Do you read books more than once?

[murphy]

Then there's the one where they add a few pages, change the title of the book and don't warn you that's it's a revision. Ah, well, I enjoyed the extra few pages anyway.

 

[The Ace]

Thanks JD, I was hoping we'd avoid non-fiction as my copy of "Hitler's Luftwaffe," is only fit for the bin, as I've read it so many times. By contrast, my old university textbooks are almost pristine.

 

[j d worthington]

Thanks JD, I was hoping we'd avoid non-fiction as my copy of "Hitler's Luftwaffe," is only fit for the bin, as I've read it so many times. By contrast, my old university textbooks are almost pristine.

Errrrr.... "Ooooops"?

 

[chrispenycate]

Another one to watch out for is the re-issue of Barrayar and Shards of Honour by Lois M Bujold, combined as Cordelia's Honour.
I had that one half way to the till before reading the back cover!

Same publisher; and they also did Lackey's "Bedlam's bard" and "SERRAted edge" series. However, once bitten, twice shy (does that men I'm going to fall for the third one?)

 

[Razorback]

I just did my first re-read for a discussion group over in the Heinlein section. It wasn’t one of my favorites, but I’m enjoying the discussion group. With this lone exception, however, I fall in the category of not wanting to spend time rereading stuff while I have a huge list of promising books I haven’t read once and quite a few of them waiting in my to-be-read pile. I don’t doubt that I would enjoy rereading many books and get new things from them. I keep all the Sci-Fi books I’ve read and cherish the collection. I aspire to go back and reread many of them at some point, but I don’t expect to anytime soon. The unknown territory is simply too large and too intriguing. Still, I look forward to revisiting these old friends at some point.

As for Bujold re-issues, you need to watch out for more than just Cordelia’s Honor. Test of Honor, Miles, Mystery & Mayhem, Young Miles, Miles Errant, and Miles, Mutants and Microbes are all omnibus re-issues of earlier works. This is disclosed on both the copyright page and the back cover of the ones I’ve seen, but I could have easily missed those disclosures when buying a book.

 

[Connavar]

I have actually never reread a book.

I have been reading books for a long time but not long enough to forget the books i have read.

But now i have read huge amounts of books cause i have read alot more than before the last year. I need to reread some of my old ones.

I barely remember them and sometimes i feel i need to reread a book even if i read only days ago. That happened for the first time with Gemmell's Legend.

 

[ambershadow]

Oh Yes! Like Murphy said it's like visiting an old friend. I have some that must be replaced because they have been read so many times. I always find something in my reread to make it interesting. No, I don't forget what I read I just like the company of the books.

 

[Connavar]

My first reread will be The Count of Monte Cristo. Which was the first book i read. I actually miss it now. I remember feeling so much for poor Edmond. I was like rooting for him to get his vengance in cruel way

Also i wonder how it will seem to me not being a kid as i was when i read it.

 

[Sathai]

I do read my favorite books more than once.

 

[tangaloomababe]

Murphy got it right re reading a book is like revisiting an old friend.
I have read and read and read The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett so much that my first copy of it fell apart and I had to buy a new one. Even though I know the book so well I still enjoy reading it. I have a few other books that I like to read again but nothing to the extent of Pillars.

 

[iansales]

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year was to each month reread one of my favourite ten novels. I'm on track so far... and it's proving an interesting exercise. See here.

 

[Anthony G Williams]

Murphy got it right re reading a book is like revisiting an old friend.

+1

In my youth I used to re-read books a lot, because I had lots of time, not much money to buy new books, and there was nothing like the choice there is now anyway. So I got through LOTR ten times, and quite a few others about three times.

Since then I have become increasingly money-rich and time-poor, which means that I rarely re-read books - instead I built up a large pile of unread ones. It also means that I'm quite picky and stop reading if a book doesn't hold my interest, so there are now a lot of books I've started but never finished.

However, I have still kept all my favourites for a re-read, and with a little more time since I retired (but not as much as I expected!) I have started to do so. I now like to leave lots of time before re-reads, so that I forget as much as possible and can enjoy reading them afresh. I did this recently with Tepper's Marianne Trilogy, my favourite contemporary fantasy, which I hadn't read for 15 years. And it was an absolute delight, all over again!

 

[sassy1]

It's practically unanimous that we all tend to re-read books

You guys are so good at putting it into words... "Rereading books is like visiting old friends", "subtle things you miss on a first reading that give you a thrill of discovery when you re-read the book"

I agree with everything that's been said. I have a to-read pile of i think 50 books now (i tend to buy in series' and sets ), so when i get the urge to reread one of my old favourites (which actually happens quite often when some random things remind me of a book i've read haha), i tend to tell myself to wait till i've read some more un-read ones

I never sell books I have read, well only if they were particularly dull and there's no chance i'll ever read them again, so if i don't reread them, they'll sit there doing nothing, so i feel guilty

 

[Rothgar]

I have never reread a book since I started really reading sci-fi and fantasy. I don't have nearly enough time, and there are way too many books that I want to read a first time. I still buy books much faster than I can read them. Some day I will reread my favorites but that is a long time from today.

 

[mogora]

Even though I've got a huge TBR pile, I reread books more frequently than I move books off that pile. The comments about visiting old friends, comfort reading, and finding new insights are spot on. I love the thrill of a new book but I think I take more delight in my old favorites.

And then there are my Lovecraft binges during which all other reading stops. My enjoyment and appreciation of his stories just increases upon each reading and I don't think I could stand the thought of never rereading HPL.

 

[Connavar]

I have never reread a book since I started really reading sci-fi and fantasy. I don't have nearly enough time, and there are way too many books that I want to read a first time. I still buy books much faster than I can read them. Some day I will reread my favorites but that is a long time from today.

Hehe exactly the same reason i havent reread either.

I have only months ago started reading fantasy and much more SF than before.

 

[dwndrgn]

Absutively! As others do, I have certain books that I re-read on a yearly basis and others, especially long series, I re-read before the next installment comes out. Some I just read for special occasions - Pratchett and Spider Robinson are always good for a pick-me-up.

I just recently re-read The Phantom Tollbooth because someone mentioned it here and I recalled that I had loved it as a child. I saw it all differently this time and still enjoyed it.

Once, I tried to re-read a book I had liked when much younger and couldn't get through the first couple of chapters. I now have no idea why I liked it in the first place.

Anyway, hooray for books!

 

[2nddan]

murphy said it best.
I re-read King's The Stand every spring, it's time to start it back up. Every year I find something new. One year I had read Macbeth and when I re-read The Stand, I discovered his reference to Shakespeare! Another year I had a month-long silent debate with myself as to whether or not a plant could defenestrate itself!
The reason I came to this forum was because I had re-read Stirling's Dies the Fireseries.
Someone else mentioned War Of The Worlds, I'd like to add Lord of the Flies. Both I read when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. Re-reading them as a teen, a thritysomething and again as I start my second half-century on this planet gave me new insights.
Re-reading books is as comfortable to me as sparking or spooning with my lovely wife.

 

[K. Riehl]

I re-read a large percentage of my collection.

I've found there are a few titles that will make a greater impact on me now that I'm 5 or 10years older than they did when I first read them. A book like Lolita which I first readin my teens didn't impress me that much. But when I re-read it in my thirties it made alot more sense and gave me a much higher opinion of Nabokov's skill with pen.

On the other hand there are a large number of treasured titles from youth that fall apart in front of you when you read them as an adult.

Some titles I will re-read almost immediately just to try and figure out how the heck the author did that?. Titles like The Wizard of Earthsea which if you examine sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, show how every word is there for a reason. Or The Pastel City by M. John Harrison which is one of the great fabulist tour-de-force books that most people have never heard of.[Other than people on this forum]

I think it is very valuable to to re-read and gain more insight into what the author is saying and in turn I find that I will look at some situations differently than I would have before. That, to me, is the great thing about great writitng. It can change your world view.

 

[purple_kathryn]

Ugh....right....

I have a fondness for Mills and Boons books and historical romance - have hundreds of the buggers. The bonus being I don't have to put too much thought into reading them and they're nice to read before I go to bed. Whereas with "proper" books I like to take my time and be all awake like when I read them.

Now my memory is pretty poor. So I find that if I re read the book say a year or so later....it's like I've never read it before. (seriously sometimes I'm like - "did I even read this?")

I haven't tried this on my "proper" books however I imagine it would be the same. In the case of "proper" books though there are just so many out there I want to read it seems a shame to waste my time re reading stuff when I could be reading something new.