I am sure the author would enjoy knowing that their work continues to entertain.