What are the books you go back to time and time again?
As discussed on the current whatcha reading thread, there are several posters here who have reread Lord of the Rings over and over again. It made me wonder...anyone else have any other books that they keep going back to?
For me it's the Anne of Green Gables series. Not any one book in particular, I have reread the entire series several times, and skipped around from book to book according to my mood, as well. Love them love them love them.
Man, I am so, so guilty of rereading books.
All of these are on my nightstand now, and all are subject to being picked up at any time:
1984 - (by far the book I return to most)
Jailbird - Vonnegut
Down and Out in Paris and London - Orwell
The Clergyman's Daughter - Orwell
Coming Up for Air - Orwell
Keep the Aspidistra Flying - Orwell
The Jungle
I have read most of these a dozen times through by now, and 1984--countless times.
There is comfort in good, familiar literature.
"I won't kill for money, and I won't marry for it. Other than that, I'm open to just about anything."
-Jim Rockford
Oh, recent add that I am now starting to reread:
The Trial - Kafka.
"I won't kill for money, and I won't marry for it. Other than that, I'm open to just about anything."
-Jim Rockford
Several of the Iain M Banks books, LOTR & The Hobbit.
Quite a few others as I forget I have read them and buy or borrow them again.
Lightly Seared On The Reality Grill
Alfred Lansing's Endurance
Apsley Cherry-Garrard's The Worst Journey in the World
Robert Heinlein's Have Space Suit - Will Travel
L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and the sequels - Anne of the Island is probably my favorite
Daniel V. Gallery's Eight Bells
There are other books I keep going back to, but those are the ones I can think of, now.
My rereads are LotR, Hobbit & Silmarillion.
Most books by Heinlein but especially the juveniles and Moon is a Harsh Mistress
The Lensmen series by EE Doc Smith
I recently reread the Elric series but that is not quite the same. I hadn't read them in over 20 years and picked up and ran through the rest. Same with Narnia a few years back, Foundation series by Isaac and even some Amber books recently. I have reread the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander a few times.
Every decade or so reread The Godfather and To Kill a Mockingbird.
Oh, Swiftly Tilting Planet along with A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle, is another reread. Oddly I have never read An Acceptable Time (1989).
I'm sure I am forgetting a few. Most of my rereads are beloved books of my youth.
This is a hard question for me. I re-read things almost constantly. I'm looking at my shelves and I'm having a hard time seeing anything I haven't read a whole bunch of times. I'm about due for a LOTR re-read myself. Also Till We Have Faces and I Capture the Castle.
Last edited by Orual; 22 Jan 2011 at 05:54 PM. Reason: to read makes our writing English good
I go back and revisit books fairly often. LotR for sure, also the first three Dune books. Books 1-4 and 7 of The Dark Tower. A lot of Somerset Maugham, especially Of Human Bondage, The Razor's Edge, and Cakes and Ale. Richard Herley's The Penal Colony and Refuge. Also, funny books are always very re-readable to me...Dave Barry, Bill Bryson, etc.
"You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."
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First Among Equals by Jeffrey Archer - a great British political thriller about the rise to power of three men (four, in the British edition) as they each vie to become Prime Minister.
Aztec by Gary Jennings - a magnificent, sprawling historical novel of the Aztec Empire before, during and after the Spanish conquest.
Tuf Voyaging by George R.R. Martin - funny, chilling collection of sf stories about absolute power and ecological engineering. The finest sf book I've ever read.
I re-read each of these every five years or so. Love 'em.
The Lives and Times of Archy and Mehitabel, by Don Marquis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archy_and_Mehitabel
Elendil's Heir, I love Jeffrey Archer...I've been reading his latest collection of short stories, in between reading other things. I'm always kind of surprised he doesn't have more of a following.
I'm not sure how many times I've read A Wrinkle in Time since the fourth grade, but I'm pretty sure it's one of those books I'll never actually get tired of going back to. When I reread it a couple of years ago, one of my coworkers caught me sniffling in the break room. Next time, I might just not take it to work with me.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
Yes! I read that in high school and thought it was one of the finest novels ever, so I went back to it a few years ago. I still think it is among the best, but it was an eye-opener to see how differently I interpreted everything with the benefit (I hope) of more life experience.Originally posted by OneCentStamp
A book I re-read every few years is The Famished Road by Ben Okri. Only on the third read or so did I start to notice some imperfections in the book. I have yet to convince anyone else to read it, however. People get a chapter or two in, then tell me they can't handle it any more.
I re-read the short story "It's a Sky-Blue Life" every now and then. What's funny is that I found that story - the first in a Maxim Gorky anthology - a bit difficult but worth savoring, so I read it over and over without reading the rest of the stories in the book for years (I assumed they would be equally tough going, and I wanted to feel like I was getting the main story first before moving on.) When I finally got around to finishing the other short stories, I was amused to discover that they are MUCH lighter and can be understood and appreciated with a lot less Deep Thought than "It's a Sky-Blue Life."
You know what I need to re-read? The Secret Agent, by Joseph Conrad.
His later criminality definitely put a crimp in his career, and his popularity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Archer#Downfall
Before that, he had some great books: although First Among Equals is hands-down my favorite, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less and A Matter of Honour are both terrific, and his short story collections A Quiver Full of Arrows, A Twist in the Tale and Twelve Red Herrings have some excellent tales.
Lighter reading for me - sometimes old YA favorites, or something like Forever Amber for when I want just anything I don't have to think too hard about.
Yeah, I can see where that might have had an effect, but man, Anne Perry freakin' murdered someone in cold blood, and she seems to do quite well.His later criminality definitely put a crimp in his career, and his popularity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Archer#Downfall
Loved Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less. And I've got kind of a weakness for the short story with a twist a la Roald Dahl, so I dig his SS collections.Before that, he had some great books: although First Among Equals is hands-down my favorite, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less and A Matter of Honour are both terrific, and his short story collections A Quiver Full of Arrows, A Twist in the Tale and Twelve Red Herrings have some excellent tales.
Last edited by Sarahfeena; 24 Jan 2011 at 02:59 PM.
Europe: A History by Norman Davies is a several inch wide tome that I read bits of on a regular basis and have done in the 10 years or so I've owned it.
I just remembered another one: Jane Eyre. I immediately had to buy an e-copy when I got my nook, even though I have a paperback version already.
I have reread Foundation more than any other book. It really speaks to me, and it certainly really spoke to a teenage me the first time I read it.
Something tells me we haven't seen the last of foreshadowing.
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