Do You Have a Fictional Book That You Have Read Several Times?

[Leith]

For me:

Hawaii, by James Michener
I reread it every 5 years or so. Magnificent story of how Hawaii came to be, from early volcanic formation to modern day. Tells how various ethnic groups came to the islands and built new lives.

Earth Abides, by George R. Stewart
The original "almost everyone on Earth dies from a mysterious disease except for a few survivors" tale, but realistic and wonderfully written.


What are some of the books you have to revisit over and over?

[2naSalit]

1. ...

The Hobbit, Tolkien 4X

All three books of
Lord of the Rings (It's not a trilogy btw), Tolkien 3x

There are a couple others but I can't think of them, must be getting tired.

[PJMcK]

2. Yes, there are many I've revisited

Funny, I was talking with a friend today about this same subject.

You started with James Michener and I'd say his novel Space.

Numerous James Bond novels by Ian Fleming.

Several Stephen King books.

Proust, Bronte, Joyce, Conrad, Forster.

Arthur Conan Doyle, Rex Stout and H.G. Wells

Oh, and the Bible.

[Dulcinea]

44. I love Michener's books.

My faves are Chesapeake & Centennial.

[spooky3]

3. The Poldark series.

[treestar]

112. +1

Great historical fiction

[BlueMTexpat]

173. Especially if you read them in

UK editions. Some of the US versions - at least with the earlier novels - have been "dumbed" down.

If you like the Poldark era and want another POV (that of a soldier raised to the ranks of an officer - a very uncomfortable way to advance given the English caste system at the time), try Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpe_(novel_series)

If you are a Sean Bean fan, you'll LOVE the Sharpe TV series, especially the episodes up through Waterloo. The two episodes after Waterloo are set in India during the 19th century heyday of the British East India Company. They don't have some of the characters from the Napoleonic wars, who died at Waterloo. They're still fun, however, and were shown on PBS's Materpiece Theater. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpe_(TV_series)

[trc]

4. Of Human Bondage. W. Somerset Maugham's

amazing study of the human condition. First read this in the 7th or 8th grade and loved the emotion tangled themes of the book. Sometimes what you want is not what you need. The older I get the more this makes sense.

[womanofthehills]

97. When I first read "Of Human Bondage" I was really into it

Second time - it was too depressing.

[Brainstormy]

170. Beat me to it, and I might add

that everyone in my book club (which has been reading the Modern Library's 100 Greatest Novels) loved Of Human Bondage. It's the ONLY book we've had complete agreement on. Everyone loved it.

[OilemFirchen]

5. All of the books I have read are real.

So no.

[jberryhill]

11. On the other hand, there is a fictional book I've written several times

[OilemFirchen]

17. Yeah, me too.

I get fantastic royalties!

[NanceGreggs]

6. "Time and Again" ...

... by Jack Finney. Time-traveler goes back to NYC in the 1880s. I re-read it every few years.

"Earth Abides" - haven't thought about that book in years! I read it when I was 20 - and that's almost 50 years ago! Yes, it was well written and full of great characters.

[PJMcK]

56. "Time And Again"

It's a fabulous book. Thanks for reminding me of it, NanceGreggs. I haven't read it again in years. I love the way Mr. Finney works the period photographs and drawings into his tale. The use of the Statue of Liberty's arm is inspired!

[NanceGreggs]

70. Yes!!!

[SeattleVet]

86. Yes! Fabulous book.

Haven't re-read it in about 5 years...need to dig it out again. One of my all-time favorites.

The sequel, "From Time to Time" was also good, but not as totally engrossing as "Time and Again".

[NanceGreggs]

90. I never got past ...

... the first third of "From Time to Time".

I found it to be such a disappointment after "Time and Again". The first few chapters were riveting - but the story seemed to stall after that.

Should I give it another try?

[SeattleVet]

92. IIRC, it did pick up a bit...

it's been a while since I read it, and really don't remember much of the detail - not like the first book. It definitely didn't grab me, and it's one that I have not re-read.

[DFW]

136. OMG!! "Time and Again!!" Let me explain:

I have never gotten my hand on this book, but the first reader review I got on Amazon on MY book mentioned Time and Again prominently, so "Time And Again" is definitely on my "to do" list.

Here was the comment I got:

As a fan of time travel stories I never thought I'd ever find a novel that could rival the classic "Time and Again" by Jack Finney. I stand corrected.

I can't compare the two stories since they are so very different in nature, but for sheer enjoyment as well as thought-provoking wonder, "The Time Cellar" is quite simply a fantastic companion to Finney.

Which is as it should be; I've seen some stories that hew too closely to Finney's model. It's a treat to read a book with an entirely different approach, but no less excitement and equal plausibility. Every permutation of the time travel paradox is addressed, often brilliantly.

The writing is delightful, with a casual tone that only a very skilled wordsmith could pull off so successfully. Like a talented dancer, (DFW) makes it look easy. But the more you read, the more you realize how hard it really is to write so well, with so many subtle hints of things to come. I was also impressed with how artfully he integrated impeccable French with translations of such dialog so that it seemed all the more real, without becoming awkward. It all flows together.

It's a book which I quite literally could not put down. I read it in one sitting, and was very sorry when I reached the end. I would have loved for it to go on for several hundred more pages. I'm glad I bought it as a hard-copy, this is a book I intend to re-read often in coming years.
--------------

Now THAT was a review that made it all worth the effort, let me tell you!

[NanceGreggs]

166. WOW!!!

What an incredible review!!!

[Mike Nelson]

226. Time and Again...

...love that book.

[Binkie The Clown]

7. Earth Abides. A Canticle for Leibowitz. The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings. Handmaids Tale. ...

Call of the Wild. Treasure Island. Grapes of Wrath. 1984. David Copperfield. The Count of Monte Cristo. Illusions (Richard Bach). Anything by Mark Twain. Alice in Wonderland. The whole Horatio Hornblower series.

I read three or four new books, and then re-read an old favorite before moving on to the next batch of new ones.

[tblue37]

55. Love "Earth Abides" and "Canticle." nt

[PatrickforO]

154. Yes! Horatio Hornblower, and the Bolitho series.

Quite.

[spiderpig]

168. Earth Abides holds up after nearly 70 years

Not just a fantastic post-apocalyptic story, it's an allegory about how society persists and evolves.

[Jno_Gilmor_]

8. Junky by William S. Burroughs.

Last edited Fri May 5, 2017, 09:01 PM - Edit history (1)

I can read that book over and over. There is an audio recording of Burroughs reading the book himself that I listen to at least once a year!

[madamesilverspurs]

9. Michener got me started.

Loved Hawaii, also Texas and Alaska. Read The Source four or five times. And I live in the area that was the location for Centennial; his research and hand-written pages for that were donated to the university library that bears his name.

Wouk's Winds of War and War and Remembrance have been read three times, one of those cases where you miss the characters when the book ends.

I'm just now reading the last book in Jane Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series and will be starting on Follet's Century trilogy.

Then I may revisit some Michener or Wouk. Sometimes a good story is like a comfortable friend.


.

[Grins]

128. If you like Wouk, don't forget "The Caine Mutiny"

Don't forget "The Caine Mutiny"

[BlueMTexpat]

195. The Source is

Also very prescient wrt Israel's position in the ME today as opposed to what was originally hoped for.

[pansypoo53219]

10. Decameron. i found a 1920's edition at an estate sale.

great deco illustrations. loved it, then i got an 1800's edition + a fancy 1930 edition. 1st the best translation tho.
jane austin, jane eyre. ooh. and my john collier-fancies & goodnight.

[Number9Dream]

12. "Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury

"Dandelion Wine" transports me back to boyhood and summer, even though mine was in the '60's rather than 1928. The feelings and emotions in it are timeless. These words appear very early in the book, "Summer had gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow. You had only to rise, lean from your window, and know that this indeed was the first real time of freedom and living, this was the first morning of summer."

[TuxedoKat]

20. Yes

I love that book. I should get it out and read it this spring right before summer. That's the time to enjoy that book. It's magical. .

[Number9Dream]

72. Yes, Spring is a great time to read it.

You didn't have to have been a boy to appreciate when the simple act of getting new sneakers could be magical. "Summer in the Air" is a chapter from "Dandelion Wine". Only two magazine pages. It's in PDF format for any Adobe reader. You can enlarge the print by moving your cursor over the bottom center, opening the tool bar, and clicking on the + sign.

http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/wp-content/uploads/satevepost/summer-in-the-air-ray-bradbury.pdf

[JudyM]

74. I love this. Read it when I was a kid. My favorite of his was The Illustrated Man, ever read that?

[Number9Dream]

82. Yes, and the movie is pretty good too.

Like your dolphin / cat gif.

[exboyfil]

58. The thing about Bradbury

is that his stories stick with you. I went through a Bradbury phase in Junior High (I am 53 now). I recently listened to The Golden Apples of the Sun (it is a combined volume that includes most of Golden with R is for Rocket). I was amazed at the level of retention I had for the stories which I read. I can't say this for any other writer.

My library subscribes to Hoopla Digital. It has a good many of Bradbury's audiobooks. I am looking forward to working my way through the catalog.

[TuxedoKat]

73. Yes Indeed!!!

Some of his stories have stayed with me for years too!!! Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed and The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit are two that come to mind immediately.

[ChazInAz]

148. Pillar of Fire

Even as a preteen, I was heavily inspired by the darker side of fiction, and this story moved me when I first read it over fifty years ago.
Besides Bradbury, I frequently revisit Fritz Leiber for the same reason: the powerful use of language. (Fritz was also a friend of mine, and I still miss him bitterly.)

[TuxedoKat]

158. Thanks!!!

Thanks for the recommendations (Pillar of Fire and Fritz Leiber). I've never read anything by him. Will definitely check that Bradbury story out and Mr. Leiber's work. So sorry for the loss of your friend, how lucky you were to have known him though.

Like you, I read alot of dark fiction as a pre-teen too, although Poe is the only one I recall right now. The others were mostly short stories -- ghost stories and best of Sci-Fi collections, such as The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume Three Nebula Winners 1965-1969. Have you read anything by Richard Wilson? One of his works, Mother to World, I read as a preteen and it always stuck with me too. It's in that collection listed above along with a story by Fritz Leiber, so they were contemporaries.

I read a science fiction short story recently that really grabbed me. I'm not 100% sure of the name right now, but when I find the book, I'll PM you the title and author. I think you might like it. Too bad there isn't a science fiction book forum on DU. It would be fun to exchange info in a forum like that.

[Mendocino]

13. Monkey Wrench Gang

When are they finally going to put this on the screen? I heard a rumor that a film was being developed and Leonardo Dicaprio was involved.

[Saviolo]

14. A couple of series I've reread several times

The Dark Is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper - British young adult series of novels that touches on Arthurian legend and all sorts of amazing stuff. I wore out a copy and had to re-buy. (books in series: Over Sea Under Stone, The Dark Is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the Tree)

The Jurisfiction or Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde - Hysterically funny and extremely literate series about a woman named Thursday Next who works for the UK SpecOps division in charge of literary forgeries (LiteraTec) and discovers the ability o enter fiction itself. Clever, funny, and utterly charming. (books in series: The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten, First Among Sequels, One of Our Thursdays is Missing, The Woman Who Died a Lot)

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie - One of the best pieces of magical realism I've ever read. Stunning in its scope and texture. I love lots of his novels (Shalimar the Clown, The Enchantress of Florence, The Moor's Last Sigh), but I've never returned to them as much as Midnight's Children.

The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte - Turned into a really quite terrible movie starring Johnny Depp that excised an entire subplot (to the story's detriment), but the novel is a fun little literary mystery with two plotlines that are cleverly intertwined.

[yellowdogintexas]

110. I love Jasper Fford! Thursday Next is a great character

The books are great

[Saviolo]

122. I also can't wait for the next book in his Shades of Grey series

Supposed to be coming out this year. I should really re-read The Road to High Saffron before the next book comes out. Really interesting dystopian future.

[trocar]

171. Love Thursday nt

[genxlib]

176. My Wife and I love Jasper Fforde

The Thursday Next books are great. It is a charming mix of Hitchhikers level silliness with a surprisingly high Literary IQ.

I was also obsessed by his Shades of Gray book and have read it several times. One of my favorite distopian novels. Funny story is that my daughter absolutely loved the book when she was 12. Not at all a kids or YA book but she loved it.

The Nursery Crimes series is fun too. Nursery rimes retold as crime fiction.

It makes me sad that he has really slowed down publishing and is sort of semi-retired.

[Saviolo]

181. There are supposedly forthcoming novels in both Thursday Next and Shades of Grey

The next Shades of Grey novel should be "Painting by Numbers" and the next Thursday Next novel is slated to be "Dark Reading Matter."

Not sure when to expect them, but I understood Painting By Numbers should be out sometime this year.

I think he really slowed down to work on the BBC adaptation of his children's book The Last Dragonslayer, which came out around Christmas.

[spiderpig]

15. 1984 - every few years. Although these days I'm not sure

it qualifies as fiction.

[OriginalGeek]

16. So far, never

I don't usually watch movies a second time either but there are a few like Rocky Horror and Star Wars.

And I will watch a movie after I've read the book but I never read a book after I've watched the movie.

I have often started a book and got a few pages in and realized I've read it before and so I stop. I wish I could re-read books because I like the memories but I just can't stay interested in a repeat.

Even my most favorite books are victims of my apathy the second time around. I deliberately started A Tale of Two Cities again because it had been close to 40 years since I first read it and I figured surely it would be as new but I didn't get much farther than finding out what kinds of times it was.

I'm not going to give up though - I'm hoping that since I'm getting older and farther removed from books I read in my youth (I read way above my grade level from about 4th grade on especially when I got into high school. TV and music were tightly controlled but weirdo religious mom and step-dick didn't pay much attention to what I brought home from the library) I can maybe revisit them with a lifetime of experience to add to my understanding. I expect some I loved will not hold up and some I didn't love might have new revelations. But most should be just as good as they were in days of old but maybe I'll have new perspectives on them.

[wcollar]

183. Reading Books again.

I have a number of authors I will read over again. Most of my family can't understand why. There are just some authors who can draw you in again just on the style and rhythm of their writing. I often pick up new insights that way. My standard response to think of it like music. Nobody ever says "No I've already heard that piece before. Why would I want to listen to it again?"

[musette_sf]

18. The Handmaid's Tale

I have read it several times a year for the last 37 years.

[womanofthehills]

98. I'm reading Handmaids Tale for second time now too

I love Margaret Atwood's book esp. some of her earlier books.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

19. The Stand three times.

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

Red Son

The Bible

[Callmecrazy]

88. I've read The Stand 5 times.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

89. 👍🏻

[PatrickforO]

155. Oh, yes! The Stand.

I forgot this wonderful friend in my initial post. And an earlier poster mentioned Auel's Earth's Children series. Very good books. Sex scenes drag a bit but excellent anthropological research turned into a series of novels.

[stopwastingmymoney]

188. Me too, at least 5

I picked up a nice hardcover of the extended version awhile back.

I'd recommend it to a Stand fan.

[GreenEyedLefty]

215. Thank you for posting... I've read The Stand so many times

My original paperback fell apart. That book is a tour de force.

I also loved The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.

[DFW]

21. Shibumi by Trevanian

So many places and cultures visited that I am familiar with, woven into a tale of the evil, uncaring monolith against the philosopher warrior individual. A little elitist at times, but just a fascinating yarn all the same.

[FSogol]

23. Do you like Trevanian's other works?

Like The Main and the Eiger/Loo Sanctions

[DFW]

24. I thought The Main was a nice departure from the rest

Montréal is not a traditional setting for a work like that. Eiger Sanction OK, Loo Sanction sort of silly (Whitaker sort of said so himself in some interview). The Summer of Katya was riveting (Whitaker did love his Basques), and Incident at 20 Mile an interesting diversion.

Still, he never wrote anything like Shibumi, before or after.

[FSogol]

22. I've read Catch-22 over 20 times.

For a while, I read it yearly.

[PufPuf23]

25. Time to reveal how obsessive compulsive one can be

BTW I have a hardbound with original dustcover 1st Edition of The Earth Abides. I found it in a used book store in Corvallis OR in the 1990s and paid a fair price. I have read the novel several time as but never that specific book.

When I had finally collected all Philip K Dick science fiction novels (36) back in the 1990s, I read them in order of time of publishing. These were all rereads

Several years after I had obtained all the none PKD non science fiction novels (9) (and the last of the known unpublished manuscripts), I reread all 45 novels PKD but this time in the order they were written rather than published. This was circa 2012-14.

When I completed my collection of the 29 Jim Thompson novels, I reread them all in succession (this was 1990s. I reread them all a second time in order plus several Thompson biographies in order 2012-14.

I reread all the Raymond Chandler novels in order in the period 2012-2014.

I reread all the Kurt Vonnegut novels in order in the period 2012-2014.

I reread all the Tom Robbins novels in the period 2012-2014.

I was without internet or TV or radio 2012-2014 and live in a home library of 50 plus years of book collecting.

There are many other fiction books I have reread.

[Docreed2003]

26. Several...

The ones I've repeated the most are:

The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy

And "To Kill a Mockingbird"

[womanofthehills]

99. You would probably like "Go Set a Watchman"

Seems closer to the truth than "To Kill a Mockingbird." - I recently reread "To Kill a Mockingbird" for my book club.

[Docreed2003]

101. I've got a copy...haven't brought myself to read it yet

I think part of it has to do with the fact it was a work in progress that arguably Harper Lee didn't really want released, part of it has to do with what I've read about the portrayal of Atticus, and a big part it loyalty to Lee. My grandmother and her sisters were friends with Mrs Lee as children in Alabama. I inherited my grandmothers first edition of "TKaM" inscribed with a personal message from Harper Lee. Maybe I need to let go of my idealistic version of Atticus and finally read "Go Set a Watchman". Thanks for the suggestion!

[GP6971]

27. Diana Gabaldon

Outlander

[chervilant]

149. I'm on my fifth re-reading

of all of Gabaldon's books. I absolutely love her books.

I reread all the time--most of the classics and many sci-fi and fantasy. I also reread non-fiction books, particularly any that pertain to current events.

[AwakeAtLast]

217. That was going to be my response

I reread all of them once, now rereading as each season approaches, so just finished Voyager. I started in time to finish by April, then they changed the premiere date, so I read it slower (if that is possible with her books).

[wasupaloopa]

28. Island by Huxley

It sort of is like our situation. Try to have something nice and some greedy bastard will take it away from you because he can and because people just shouldn't be happy.

[tblue37]

29. _One Hundred Years of Solitude_, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez;

Pale Fire, by Vladimir Nabokov; Middlemarch, by George Eliot; the "Others" series by Anne Bishop; Ender's Game and its sequels, by Orson Scott Card (yeah, he's a RW extremist, but the series is pretty cool, despite its fascist undercurrent); Grass, by Sheri Tepper.

There are others.

I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, as well as great literature. I actually teach intro to fiction classes at the college level sometimes, so of course I read a lot of classics. But I like certain novels and series in popular contemporary genres, too.

[Raster]

30. Yes. Shogun. The Stand.

[sl8]

48. Both are on my list, too. n/t

[SharonAnn]

115. Shogun, 5-6 times. I get immersed into that world every time.

[Raster]

117. Same here... absolutely love the world Clavell creates...

...which is somewhat based on actual Japanese history of the Edo Period.

[Smickey]

185. Hai, wakarimas ka. n/t

[Throck]

228. Clavell is an excellent author.

[FreepFryer]

31. Just a grammar point - a 'fictional book' is one that doesn't exist. 'A book of fiction?' :) (n/t)

[Leith]

38. "A Book of Fiction" Didn't Scan Well

Oh, yeah:

[rock]

53. Try "Fiction Book"

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

43. I often would re-read "The Books of Bokonon", ...

... if only they existed, other than as fragmented reference excerpts.

[FreepFryer]

66. I cherish my signed first edition of Goldstein's "Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism"

[3catwoman3]

32. I have been a re-reader all my life. There are many.

Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. Superb history lesson.

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeliene L'Engle

My now 27 yr old first son was a re-reader as a child. He once asked me why so many people think it is silly to re-read a book when you know the story. He pointed out that lots people will watch a favorite movie many, many times, and listen to favorite songs countless times. Good points.

I re-read for 2 main reasons. I'm not a speed reader, but do read at a pretty good clip and do not always remember all the details of a lengthy tale - the first read through is to find out what happens, and the subsequent ones to savor all the details that may have escaped me. The second reason is I just really enjoy the wordsmithing abilities of some writers, and it is an intellectual sensory pleasure to let their finely crafted word pictures roll around in my mind..

[stopwastingmymoney]

191. Well said

I like that last bit especially

[3catwoman3]

194. Thank you...

...very much.

[Coventina]

33. I've read "Emma" by Jane Austen at least a dozen times.

Lord of the Rings trilogy

Chronicles of Narnia (just my particular favorites, though)

All the Sherlock Holmes stories

Just realized, it's all Brit-lit. I guess I'm just not into American authors. Huh.

[Leith]

39. Nothing Wrong with That!

I've done the same thing. I've read all the Sherlock Holmes stories several times. I went through a Thomas Hardy phase (Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd), Dickens, and a couple others.

I forgot another book I reread several times: Felix Salten's Bambi (in English, of course). Believe it or not, I read it six times in the summer between 1st and 2nd grades. Then I saw the movie and it was the first movie I was disappointed in.

[DaleFromWPB]

34. The Traveler's Gift

Easily the BEST book I've ever read.

[trueblue2007]

35. I LOVE HARRY POTTER.

[Borchkins]

78. I've read it four times.

I always catch something I missed before.

[dembotoz]

85. also guilty

i especially love book 1

the way she sets the hook so we read the whole damn set

[Hekate]

124. I read them for myself, then read all the books to my first grandson starting at about age 5.

His mom was also reading them to him, so he'd have to tell me where to skip ahead to. I have not had the good fortune of having his little brother (now 6) at my house overnight, but yesterday the two of us were quoting lines from Harry's first meeting with Hagrid, so I have my hopes.

My aunt is such a Potter fan that she was among those who would drive out at midnight in order to get each new book as it was released. When she retired from her job as Dean of Nursing her co-workers gifted her with her very own Sorting Hat.

Funny thing, but when English majors talk about loving British authors, the listener doesn't usually flash to Rowling, Pratchett, and Gaiman.

[Wounded Bear]

36. Lord of the Rings...

though I haven't read it since Peter Jackson's film adaptation. Not perfect, but caught most of the flavor of Middle Earth.

[shenmue]

50. Me too

[lastlib]

37. Childhood's End, The City And the Stars,

Arthur C. Clarke.

Earth Abides is also a great book that I've read more than once.

[eppur_se_muova]

40. Very, very seldom have I read a work of fiction twice.

I remember too much of the story to get excited over what's happening next.

Only books I read a L O O O O N G time ago are worth rereading -- like, books from childhood. Speaking of which -- I've read Childhood's End twice, first time in 5 th grade. Also ... The Time Machine.

[womanofthehills]

100. I'm the opposite - Most of the fiction I read, I will read twice or sometimes more

When I first read a book i'm so into the story, I overlook details. I enjoy knowing the story and then slowly enjoying all the small nuances I overlooked.

I'm am currently reading Richard Russo's Everybody's Fool for the 2nd time - our latest book club pick.

[Rhiannon12866]

41. I don't read like I used to, but everything by Jane Austen and numerous favorites by - Dick Francis.

I used to read mysteries to keep myself occupied, now I watch way too much news.

[stopwastingmymoney]

192. Right?

I just said to someone tonight that I can't read during the week because of my talk radio habit

[Rhiannon12866]

196. I used to curl up with a book every night

I got desperate when I didn't have one, LOL. I used to read mysteries, if I found an author I liked, I'd make it a point to read the rest of whatever they'd written. I don't know how many times I've read Jane Austen and Dick Francis became a particular favorite of mine. When my uncle was in the hospital, my mother brought him a copy of "The Edge," but he was a prolific reader and had already read it, so my mother brought it home and I picked it up and was hooked. He used to come out with a new book every year around October, near my birthday, so I'd ask for the book in hardcover for a present because I couldn't wait for the paperback. You'd think mysteries wouldn't be worth reading more than once, but the best ones are. Dick Francis researched the background of whatever he was writing about so it was easy to miss a lot the first time through. Sadly, he's gone now...

These days I have the TV on as well as my computer. Reading was a lot more soothing, even mysteries.

[WinkyDink]

42. All of Agatha Christie.

[malthaussen]

45. Really too numerous to name.

If a book is part of a live series, then I will typically re-read the whole series whenever I get the next volume. This can go on for an inordinate number of years. It is often amusing to watch authors struggle with continuity and the passage of time when a series has been live for decades.

If a book is part of a series, but the author dead or moved on to a new character, I often begin re-reads of the series at the beginning and plough through the whole thing, good or not-so-good. John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series is an example of this, although I started reading them before John had gone to his reward. George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series is another of this nature -- what is it with these MacDonalds?

Let's see, in addition to the previously-named, authors of fiction whom I re-read include Heinlein, Zelazny, Farmer, Glen Cook, and Niven/Pournelle (best as a tandem, IMO) in sci fi; Tolkien and G. G. Kay in fantasy; Stephenson for Necronomicon and The Baroque Cycle, which I typically read every year; Ellis Peters for Brother Cadfael; Evanovich and Grafton for more-or-less contemporary 'tecs. Then there's Heller for Catch-22 and John M. Del Veccio for The 13th Valley.

This would constitute a very partial list of my multiple re-reads. Books I have only read twice would be too numerous to mention. If I like a book at all, I generally read it at least twice. Those things are expensive!

-- Mal

[Homer Wells]

46. Yes, as an avid reader for too many years to count

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, LOTR series, (I discovered Middle Earth whilst in Viet Nam), most of Heinlein, Asimov, all manner of Sci- Fi stories, Michener, (from boyhood on), others too numerous to name.

[NNadir]

47. Slaughter-House Five.

[Skittles]

49. strange, Leith

I read Hawaii when I was a teenager and for some reason, recently I thought about reading it again. I will!

I've read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson a few times.

[JDC]

51. Flashman Series

[SeattleVet]

52. A Confederacy of Dunces...

and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

Many times...

[LonePirate]

76. Me too re: Dunces. Such an amazing piece of fiction and Ignatius is a remarkable character.

I have never read a book that has made me laugh as much as Dunces.

[SeattleVet]

87. The first time I read it I was living in Queens and working in lower Manhattan.

I had some people move away from me on the subway one morning when I started laughing out loud at one of the paragraphs.

A local theater here in Seattle (Book-It) did a play based on the work. It was amazing, being in a room full of people who had all read the book, and who were all thoroughly enjoying the adaptation.

[progressoid]

162. Oh, Fortuna, you capricious sprite!

I would love to see A Confederacy of Dunces on stage or screen.

Apparently a movie about the story behind the book starts filming this month.

http://www.nola.com/movies/index.ssf/2017/02/confederacy_of_dunces_movie_120320160012.html

[emulatorloo]

201. Confederacy of Dunces, Me too

[TDale313]

54. I've reread many books.

The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy, the Harry Potter series, James Joyce's Ulysses, and many, many more. I tend to rewatch movies and tv shows I like as well. If it's good I get far more the second time through.

[Miles Archer]

57. Most of Raymond Chandler's works

I received my BA in English from San Jose State. I've lost count of the number of books I've read. My favorite authors remain Chandler, Jack Kerouac, and Richard Brautigan.

In the realm of non-fiction, no one touches Emerson. I took a class called "The Transcendentalists," so I was exposed to the key works of Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman. The conclusion I came to was that no one touches Emerson. The class was life-changing for me and forged so much of my own personal philosophy.

I also discovered the Tao (the Stephen Mitchell translation is the one I prefer, and I re-read it at least once a year.

[womanofthehills]

103. Yrs ago, I was really into Richard Brautigan and was always rereading his books

Probably time to reread him. I still have some of his books - they must be over 30 yrs old.

So many writers list Raymond Chandler as one of their favorite authors. I've only read some short stores but need to check him out again.

I like Tom Robbins - he has some of that funky that Brautigan has. I've also reread all my Tom Robbins books.

[emulatorloo]

203. Another English major, and a huge Raymond Chandler fan

[Thomas Hurt]

59. Heinlein and Tolkein

[KPN]

60. Excellent Thread ... I'll Have to Read Some of These. Here's my partial list:

Lord of the Rings
Catcher in the Rye
Two Bernard Malamud books: The Fixer, The Assistant
Boys and Girls Together -- William Goldman
The Razor's Edge -- Somerset Maugham
Sometimes a Great Notion

probably a few others. ones i want to read again:
Watership Down
Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

[The Blue Flower]

61. Several

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Lord of the Rings
Slaughterhouse Five

[Fritz Walter]

180. Good answer!

I have the Hitchhiker's Guide in several formats (paperback, hardback and Kindle) because I really enjoy Douglas Adams' writing style.

Also enjoy LOTR and The Hobbit, but I'll have to rediscover Slaughterhouse Five and other Vonnegut treasures.

[VOX]

62. Fact-based fiction: In Cold Blood (Truman Capote) and A Fan's Notes (Frederick Exley)...

In Cold Blood is about as perfect a piece of writing as one can hope to read. The sentences are poetic, and the sense of a dreaded fate grows stronger with every turned page. As economical and spare as Kansas in winter.

Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes is a trifle dated here and there, but for anyone who's chafed and struggled at having to conform and exist in this totally insane world, it's a life raft. In a forward, the author writes, "Though the events in this book bear similarity to those of that long malaise, my life...I have drawn freely from the imagination and adhered only loosely to the pattern of my past life. To this extent, and for this reason, I ask to be judged a writer of fantasy."

[Victor_c3]

63. Two books both by Kurt Vonnegut

I'm a huge fan of Slaughterhouse Five and Blue Beard.

Slaughterhouse Five in particular really hits a chord with me. I first read it in 2002 when I first graduated college. I was actually going through Infantry Officer Basic Course as I was a brand new 2nd Lieutenant in the Army. I thought it was a good read, but it really didn't hit a nerve in me then.

I spent 13 months in Iraq as a Platoon Leader from Feb 2004 through March 2005. A year or so after I got back from Iraq I remember reading it again. This time, it had much more meaning to me - especially the secondary title "The Children's Crusade". I came back from Iraq deeply troubled by my war experiences. In the prolog section of the book the wife of a good friend Vonnegut was interviewing mentioned that all Soldiers are just children. Media portrays them in movies as adults and grown men in their 30s, but in fact wars are fought by guys in the late teen years or early twenties.

A couple of years later I picked up the book again (probably around 2012) after I had been dealing with severe and worsening PTSD symptoms and the book absolutely hit me hard. Kurt Vonnegut was describing PTSD and what it is like to deal with it almost to a 'T' decades before it became a formal diagnosis. The whole thing where the main character becomes unstuck in time and travels back and forth between different parts of his life is basically describing flashbacks. The emotional detachment he experiences and the sort of way he just bumbles through the remainder of his life is exactly what I feel.

After reading that book, I felt like I had a lot in common with Kurt Vonnegut. I majored in Chemistry in college and so did Vonnegut. Also, the VA hospital Vonnegut spent some time in after being liberated from the POW camp in Dresden was in my home town. He served as an Infantryman in WWII and I was one in Iraq. As far as I can tell, my political views align with much of his as well.

[roscoeroscoe]

151. 'Libraries' downrange - wow

Amazing books among the piles and boxes in the dusty corner of the MWR or USO!

But that's another discussion

[Hula Popper]

64. Several times over

Mitchners Chesapeake
James Lee Burke
Michael Connelley
Robert Parker
E Stanley Gardiner
Peter Lovsey
Ruth Rendell
Ian Rakin
Elizabeth George
Donna Leon
Louise Penny
Stieg Larsson
Peter Robinson
and yes Shogun several times.

[Jamaal510]

65. "Goosebumps: The Horror at Camp Jellyjam"

I haven't read that book since I was a kid, but I read it more than once. I vaguely remember what happened, but I know it was about a girl and her little brother going to camp and doing all sorts of activities and sports. Throughout the camping trip, the little brother was enjoying himself while the girl was worried. She tried to get help as campers mysteriously disappeared as they allocated King Coins, and--without spoiling too much--the camp mascot turned out to not be anything near what his name sounded like.

[mrmpa]

67. For me.......

The Stand by Stephen King

Time Remembered author unknown, however it was a remembrance of the author and her family from 1936 through the early winter of 1942

The Winds of War & War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk

A number of other Stephen King's books such as Salem's Lot



Can't get my Italics right.

[left-of-center2012]

68. For those who liked "Earth Abides" by George R. Stewart

You may enjoy these. I've read both and enjoyed them.

"Alas, Babylon."
Those fateful words heralded the end. When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness.

Or:

“One Second After” by William R. Forstchen

“... .a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies.”

[lastlib]

96. Also enjoyed 'Alas, Babylon'!

Good book!

[SharonAnn]

116. I was thinking of "Alas, Babylon" recently. Also "No Other Man" - 1950's? post nuclear world

[left-of-center2012]

120. "No Other Man"

Google search didn't come up with anything.
Do you have any further info?

[irisblue]

69. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, On the Beach by Neville Shute

I did enjoy both movies quite a lot.
A Town like Alice by Shute is good as well.

[TNNurse]

135. We reread Nevil Shute both my husband and I.

Not On the Beach, but Trustee from the Toolroom, A Town Like Alice and others.

He is just not read enough.

[Nac Mac Feegle]

71. The Discworld books

By Terry Pratchett

On the surface, a sendup of the "Swords and Sorcery" genre, but actually rather pointed satire.

And rather funny, to boot.

[Marthe48]

75. Catch 22

When I was a kid, I read The Hardy Boys over and over, also Rick Brandt Science Adventures. Mystery of Rustler's Fort.

I'd like to reread all of Euell Gibbon's books.

[LeftInTX]

113. My sister had a bad joke about Euell Gibbons

Do you know what killed Euell Gibbons?
Dutch Elm Disease.

[Marthe48]

140. I heard something similar about Twiggy

oh, so many years ago

[CanonRay]

77. The Legacy of Herot

by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Great science fiction book. I always thought it would make an unbelievable movie.

[gibraltar72]

79. No one has mentioned

the Bible so I will.

[Va Lefty]

80. "The Stand"

First time I read it was in the mid-eighties. I remember I couldn't wait to find out what happens next and not wanting to the story to end.

[Wolf Frankula]

81. Hrolf Kraki's Saga by Poul Anderson

The Suid Afrika series by Robert Frezza,

Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp.

Wolf

[Worktodo]

83. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Also Catcher in the Rye. Odd bookends but there it is.

[MFM008]

84. Hobbit/Lord of the rings

Harry Potter. Jules Verne.

[yuiyoshida]

91. most books by Michael Crichton

but of course my favorite was Jurassic Park. Read it long before the movie came out...

[genxlib]

174. He was a serious climate denier

One if his books, State of Fear, was the most rediculous anti-climate change polemic I have ever read. The terrorists were environmentalists who wanted to wake the world up. UGH

It really pissed me off but it was so poorly written and rediculous that I could not take it seriously

[yuiyoshida]

179. never read it...

but I really liked his books like
Congo
Eaters of the Dead
Rising Sun
TimeLine
Sphere
The Terminal Man
The Andromeda Strain

[Codeine]

93. My to-read queue is intimidating enough

without me going back to reread stuff I've already finished. There's so much stuff I need to read that I refuse to repeat things.

As a kid I reread everything, though. I used to read a book a day on average, so I often ran out of things. Grabbing a Heinlein or something off the shelf for a second or third reading was sometimes my only choice.

[Tikki]

94. "The Butterfly Kid"...Chester Anderson (1967) sci-fi

First book we read together. We read it together often..
A fun sorta dated romp through late 60's New York City counter-culture.

Tikki

[area51]

95. I love Dune by Frank Herbert,

and the Irene Adler series by Carole Nelson Douglas.

[Raster]

118. Ah, Dune. Probably my favorite of the genre.

[Chasstev365]

102. The US Constitution!

[NeoGreen]

104. Master and Commander...

by Patrick O'Brian...and the 20 others in the series that followed.

[LisaM]

105. Many.

Re-read all of Jane Austen about twice a year, LOTR at least once a year, all the Anne of Green Gables books, Barbara Pym, F. Scott Fitzgerald. I read "Lucky Jim" a lot. I re-read the Nancy Mitford books a lot. I've read the bios of Zelda Fitzgerald and Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford over and over. I also have a number of non-fiction books on the Salem Witchcraft trials I've re-read numerous times. A bio of Eleanor of Aquitaine I've read multiple times, ditto one of Mary, Queen of Scots. Right now I'm re-reading Christopher Isherwood, "The Berlin Stories". I've re-read Faulkner and Sinclair Lewis pretty often. I'm an avid re-reader, and I believe that it's really no different from listening to a favorite song or watching a favorite movie.

[neeksgeek]

106. So many I've reread... but there are several

Books I have to come back to periodically...

The first five novels of Roger Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber (the Corwin cycle; I read the rest of them once for completeness, but the only part of that I enjoyed was Corwin's return).

William Gibson's Neuromancer.

Yes, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

[PatrickforO]

156. Yes. Zelazny. I had forgotten the Chronicles of Amber.

They are very good.

[aka-chmeee]

107. Jack Vance: Planet of Adventure

Four Novels
City of the Chasch
The Dirdir
Servants of the Wankh
The Pnume

[bif]

108. "Catcher in the Rye".

[we can do it]

109. Harry Potter series.

[Raster]

119. oh yeah, I've read all of them at least once, and some several times...

...especially the last three books of the series.

[yellowdogintexas]

111. I'm not normally one to re read a book but there are a few that I have to

revisit from time to time

Jane Eyre
Eight Cousins/Rose In Bloom
A Song of Ice and Fire (next re read will begin when Amazon says I can preorder the sixth book)
The Joyous Season
Auntie Mame
To Kill A Mockingbird
A Short History of a Small Place.

Interestingly, my husband re reads books on a regular basis. He grew up as a Marine brat and moved every 9 to 18 months, and never had the chance to establish those long term childhood friendships.

I on the other hand, lived in the same very small town until I was 20, still keep in touch with people I have known so long I can't remember not knowing them and I very seldom read a book more than once.

My theory is that books were his stability in the absence of constant enduring companionships. Books were my adventure and escape from a very consistent and unchanging life.

[Leith]

114. Thanks to Everyone

I've been in the mood to lose myself in some good fiction and everyone had some really good ones to recommend.

This is my first thread to get a fire next to it. Usually I post to threads that others have started and then I'm the last one to do so (it seems I'm a thread-killer). I'll be heading to the library this week to check out a few interesting ones.

Thanks again!

[lark]

121. One I haven't seen mentioned - One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.

Saw the play 2x and have read the book 3 times.

Handmaidens Tale x4 - chilling and prescient and oh so good.

Stranger in a Strange Land x3 - Asimov

Electric Koolaid Acid Test x3 - Hunter Thompson

[Leith]

125. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Disappointed Me

It gave away Chief Bromden's "secret" in the first paragraph. The movie did it better when it was kept from the audience and we could be surprised along with McMurphy.

Heinlein wrote Stranger in a Strange Land. Asimov wrote lots of other terrific books like the Foundation series, the Caves of Steel series, and my faves, nonfiction. I credit him for helping me like and care about science.

[lark]

130. Dang, I haven't re-read this in decades and couldn't remember

If it was Heinlein or Asimov. I do love the Asimov Foundation books too.

[Thunderbeast]

139. "Sometimes a Great Notion"

also from Ken Kesey.

SHOULD be required reading for every Oregonian.

[They_Live]

144. The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test

was Tom Wolfe. But still quite good.

Love me some Thompson, and have read his Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas several times. Both volumes of Thompson's collection of letters are excellent. Campaign Trail is a monster.

Philip K Dick -The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is brilliant/nightmarish.

[Hekate]

123. The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. I've lost count of how many times I've read them...

It's got to the point that I read them in clusters now: the Witches of the Ramtops, the City Watch and Sam Vimes, Death, and so on.

I can quote whole passages by now.

He is an acute observer of humanity. In each book there are places that make me laugh like hell, but always at least one place that drops so deep I am moved to tears.

He had at least another 30 books in him and was gone much too soon, but he will live on in his books -- and in the Clacks. GNU Terry Pratchett.

Add to that list Neil Gaiman's "American Gods," and the book Pratchett and Gaiman co-wrote, "Good Omens."

[wcollar]

184. Terry Pratchett

AMEN!

[pscot]

210. I'm rereading them now

[Hekate]

211. Went looking for a particular quote for a thank you note, and am now rereading Thief of Time...

My DIL gave me a tiny box of exquisite chocolates for Mother's Day, and I thought of Susan Sto Helit's carefully-controlled addiction to W&B's handcrafted confections.

And I was sucked back in.

[pscot]

216. That was the first

Pratchett I ever read. I picked it out of a remainders bin for $2. Writing funny must be really hard, since there's so little of it. Sir Terry had a rare gift.

[TlalocW]

126. The Increasingly, Inaccurately Named Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy

As Douglas Adams referred to it. The last book was written by another author (since Adams died) in his "style." It was hit-and-miss.

Harry Potter series.
"Good Omens," by Gaiman and Pratchett
Hobbit and LOTR
Ender's Game and some of its sequels/prequels/requels

TlalocW

[Grins]

127. The Crucible, among others.

Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Used to bring it on vacation with me every year. Recently saw ESPN's 30-for-30 documentary "Fantastic Lies" on the Duke lacrosse team wrongfully accused of rape and the hysteria that came from it. As soon as it ended I immediately thought: It's "The Crucible!!!!"

Others: "A Man for All Seasons", and "Inherit the Wind".

And for the sheer fun of it, "The Greatest Game Ever Played" about the 1913 U.S. Open golf tournament. Read it three times in the past couple of years. Skip the movie; read the book.

[TheDebbieDee]

129. Bloodline - Sidney Sheldon

Several others by Sheldon as well.

[sdfernando]

131. Dune - Frank Herbert

Actually have read many of the DUNE series several times.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams. Always great fun to read....until you get to the Vogon poetry!

[murielm99]

132. The Stand

Lord of the Rings
The Source
To Kill a Mockingbird

[yuiyoshida]

133. Princess Bride...

love the movie too..

[DFW]

134. Shibumi by Rodney Whitaker ("Trevanian"), Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow, and even the one I wrote

I have another one sort of in the works, and I re-read my first novel every now and then to see where I might be doing something wrong, and not to repeat it.

Other favorites tend toward the whacky side: Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins and Yellow Back Radio Brokedown by Ishmael Reed. Those two books had me trying like crazy to imagine what their authors liked like, as neither carried a photo. I pictured Robbins as a tall, lanky hippie (halfway right) and Reed to look like a close relative of Eldrige Cleaver (I was way closer with this one). They both had me in hysterics (the Loop Garoo Kid!).

I also used to go back and re-read Hawaii when I was younger, and had never been there. Michner lived near where I went to college, and someone from my school went out to interview him. He was apparently an archetypal curmudgeon, arrogant as could be, and he said if you don't believe your book is just fabulous, you had no business trying to publish it. Of course, if your books weren't as good as his were, that was discouraging advice, but over 30 years later, when I started on my first novel I remembered Michner's words, and tried to make sure that a complete stranger would still get a fun ride out of reading my book. I know from the couple of DUers who HAVE read my book that I came pretty close to succeeding.

[vademocrat]

199. I'm re-reading The Time Cellar right now!

Very fun read! Got the kindle version Thursday afternoon AND stayed up most of the night to finish it It really pulled me in and I couldn't stop reading till I knew the ending!

[DFW]

202. Hey, thanks for the positive review!

I don't think anyone has posted on the Amazon site this year. Be the first on your block, and all that!

I hope you enjoyed the mysterious little-old-lady-who-was-not-from-Pasadena!

[vademocrat]

207. And thank you for such a fun read!

I loved the little old lady! And that she had both American and Thai coins - I was happy to know that Robert and Anne made it to Siam

Normally I don't do Amazon reviews but I'll come up with something and put up a review.

[DFW]

208. I wasn't planning to write a sequel, so I had to infer the Thai visit another way

And thanks for the review--in advance!

[TNNurse]

137. Jane Eyre most

but
To Kill a Mockingbird
Trustee From the Toolroom and others by Nevil Shute. You really should check his books out, if On the Beach is all you read, you have missed wonderful stories.

Jane Austen

Have just discovered Louise Penny and read them all, will do so again.

Tony Hillerman
Dick Francis

I rarely read non-fiction.

[Thunderbeast]

138. "Another Roadside Attraction"

"Even Cowgirls Get the Blues"

Love me some Tom Robbins!

[womanofthehills]

186. My favorites too - every sentence of Tom Robbins is a creative word salad

Just reread "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" - probably the 4th time. Love that Sissy. Just started to reread "Another Roadside Attraction."

Few months ago I reread "Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas" and "Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates."

[maddiemom]

141. The Great Gatsby

[hack89]

142. I read Dune every three or four years. Nt

[alfredo]

143. "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" "Satanic Verses" "100 Years of Solitude"

[MojoWrkn]

145. Gap Creek by Robert Morgan

[Volaris]

146. Elfstones of Shannara.

[mr_lebowski]

218. Nice ... I read all three of the original Shannara's multiple times by the time I was 15 ...

Elfstones was definitely the best of the 3 ... the plot twist at the end just absolutely blew my 11 year old mind ... I did NOT See that coming. As an adult reading it I probably would have but not then ...

[Volaris]

221. Read the rest if you havent.

Walker Boh is one of my favorite anti-heroes in modern fantasy, and Grianne Ohmsford's anger is worthy of a damned redeemed Sith Lord. If you liked the end of Elfstones, by the time you get to Armegeddons Children, you WILL be convinced of Mr Brooks' narrative genuis.

I haven't had time to get back to it, and it wasn't perfect, but the MTV Shannara Chronicles is basically Elfstones, and what I saw I I wanna at least see the ending of season 1.

[Cassidy]

147. To the Lighthouse. A River Sutra.

[trusty elf]

150. The Golden Ass

by Apuleius, translated by Robert Graves.

"I, Claudius" by R. Graves

"Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain

"The Book of the Courtier" by Baldassare Castiglione

to name a few.

[roscoeroscoe]

152. Mars Trilogy

By Kim Stanley Robinson. Excellent!

I can rattle off a bunch of the characters, which is rare; Sax, Maya, John, Frank, Nadia, Nirgal, etc.

Read it, it's very good!

[PatrickforO]

153. Yes, several.

The Hobbit
Lord of the Rings
All the Harry Potter books
A Christmas Carol
The Green Mile
Dune

A bunch of others...but those are the best, the classics I always turn to.

[joshdawg]

157. War and Peace

The Count of Monte Cristo, Advise and Consent. Moby Dick.

[NRaleighLiberal]

159. Irving - Garp, Cider House, Owen Meany, Water Method Man...King - Duma Key

Salem's Lot, Carrie, The Stand

Ludlum - Matarese Circle, Bourne Identity

Tolkien - Lord of the Rings, Hobbit
Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia

The Hours by Michael Cunningham
My Antonia
Remains of the Day

The Raj Quartet

just to name a few!

[Hortensis]

160. I'm so glad to be able to enjoy good books again

and again over the years. Perhaps that's only a plus side of a bad memory, but if so it's a genuine gift borne out of a problem.

Many I might name already have been, others aren't coming to mind at the moment. Except I managed to notice that M.M. Kaye's wonderful novels set in 19th century India haven't been mentioned yet. For lovers of historic romantic adventure fiction that makes places and times come vividly alive, I strongly recommend The Shadow of the Moon and The Far Pavilions. Trade Wind is also very enjoyable, but imo not in a class with those two. Her contemporary mysteries I haven't read beyond trying one or two and realizing they were very different.

Oh!, by the way, Kaye wrote the second half of Far Pavilions years after the first was published. Whether combined in one volume or as a set of two, be sure to get it all.

[radical noodle]

167. I loved those two books

but I didn't read them more than once. Thanks for reminding me about them. Maybe I'll dig them out for a second read.

Re-reads:
The Stand

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Poisonwood Bible

I read lots of books over and over when I was a kid. Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames were worn out before I got to junior high and gave them up. Oh, and Little Women and The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.

[The Polack MSgt]

161. I re read Isaac Asimov

every few years.

I tended to re read the last wheel of time installment whenever a new installment was due - because it took so damn long I needed to refresh my memory.

Then I just quit

[flying rabbit]

163. HP Lovecraft

Always gets a perusal come October.

[ornotna]

164. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

would probably be at the head of that list for me. First read it in high school and have read it several times over the years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness

[Rhythm]

165. "Good Omens", "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series, Clive Barker's "Cabal", among others...

I have a handful of fallback, comfort-food kind of books that i will dig out when the world gets too weird, and i need the familiarity.

The above mentioned are always on the top of the pile, but then there's "To Kill a Mockingbird", or Stephen King's "Pet Sematary", or maybe William Peter Blatty's "Legion" (the ~actual~ sequel to "The Exorcist&quot .

[ancianita]

169. The Once and Future King (T.H. White); Go Tell It On the Mountain (Baldwin);

The Autobiography Of An Ex-Colored Man (James Weldon Johnson);

Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison)

Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)

Middle Passage ( Charles Johnson)

I've loved them, and always find something new in them.

[Doreen]

172. Stephen King-The Dark Tower series.

Several Dean Koontz books.
Ann Rice-Vampire Chronicles.
Harry Potter.
Lord of the Rings.

[Alpeduez21]

175. Good thread

A Separate Peace
Huckleberry Finn
LOTR
Shogun
King Rat
Catch-22
Dune
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Siddartha
Gone to Texas
First Blood
The Andromeda Syndrome

[iamateacher]

177. I reread all the time

But let me put in a plug for anything by Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, Mercedes Lackey , Sherry Thomas, and I agree, Ray Bradbury.
I will read Hawaii by Michner, thanks!

[Laffy Kat]

178. "The Little Friend" by Donna Tartt.

I don't know why that novel speaks to me so much. I love everything Tart's written, yet The Little Friend is the one I come back to again and again. It takes place in the Deep South close to where I grew up and during a time I remember well.

[womanofthehills]

187. I need to read that - I really liked Tartt's "The Goldfinch"

[Laffy Kat]

189. I liked it, too, but don't really want to re-read it.

There was something about "The Little Friend". It featured a little girl for one thing, the south, my generation growing up. I felt I was living it along with the protagonist, Harriett.

[LiberalLovinLug]

182. Three that changed my thinking

Steppenwolf - Hermann Hesse

Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig

Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut


The first for teaching me not to be so concerned with quality. In this case quality of the communication device, and be more appreciative of the communication itself, especially with music. Not to get stalled with preconceived ideas of quality and acceptability. ie. listening to music from a tinny transistor, stop compaining about the sound quality and appreciate more the music that does come out.

The second for teaching me the importance of looking for quality in our everyday lives. This may seem to counter the first, but it actually rounded out that argument. In that one still shouldn't fret about peripheral concerns with quality. But concentrate on striving towards true quality in our everyday lives where it matters most, if you have the choice, and in relationships above all.

And the third for just his overall brashness to suggest that life is but a joke being played on us. One could take this as insulting and depressing, but I took it as very liberating. Especially coming from a strict fundamentalist Christian home.

[Stonepounder]

190. Oh, my. So many to read, and so many to reread.

Oldie, space-opera from before the Campbell revolution:
The Lensman series - E. E. "Doc" Smith
Cities in Flight - James Blish

After the Campbell revolution:
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Methuselah's Children - Robert Heinlein (actually any early Heinlein)

Other:
Anything from the Amelia Peabody series - Elizabeth Peters
Hitchhiker's Guide, The Hobbit, LOTR, The Stand, Harry Potter

[stopwastingmymoney]

193. I love this thread

The one I pull out every few years:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

[Shoonra]

197. Keep the Aspadistra Flying by George Orwell

[Boomerproud]

198. "Trinity" by Leon Uris (A Novel of Ireland)

I've read many fiction books (prefer non-fiction) but "Trinity" is the only one I've read more than once. I hope it was made into a film .

Of course 1984 and Animal Farm are high on my list, but I didn't have to read them more than once to remember them.

[vademocrat]

200. I've always been a re-reader - it's like visiting an old friend

Here's one of my recent discoveries:
The All Souls Trilogy - Deborah Harkness

here are some I re-read every few years:
The Mists of Avelon- Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Darkover Series - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Lord of the Rings
Any Marge Piercy book

[elehhhhna]

204. Hawaii every 10 years but "Coming Through Slaughter" more often.

Also A Mercy

Ondaatje, Morrison

[DFW]

205. There is one I forgot: The Far Arena by Richard Sapir

About a gladiator in ancient Rome who falls victim to some political intrigue and is forced to march to the North Sea, drink a special poison and then wade into the freezing water to drown or succumb to the poison, whichever comes first. Instead, the combination of the cold and the poison keeps him in suspended animation until an Arctic oil drilling team discovers him in the ice 1900 years later and revives him with his memory intact.

[BigOleDummy]

206. Time Enough for Love

by Robert Heinlein

I read it every few years along with Stranger in a Strange Land, LOTR and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I mainly read non-fiction these days though.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

213. Time Enough For Love is a piece of crap

It is obvious that Heinlein agrees with Harlan Ellison's comment that "love ain't nothin' but sex misspelled". He spends hundreds of pages on love as eros, and exactly two paragraphs on love as agape -- which he dismisses because he agrees with Ayn Rand that selfishness is a virtue. Every major female character wants to have sex with Lazarus Long, including his mother. And he has sex with all but one of them, and the exception is not his mother (who gives him a lock of her pubic hair as a keepsake). Heinlein's sex scenes read like the fantasies of an over-active 14-year-old boy.

Heinlein showed me that libertarianism was crap, suitable only for adolescents of all ages. His "philosophy" seems to be by Hugh Hefner out of Ayn Rand.

[pscot]

209. The Long Ships by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson

It even has its own Wikipedia entry.

[LakeArenal]

212. Personally, I love Dickens

But for light reading try "The Shell Seekers" by Rosamunde Pilcher

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

214. I regularly re-read Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan novels

Well written, superbly plotted, with interesting characters and good dialogue. Several of them, such as Memory and Cetaganda are actually mysteries (in Memory, something has happened to the chip implanted in Simon Illyan's brain to give him an eidetic memory. What has happened? Is it accidental or deliberate? When it turns out to be deliberate, who did it and how? Miles Vorkosigan is given the job of investigating, and he realizes who did it when the perpetrator offers him a bribe of something he really, really wants if he will frame someone else. Shortly after that, Simon asks him what he is doing. "Wrestling with my conscience." "Who's winning." "I'm going for the best two falls out of three.&quot

I re-read Cordwainer Smith, since he was such a brilliant writer. My favorite is "The Dead Lady of Clown Town", about a revolution which "lasted six minutes and covered one hundred and twelve meters", yet changed worlds.

[mr_lebowski]

219. On The Road & The Dharma Bums ...

First 3 Shannara books, the Tolkien Trilogy, pretty much all that Stephen King released 1974-1991 ...

[cannabis_flower]

220. I think..

I read Heidi three or four times between the ages of 10 and 13. And saw the movie a few times also.

[dem in texas]

222. Don't read much fiction anymore

Used to read lots of fiction. Have read "Gone with the Wind" twice. Scarlet O'Hara is one of the best characters ever written, you don't like her, but you admire her drive and perseverance. Another I have read more than one time is "To Light House" by Virginia Wolfe, love the stream of consciousness writing is this book.

One reason I quit reading fiction is some of the writers are so annoying. "Gone Girl" for example. Many have weak story lines that are not believable.

Now I am more into history and biographies. One good book was about the dust bowl. I had to put that book down for a while when I read how a mother had her baby die from breathing the dust. Another that made a big impressing on me was one about the Irish Famine, "The Dead are Walking", Heart breaking how the rich landowners treated the poor. Another good read was "1776".

[Crash2Parties]

224. Read Earth Abides...and then The Stand, back to back.

The first half of The Stand, the setup before it gets all King-y and supernatural, is like a carbon copy of Earth Abides, all the way down to many of the characters.

It's like watching the Road Warrior from the 80's - and then watching Waterworld.

[BigmanPigman]

225. Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson.

She also wrote The Lottery. Life...is hysterical and I can pick it up on any page and start laughing immediately. I got it when I was nine...I stole it from Ms. Robert's 4th grade classroom. Bad me but at least I put it to good use. Each page comes out individually. I finally found a reprint with a good binding.

[Afromania]

227. 1984

and a number of the Stephen King short story books of which I can't remember the exact names at the moment.

[Mike Nelson]

229. Great reading...

...all these! ...and I have one picked out that I've never read!

[airmid]

230. Any Tolkien...

[denbot]

231. Moby Dick, Cannery Row, Tolkien, The Stand, Mote in God's Eye.

Wonderful Life (Steven Jay Gould), The Dinosaur Heresies, and possibly A Brief History of Time, I reread it several times, but I don't think I was able to actually wrap my head around it, so the count on Hawkin's book could also be considered zero.