# Anyone else re-read non fiction? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212 "2008-05-31T00:09:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/1 "2008-05-31T00:09:40Z")
I do, I admit it. I’m a major history buff, and I have tons of books, and often I’ll read them again, especially biographies. Is this odd, or does anyone else here do this? ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/2 "2008-05-31T00:13:39Z")
Sure, I do it. My favorite non-fiction titles get re-read several times. _Women’s work: the first 20,000 years_ is at the top of the list. Lots of others too. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/3 "2008-05-31T00:53:52Z")
When we did our [lists of most re-read books](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=456803), almost all of mine were non-fiction. As I said in that thread, I’ve read “When Genius Failed” at least 40 times. Jon Krakauer’s books and Woodward and Bernstein are also high on my list. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/4 "2008-05-31T01:14:01Z")
Occasionally. I love apocalyptic fiction, so my nonfiction reading tends toward plagues and other disasters. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/5 "2008-05-31T07:17:16Z")
I read a lot of biographies & Auto biographies… My Favorite? [Gracie: A Love Story](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracie:_A_Love_Story). ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/6 "2008-05-31T07:23:15Z")
Not really; I don’t tend to re-read books very much, because there’s always something new ready to be read. But for non-fiction, I sometimes will look something up, but generally I won’t re-read it. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/7 "2008-05-31T10:52:45Z")
I don’t have as much time as I would like to spend reading. Usually just the Bible, peoetry and just one book in particular. It’s kind of heady reading but its Hagakure:The book of the samurai. There’s more practical information in it than one would expect, but the same can be said of the Bible. I like the King James version but some of the reading can be tedious given it’s age. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/8 "2008-05-31T18:39:59Z")
I have read: _Thailand: A Short History_, by David K Wyatt, several times. I used to read it once a year or so as a refresher but stopped once I seemed to have memorized it. _The Penguin History of the World_, by JM Roberts, twice. _A History of South-East Asia_, by DGE Hall, twice. _The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe_, edited by George Holmes, twice. _The Story of English_, by Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeill, twice. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/9 "2008-05-31T19:42:22Z")
I significantly more non-fiction than fiction. Don’t often re-read it though (the only non-fiction book I can think of that I have, Anthony Beevor’s Stalingrad). ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/10 "2008-05-31T22:41:05Z")
I’ve been on a Carl Sagan kick lately. I returned Cosmos and The Dragons of Eden to the library yesterday, & found Broca’s Brain at a used bookstore. If memory serves (I read the book in the mid-'80s), I’m in for a treat. Love, Phil ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/11 "2008-05-31T22:50:37Z")
Growing up I was a huge fan of non-fiction TV (documentaries) so much so that I would happily watch the open university stuff on BBC2 into the wee hours (picture a 12 year old boy wide-eyed fascinated by a guy pointing at a board of complex figures and talking) I loved non-fiction books too. So I am surprised I don’t have more of that stuff as an adult - I have mostly fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/12 "2008-05-31T23:08:15Z")
I re-read nonfiction and fiction all the time. I tend to re-read histories of the 3rd Reich and biographies of Hitler fairly frequently. I think my wife thinks I’m just keeping an eye on things to make sure they come out right. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/13 "2008-06-01T02:41:34Z")
[QUOTE=phil417] I’ve been on a Carl Sagan kick lately. I returned Cosmos … [/QUOTE] _Cosmos_! Yes, I’ve read that twice, too. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/14 "2008-06-01T02:47:29Z")
I tend to re-read certain autobiographies more often than naught if I really enjoy the writing and such. I also love Historical Fiction so I read those (ie: Killer Angels series and the like), but those don’t really count. So I tend not to Re-READ non-fiction, but rather just read more about the event via different books or stories. Autobiographies seem to the one exception which i love to re-read. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/15 "2008-06-01T02:50:55Z")
Reading The Nine Toobins story on the supreme court. I have The Brethren by Woodward so I read and compare. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/16 "2008-06-01T03:15:13Z")
I reread non-fiction books that are particularly well-written. Among my most worn-out titles are those by G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, and E. F. Schumacher. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-re-read-non-fiction/451212/17 "2008-06-01T03:22:17Z")
Does \*Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas \* count as non-fiction? I read that twice in two months in Europe, once in Switzerland and once in Austria. Then again in later years. And I read _Hell’s Angels_ twice, and maybe some of Hunter S Thompson’s other books.