Re-reads and Ratings

When I was a kid I loved to read the same books over and over (and watch the same movies over and over, too). Now, I don't do that quite so much, but I still like to pull out certain favorite books when I have an urge to delve into their pages once more. With some books, it's very comforting reading the same story again, even if you know exactly how it's going to end, and often you'll discover something on a second or third read that you never noticed before.

Usually, any book that I re-read I will give a good rating. Examples of books I have read so many times I have lost count include: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia Wrede & Caroline Stevermer, Beauty by Robin McKinley, certain books in the Song of the Lioness and Immortals series by Tamora Pierce, Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith, Feeling Sorry for Celia and The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty, and several of the Mediators series by Meg Cabot. (Okay, there is definitely a theme here. Apart from the Austen & Moriarty they all seem to be fantasy/paranormal.)

But not every book I rate really well ends up being one that I turn to again and again. Case in point: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I haven't really gotten up the nerve to read this one a second time, and I'm not sure I will anytime soon. The material is just so dark and emotionally intense. Others I don't re-read that often include mysteries, which makes sense of course — the mystery is never quite as thrilling once you know whodunit. I'll make exceptions, though, if the characters and their interactions are engaging enough that it doesn't matter that I already know the plot. Plus, it's always fun to read it at least once more and figure out which clues pointed to the revelation, and which were just red herrings!

I'm interested in how other readers and bloggers approach this, though. How frequently do you re-read books? What makes a book a re-read for you? For me, it's difficult to describe, but in most of my re-reads I feel like all of the elements in the novel have come together in perfect complement: the writing style, the plot, the dialogue, the characters...kind of like pieces of a puzzle all fitting into place. And most of the books I re-read are ones I would call "comfort" or "feel-good" books, which usually contain a good dollop of humor. But maybe that's just me. Do any of you like to re-read darker, grittier types of novels, or ones that you know will make you cry? Which books specifically do you keep returning to?

And does it affect your ratings? On a few blogs I've seen that the description on their rating system of "5 star" books is something along the lines of, "A definite re-read!" Should these two concepts be tied up in each other? Or is re-readability something that doesn't need to be taken into consideration when rating a book?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these issues — comment away!