Do you read books more than once?

As with other's I used to re-read books reasonably often when i was younger but it's actually pretty rare now. I think I've got alot more of an appreciation for what's out there in SFF and otherwise and I'm a lot more open to trying new authors, so basically there's just too many new worlds I want to explore.

Still I'll always go back and re-read some books, particularly series that I have read as they've been published. I'm deliberatley avoiding re-reading Erikson now so that once I have bought and read the final book I can go back and read the whole series from start to finish, with only just enough remembered to make it a nice easy read the second time around, which is something I am really looking forward to.

Also with a lot of SF books like; Behold the Man, Flowers for Algernon, Ender's Game, Blood Music, Childhood's End etc I can see myself rereading them after a long break like 10 years both just to enjoy the story again and also to see if I get anything new (or maybe less) out of the idea's explored in them.
 
I am a re-reader also especially with Pratchett and Gemmell, when I get to a loose end and my reading pile just doesn't appeal to me at the time I will reach for witches abroad, Guards Guards or Wolf in Shadow books I know and love and every time I read them I find something I had missed before or forgotten. Also as said before about HPL if you've got a spare half an hour you can read 1 or 2 of his short stories.
 
I'm re-reading alot of SF from my youth and also picking up alot recommendations on books to read from the good folk here at chronicles. My SF&F library was static for about 15 years with a few PKD's, LOTR, etc, and I would happily re-read them when enough time had elapsed. Some books I re-read cause I have exhausted my new books and I need something to read. Some of them I re-read because they are works of art and I want them to stay fresh in my mind (esp, The Hobbit and On The Road). I'm not a collector, I don't buy books so I can say I have them, I buy books because I read them, and want to read them again, and again (and again).
 
I just found an excerpt of Heinlein's Puppet Masters online and I remember enjoying that story, so I read the excerpt only to find myself wondering how on earth I could've ever enjoyed that.
 
well me and my dad had an argument again... he just keeps saying "but you know the ending!!"... i guess he'll never learn, sad git :p
 
sanityassassin said:
I am a re-reader also especially with Pratchett and Gemmell, when I get to a loose end and my reading pile just doesn't appeal to me at the time I will reach for witches abroad, Guards Guards or Wolf in Shadow books I know and love and every time I read them I find something I had missed before or forgotten. Also as said before about HPL if you've got a spare half an hour you can read 1 or 2 of his short stories.
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Gemmell is the reason i have started thinking about rereading, mostly i finish one book i start on a new book almost directly.

But Gemmell books i have read only a month or so ago are calling for me now and i struggle to keep the urge at bay.

I have a brand new Wolf in The Shadow to read now and i started reading 20 pages or so to sample cause i am reading other writers right now. Shannow i found very intriguing from the first time he described him.
 
Mostly I do not re-read books. I have sometimes bought one I've read before :eek:.

But I re-read all of my Honor Harrington Series. I believe I've read each book in the series save the lost 2, four times. Somehow I missed book 10 "War of Honor" until recently and read it only twice before I came across book 11 "At All Costs". And JOY! I've only read it once, I've got a real treat coming. I think book 11 in the series is one of the best of the lot. Unlike most series Dune and Clan of the Cave Bear come to mind, which only kept deteriorating as the series went on.
 
I have to say I don't re-read books as often as I used to, my "to be read" pile hasn't depleted much the past few years. I blame the internet and finding good book deals that I can't pass up. :p
 
I've read all my favourite books at least 4-5 times now and I've read others at least twice. Every time a new Feist book comes out I re-read from magician onwards to the new book.
 
JDP said:
I'll read my favourite books & series' time and time again. Maybe I've got some kind of problem...
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I daresay a hefty percentage of the people here are probably in the same situation (me included), so you would seem to be perfectly normal. :)

I don't buy a book unless I'm sure I'll read it at least twice. Considering the price of books nowadays and the fact that living, breathing trees die so we can have books, it's the least I can do to get the most out of a book that I can.

And I've read some books several dozen times. It's not that I have a poor memory for what happens; it's that I enjoy them so much.

Actually, asking if one reads a particular book more than once is like asking if one watches the same TV show more than once. After all, you know the ending, so why bother?

Well, there are some episodes of TV series I've seen dozens of times (really) -- favorite episodes of Star Trek, Are You Being Served?, Keeping Up Appearances, Doctor Who... and so on. Strangely, nobody seems to find it odd that I'd want to watch a TV show more than once.
 
Depends on the book - But I have read the Thomas Covenant books about 2/3 times and .......I er....... might have .....er read Harry Potter a fair old few times:eek:
 
Quokka said:
Still I'll always go back and re-read some books, particularly series that I have read as they've been published.

Also with a lot of SF books like; Behold the Man, Flowers for Algernon, Ender's Game, Blood Music, Childhood's End etc I can see myself rereading them after a long break like 10 years both just to enjoy the story again and also to see if I get anything new (or maybe less) out of the idea's explored in them.
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I agree with Quokka. As the youngest in a "Trekkie" household, I started reading Sci-FI and fantasy before I read almost anything else... As I have grown, many of those books have resonated with different parts of my heart/psyche. If I read it as a child, I missed some nuances (definitely as a teenager) that now may strike more chords in my adult mind (well, adult body, the mind was a terrible thing that I wasted....:p)
 
Yes I do. Why buy a book, if you are not going to read it at least twice? If you were only going to read it once, you should have checked it out from a library.
 
That's why I buy my books from second hand book stores or charity shops now (unless it's something that I know I'll love, like a new Stephen King novel or a book I really want and probably wouldn't stumble across in a charity shop). That way, even if I don't enjoy the book, I've only spent fifty pence or a pound on it rather than seven pounds.

Also, I like having book shelves packed full of books, so I prefer to buy rather than borrow :D

I do like to read a book more than once if I particularly enjoy it. I used to read books again and again when I was younger, but now my to-read pile is huge so I don't really get the chance anymore. But the books that I truly love, like Flowers for Algernon or The Secret Garden I will always find time to re-read.
 
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