# Books you can't stop reading **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522 "2017-05-27T02:39:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bonnie14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bonnie14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonnie14)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/1 "2017-05-27T02:39:04Z")
So, years ago I was at a Barnes and Noble with a friend of mine. She was looking for books on dog training and i just wandered. I found this book that I started reading and could not stop. She found me in the isle and said “let’s go”. I pretty much never put that book down.Bought and it read it every chance i had. So what is your book? The one one you cant put down. I dont know how to do the spoilers “Into the Wild” by Jack Krakauer. ---
**Author:** ![DeepLiquid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deepliquid/32/14893_2.png) [@DeepLiquid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeepLiquid)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/2 "2017-05-27T02:44:40Z")
The Chronicles of Tornor by Elizabeth A. Lynn, I’ve read them so much I’ve been through three complete sets of them since the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![Bonnie14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bonnie14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonnie14)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/3 "2017-05-27T03:33:23Z")
Years later I had that book on my bookshelf and a friend of mine from out of town recognized the spine of that Krakauer book…We had a wonderful conversation about it. ---
**Author:** ![Bonnie14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bonnie14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonnie14)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/4 "2017-05-27T03:40:43Z")
> [@DeepLiquid](#): > > The Chronicles of Tornor by Elizabeth A. Lynn, I’ve read them so much I’ve been through three complete sets of them since the 80’s. I will have to check that out. just the name intrigues me. ---
**Author:** ![Bonnie14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bonnie14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonnie14)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/5 "2017-05-27T03:50:40Z")
I have been a reader my entire life. I don’t know why; i used to get in trouble for using a flashlight to read after ‘bedtime’. I am the only person I know who knows some Shakespeare, Twain, Poe, etc. I often say “Once more into the breach” when i go into the jail. it is lost on the staff. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/6 "2017-05-27T04:31:38Z")
American Tabloid by James Ellroy…electric writing and real and fictional characters. He doesnt waste a word. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/7 "2017-05-27T12:43:40Z")
For ten consecutive years now I’ve reread Elmoore Leonard’s _Rum Punch_ while vacationing in St Martin in January. On our first day there we traditionally visit Friar’s Bay, where I light up a doobie, get comfortable in my lounger, and hook up with Jackie Brown. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/8 "2017-05-27T13:27:42Z")
_Replay_ by Ken Grimwood ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/9 "2017-05-27T13:46:08Z")
Do you start a little further into the book each time? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/10 "2017-05-27T13:51:34Z")
It’s been said that the quickest way to teach an English boy French is to give him a copy of _Around the World in 80 Days_ with only the first half translated. He’s not going to be able to put it down even if it means learning a new language to keep reading. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/11 "2017-05-27T13:52:14Z")
> [@Bonnie14](#): > > So, years ago I was at a Barnes and Noble with a friend of mine. She was looking for books on dog training and i just wandered. I found this book that I started reading and could not stop. She found me in the isle and said “let’s go”. I pretty much never put that book down.Bought and it read it every chance i had. So what is your book? The one one you cant put down. > > I dont know how to do the spoilers > > “Into the Wild” by Jack Krakauer. I had that with Into Thin Air by the same author but even more so The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger - man that was a good book, go get a copy if you’ve never read it. I’m serious. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/12 "2017-05-27T14:13:33Z")
I once spent a weekend reading \*Into Thin Air \*six times. I would read the book all the way through, then turn around and start at the beginning again. I could not stop reading it. I have both Into Thin Air and Into the Wild on my Kindle, so if I have a spare moment and nothing else I’m reading, I can read them again. I’ve probably read each at least 30 times. But that’s nothing compared to a book called \*When Genius Failed \*by Roger Lowenstein. I have read that book well over a hundred times. I just read it again last week. BTW, it’s [Jon Krakauer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Krakauer). ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/13 "2017-05-27T14:31:19Z")
I have Into the Wild on the shelf, waiting for me to get around to it. I’ll check it out. I find the Little House books to be compulsively readable, and I’ve read through them about thirty times. Usually I intend to stop after Big Woods & Farmer Boy, but they suck me in. I don’t know; I am a reader, though my current phase of life doesn’t provide many opportunities for sitting quietly doing nothing. I’ve rushed headlong through so much. Agatha Christie’s mysteries; the Game of Thrones books; the Outlander books; the Anne of Green Gables books; many Booker prizewinners; many Victorian triple-deckers. The book I keep coming back to, that reveals new layers every time I read it, is Howard’s End. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/14 "2017-05-27T22:25:53Z")
The Colleen McCullough books on Rome. Probably have read them 10 times. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/15 "2017-05-27T22:53:55Z")
I am a voracious reader. I have several authors that I have collected their entire series and I read those books at least 2-3 times a year. Jim Butcher - Dresden Files Michael Connely - the Bosch novels Dick Francis Lee Child - Reacher Just to name a few. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/16 "2017-05-27T23:01:42Z")
> [@Bonnie14](#): > > I often say “Once more into the breach” when i go into the jail. it is lost on the staff. 🙂 Unto. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/17 "2017-05-27T23:58:07Z")
I have no idea how many times I read Henry Miller’s Rosy Crucifixion. ---
**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 28, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/18 "2017-05-28T03:53:38Z")
The _Harry Potter_ series. It’s almost as if as soon as I’m done reading them, I want to start all over again. For Christmas I got a new set of the first five books because mine had just fallen apart. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/19 "2017-05-28T15:07:16Z")
“The Lord of the Rings”. First picked it up at age 14, immediately re-read it, repeated that process about 8 times before interrupting it briefly with another book. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522/20 "2017-05-28T15:34:50Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > “The Lord of the Rings”. First picked it up at age 14, immediately re-read it, repeated that process about 8 times before interrupting it briefly with another book. I’ve been re-reading that trilogy on and off for more than 30 years. I can pick it up anywhere and the world fades away, and I am in another world. Gone With The Wind is another, I must have read that 50 times. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. That one is in my heart and soul forever. I am so disappointed a live version movie has never been made (it was planned, starring Mia Farrow as Molly, but never came about. Cillian Murphy would have made a stunning Schmendrick.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-cant-stop-reading/787522.md?page=2)