Do you read books more than once?

[The Chicken Lady]

I re-read my favorite books all the time, usually about a year or several months apart.

One thing I've noticed about re-reading is that I usually catch things that I somehow missed before: new details, or new insights about a character, things I didn't realize the first time I read the book. There are a few books I read as a kid or teen that have new meaning for me now that I'm an adult; it's like I missed something that I just wasn't able to recognize because of my innocence or lack of life experience that just went right over my head the first time I read them...so I've noticed that books can change depending on the stage of life you read them in, too.

 

[booker81]

Quote:
I love that one too

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Quote:
Absolutely I read them more than once--sometimes 4-5 times! I read mysteries and whodunits so the first read is for the story and the rest are to see how the writer set me up--where are the clues I missed, etc. Good writers like the late Tony Hillerman have so much background built into their books that I want to savor that part over again. Plus I love how he strings his words together; he really does paint a picture with words! So, yes, good ones rate many reads.


Rusty

 

[cybercat]

I read more than once. I also keep most of my books and take them on every move. I still have boxes I have not unpacked of books for we do not have shelves for them yet.

 

[Q9]

I do it with so much that it's a joke among family members. I've read Treasure Island going on 15 times.

I've read the Lord of the Rings series through 3 or 4 times. All my nonfiction books I also re-read, if only to refresh myself on what I learned from them.

Heck, I sometimes re-read National Geographic articles.

 

[DanEP]

I still have books I bought 25 years ago and will reread them. I read fairly fast and will quite often catch things I missed on the first read, its kind of like visiting with an old freind for me.

 

[domino7]

When I was younger, and actually read books, I would re-read the ones I loved. I can't force myself to read fiction anymore though. When I try, I'll suddenly realize I've been daydreaming for the last 20 pages, and have no clue what's going on. I guess it's just magazines from here on out.

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Quote:
This is why I re-read books. There is always something I miss, especially if I am trying to read at work or when the kids are awake. I can read books over and over and pick up something new every time.

 

[welsummerchicks]

I keep books and re-read them many times - not always completely from cover to cover, though. Usually there's something specific I'm interested in going back to find. Often now that I'm old I want to go back and re-read books I read decades ago.

It's kind of a problem. I have thousands of books and I can't bear to pack up any of them. I like to be able to put a hand to any one of them at any time. Shelves. Thousands of shelves.

If it's a technical book like a veterinary book of course I'm going to refer back to it many times. But there are other books I read again and again - write down notes in the margin, thoughts, impressions, those copies are like time capsules as to what I was thinking at different times.

One was Dolnick's The Forger's Spell, about a huge art forgery that really happened.

I go back to Sir Edmund Hillary's book about climbing Everest a lot and the story of Shackleton's explorations of the south pole. I really liked 'Into Thin Air' by Krakauer and read other accounts of those events as well.

The Village Horse Doctor is another favorite I like to re-read over and over. So is 'Little Golden America' by Ilf and Petroff, about a couple Russians who drove around the USA in the 1920's.

Almost anything by Rabindranath Tagore.

Anything by Umberto Eco, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Flamnery O'Connor, Hemingway (except 'A Moveable Feast', which I found to amount to mostly complaining about F Scott Fitzgerald, which is just too easy).

One of the funniest things I've ever read is the autobiography of Mark Todd, the famous 3 day event rider from down under. The bit about how he didn't want to endorse products he didn't personally use (what product is better left unsaid on family friendly sites) was hysterical.

I have a book called the 'Prairie Traveler's Companion' or something like that, that is advice to homesteaders traveling west by wagon, too, lol, an oldie but a goodie - especially if you ever need to choose a camping spot in a malaria or yellow fever area, LOL. I also love reading about scientific discoveries - The Double Helix is a huge favorite.

One of the best things I think I've ever read, is Exodus and related books, the story of the Egyptian exile of the Jews in the Bible. The book of Job is no slouch either, especially if you've had a lousy day at work.

 

[michickenwrangler]

I reread many books.

A lot of the books I read are long and epic (LoTR, Sara Douglass' Wayfarer Redemption, Shogun, Jean Auel's Earth's Children series, anything by Gary Jennings [when he was alive, curious how he has new books comin out when he's dead]) and lend themselves easily to rereading.