Poll: Re-Readable Books

[Lilani]

Recently (and by recently I mean right now) I've been thinking about books that could be read more than once. Personally I don't re-read books a whole lot, as I tend to find a lot of books that I enjoy to be very long. However, there have been books that I've read and enjoyed many times, and these books have all been mainly books in the Douglas Adams Hitchhiker series. So I was wandering, Escapists, what books, if any, have you read over and over again?

I hardly EVER reread books, but there is a quartet I read recently that I'm almost done rereading now. It's called the Truth series, and it's by Dawn COok. The four books are First Truth, Hidden Truth, Lost Truth, and Forgotten Truth.

The reason I'm rereading it is because it all ties together so well. Events and characters in the beginning tie very well with the end, and the end also influences the beginning. So, I'm rereading with the knowledge of the end in mind, and I'm picking up on many subtleties I missed (or didn't find important) before--subtleties that hint at what comes in the future. It's a very tightly wrapped story, and I highly recommend it.

 

[Pinkamena]

I think I read watership down like 4 or 5 times over the course of many years.

 

[uzo]

These aren't really novels per se, but .... the Fighting Fantasy series!!! Steve Jackson's "The Shamutanti Hills"/"Khare Cityport of Traps"/"The Seven Serpents"/"The Crown of Kings" from the Sorcery! FF series. Also, I really enjoyed Star Strider, Seas of Blood, and Flames of Fury.

 

[whycantibelinus]

On the Road by Kerouac is an excellent read, I have read it probably a good 7 times.

 

[strider2u]

Hegemony or Survival - Chomsky

Like quoting him anytime someone says America is the greatest/peaceful/prosperous/moral country on Earth. Quells their nationality.

Oh, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Harry Turtledove's Darness Series

 

[Mauro Carrizales]

I don't think there is any point in re-reading a book because you already know whats going to happen.

 

[Dango]

When I was 8 I read the same book 8 times, and then I never re-read a book ever again.

 

[ElectroJosh]

Kurt Vonnegut and Chuck Palahniuk (I think I spelt them both right) are easily re-readable and I would highly recommend their books to anyone here.

 

[GasMasksAreForChumps]

Jurrasicpark, The Dark Tower: The Last Gunslinger, and my personal favorite Stephan King's IT. Read those books all the time.

Метро 2033 (Metro 2033) by Dmitry Glukhovsky

I reread it every year at some point.

Did you read the book in Russian? Or has it been translated into English yet?

 

[Phasmal]

I've read Terry Pratchett's `Reaperman` probably over 7-8 times.

 

[Hashime]

I read the hitch-hikers guide series twice. It was a good call, I missed stuff the first time.

 

[Jessta]

Almost never, I only re-read a book when it gets to the point where I've pretty much forgotten everything about the book.

 

[Gaiseric]

I've reread most of my books at least once, but the ones I've reread the most are my Classic Battletech/MechWarrior books. I've read them so much over the years the covers and spines are trashed which is unfortunate because replacements would be difficult and expensive to obtain.

 

[_Depression]

The books I've reread are as follows (and yes I've charted how many times I've read each one, so I listed them in number of most reads, from most to least).

Ender's Game
Speaker of the Dead
Redwall
Mattimeo
Taggerung
HP 4
Wyrms
Bartimaeus Trilogy: Amulet of Samarkand
BT: The Golem's Eye
BT: Ptolemy's Gate
Anything else from Orson Scott Card or Brian Jacques

 

[Flig]

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut - 3 times
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski -3 times
Principia Discordia by Malakar the Younger - Twice

 

[Tasachan]

I always go back to my Nicolas Evans books. Sure, they're probably girly, but they were my first real "adult" books. I sampled The Smoke Jumper sometime in grade 6 or 7, and made the move from Animorphs and Fear Street over to everything he had written.
I've read The Smoke Jumper, and The Horse Whisperer over 5 times each. The Divide three times (I've misplaced it, otherwise it would be more) and The Loop only twice, since I just bought it last spring.

Also, as a kid I'm pretty sure I read through all of my Animorphs books (probably about 1/2 of the series, give or take) at least two or three times each... and a few of them were more than that. I know I read some of the special side stories (about... dinosaurs I think, and another about jumping through time) a good five times+ each.

When I have more time, I'd like to re-read the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit.



... I just like to read, and when I have a day to myself I'll power through a good book all at once.

 

[Sariteiya]

I tend to re-read a lot of my favorite books. The ones I've gone through lately are:

Christine - Stephen King
Lioness Rampant - Tamora Pierce
Love Is a Dog From Hell - Charles Bukowski
The Sandman: Fables and Reflections - Neil Gaiman

FINALLY. Someone who's read Tamora Pierce. I love her, I've read most of her books a few times over.

Aside from that, I've read the Harry Potter series a few times over, as she throws a lot of Chekhov's guns into her books, so it's fun to go back and catch them all. Also Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials, but those are just for enjoyment.

Really the one I've probably read the most is Watership Down though. I love the language and vivid description.

 

[Mrrrgggrlllrrrg]

Did you read the book in Russian? Or has it been translated into English yet?

It's been translated to a few languages including english, I heard some of the translations dont make sense or is pretty broken. I have the book in Russian so I don't know the quality of the english version.

 

[Jedoro]

Fight Club

I read it at least once a year.

 

[TheLoneBeet]

I've read The Hobbit at least ten times. The Lord of the Rings books have each gotten at least three reads. Besides that I haven't really bothered to re-read any books.