Jump to content

To read again?


Recommended Posts


As a rule, I don’t make a habit of re-reading a book until an amount of time has passed. They also have to be good enough to draw me back, of course.


I would be interested to know how you all are with re-reading works. Is it something you do a lot?  Have you returned more than once to read a work in its entirety? And what have you re-read the most from your own collection?



 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I seldom reread books.  

 

I've read Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and Beyond this Place by A J Cronin a few times - and I've reread books that I read as a child - or maybe something that I've read before which has been chosen for book club - but generally I don't reread books because I have so many 'fresh' ones waiting that it would feel wrong to read something when I've already read it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't often re-read books, because like Janet said, there's so many unread ones waiting on my shelves. I have, however, re-read certain favourites - notably F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby which I've read more times than I can remember. I've also got a soft spot for re-reading 'easy' reads when I'm stuck in a bit of a slump. Anthony Horowitz, Jonathan Stroud and Darren Shan are my go-to authors for that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't often re-read books for the same reason, I have many unread ones on my shelf, however there are quite a few books in my collection I've reread many times (especially at a younger age). Most of these are books I bought and read for the first time, when I was a child or a teenager. Examples include some Ann M. Martin's BabySitter's Club series, some of Roald Dahl's books, some Thea Beckman's books, some R. L. Stein's books, David B. Coe - The Lontobyn Chronicles..

 

I plan to do more re-reading in the future, some books are just brilliant, I really want to read them again.

Edited by Athena
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like most people have said, I'm not a bit re-reader, although I occasionally re-read the Jane Austen books (probably every 5 years or so), and I've re-read all the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next novels before each of the last two books have been published just so I could remind myself of all that had happened afresh before starting the latest book!

 

There are a few others that I've re-read, and like Athena, a lot of them are books I originally read as a child, but on the whole, I tend to read books once and never again.

Edited by chesilbeach
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Thanks to each of you for taking the time to reply. The question was prompted by a recent re-read of Ghost Riders: Travels with American Nomads.  

 

I do agree that with so much out there to read, it does have to be something that resonates with the reader long after the final cover is closed.

 

Of what I re-read, the majority happens to be non-fiction and of those that are fiction, it does tend to be older ‘classics’ such as Silas Marner, for example.



 

 



 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I re-read a fair bit - three or four books most years.  Most of them are classics and/or books I first read as a teenager (or even younger!).  I must have read most of the Jane Austens three or four times now: other recent rereads include Mrs Dalloway, Barchester Towers/The Warden, Pickwick Papers, War and Peace, Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes stories, a couple of volumes of Arthur Ransome, The Jungle Book, Puck of Pook's Hill,   I certainly intend to re-read a lot more in the future (a) because some books improve with reading (I don't read a lot of thrillers or mystery books!) and (b) because in my middle age I'm increasingly forgetting much about books I've read except what I felt about them!  This is particularly scary when I consider some of the history/science books I've read even quite recently. 

 

I know there's plenty of other books that remain unread, but if a book is outstanding, then it deserves a revisit rather more than some books warrant even one visit.

Edited by willoyd
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I usually don't re-read books. But if a long period of time has passed and I recall that the book was great and I can't remember everything, I can do a re-read. Most recent re-read was Agatha Christie's Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I am also thinking of re-reading Tom Sharpe's Riotous assembly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I was searching through my bookshelves for a book this afternoon, I came across a book I must have read at least a dozen times as a child, and it made me realise that when I was very young, I would guess upto the age of 13, I would re-read books all the time.  My mum never made me get rid of books unless I wanted to, so I still have the majority of my books from upto that age, and looking down the bookshelves, all of them were read multiple times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I never buy a book that I only intend to read once, Before I joined the site I always reread. Now having a shelf full of books I haven't read yet has made me concious of the fact I Reread. Michael c most, not last 5 or so. Quintin j, Piers a, Raymond f.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I only re-read the books that I loved so much I can't get them out of my mind or I can't stand to say goodbye to the characters. It is just a few a year, not many.  Books that I have loved and reread immediately are The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (audio best), The Book of Ebenezer le Page by G. B. Edwards (must be audio, the narration is awesome), and The Martian by Andy Weir (on my Kindle).  I am planning on re-listening to The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I rarely re-read.  Too many other books to be read for the first time.  I've only reread, speaking of novels only,  Wuthering Heights (my favorite book), To Kill A Mockingbird, Dandelion Wine, Jane Eyre, and some of the Little House series.  I think that's all.  I may eventually re-read the Harry Potter series and Anne of Green Gables series.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't mind re-reading books, because I can see different shadows every time I read a story. For example, I read Wuthering Heights when I was only 14 and then again last month and I have to admit I found out a different level of literature and I was able to appreciate the sub-plot much more. What is more, everytime I have to go to the hospital, I take with me Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.. so relaxing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't often re-read books, as there are so many new books I want to read. However, I have re-read 'The Art of Racing In the rain' by Garth Stein, 'Memoirs of a Geisha' by Arthur Golden and 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott and 'The Elegance of the Hedgehog' by Muriel Barbery. All of which, I think get better the more that you read them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re-reading was something I used to do a lot as a teenager, but rarely do now. I think a combination of an adult library ticket, charity shops and disposable income put paid to that! Having said all that, some book call me back  - LOTR i must have read 10 times by now, plus all the early Stephen King

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The classics I find will stand up to repeated readings. I've read Middlemarch twice, Jane Eyre at least three times, Wuthering Heights a few times, Pride and Prejudice twice. They're like favourite holiday spots I can go back to over and over.

 

I'm also a huge - HUGE - fan of Iris Murdoch, and I'm currently on my second go-round of all her books. I've now re-read The Book and the Brotherhood, The Black Prince, and The Sacred and Profane Love Machine, and I'm halfway through An Accidental Man for the second time. I find now that I'm less absorbed in the plot (and all those disastrous love affairs) I can see more of the incredible philosophical thought behind the stories. And the writing itself is just so beautiful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

There's a couple of books that I usually end up reading at least once every few years and a couple more that I'll return to specific chapters of. Sometimes I want to read again something I know and enjoy rather than pick up something new.

 

I know someone who is militant about not reading the same book twice, I'm pretty sure she does the same thing with films too. It seems to me that it's a fairly futile stab at coming to terms with the countless texts that one could read but inevitably never will. Still, each to their own.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I often re-read books. I've read all of the Harry Potter books countless times, Anne of Green Gables, Jane Eyre, Little Women, Pride and Predjudice, Karin Slaughter's Atlanta series and hundreds of others. I find that I often enjoy a book more the second time around. I would find it very, very difficult if I was told I could never read any of these books again. In fact, if I could choose between only reading old books again and getting to read new books I think I would have to go with my old favourites.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've read almost all my Discworld novels more than once, and have kept series' by various authors that I feel I will likely read again (Stuart McBride, Simon Scarrow and Christopher Brookmyre to name just a few), but the book I've re-read most often is The Stand by Stephen King. I must have read it at least a dozen times by now and I always find something new in there. It's like visiting old friends as the character appear. I haven't read it in at least 5or 6 years now though, so it's probably due for a re-read some time soon! :)

I don't keep very many books these days though (if I kept everything I read or even everything I even rmotely enjoyed, I'd have ot room to move for books!). Instead, I donate them to a local library which doesn't have an acquisitions budget (and hasn't had for about 5 or 6 years now, which is shocking!). Over the years I must have donated anywhere between 600 and 1000 books to that library (mostly 2nd hand, but many have been brand new too), including some I've never even read as I changed my mind about reading them - sometimes I just go off the idea of reading a book - LOL! It makes me feel good that others can enjoy them after me and that I'm helping out a library which really helped me in my youth. (It's the public library as well as being my old school library - they rebuilt the school a few years back, but it's still "my old school" so I like to help that particular library.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a kid, I used to re-read a book every year around the time St Nicholas was coming. Ever since, there aren't many books I've reread. I can only think of the Harry Potter series, and then a few books I liked when I was a teenager - to see how I liked them now.

 

It's not something I don't do consciously. There are just so many books out there that I still want to read that I feel like I don't have the time to re-read books. When I do, there are always a couple of years between them at least.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

If you can't read a book Twice, then you must be excellent at deciding what it's about and how you feel about it immediately. Not all books catch first time and there can be other points second time around that help you understand the plot better. Some action books can be overpowering in the expert marksman approach, that they are simplistic, but if you read slower you can find a good story in a simple plot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...