What Books Do You Re-Read?

Cafe Society
1

I’m re-reading Down the Common by Ann Baer. I’ve read it twice already. It’s about life in a medieval village in England. That’s all. A year in the life of an ordinary village woman. Dull? No. This book immerses you in the people and what they do. The surroundings come alive with sights, sounds, and smells. It’s the closest I can get to time travel in my own Tardis.

I also revisit the Little House series from time to time. And Gone with the Wind. And occasionally Bill Bryson.

What, if anything, do you re-read?

2

As trite as this may seem, whenever something truly awful hits home (most noticeably when a pet dies), I take down Salem’s Lot or The Stand and bury myself in them; at least I’m not dying from the flu or being attacked by vampires. It helps.

3

I reread The Stand during the early days of the pandemic. It wasn’t a great idea.

I reread Elmore Leonard’s works.

4

I used to reread Tom Robbins’ “Still Life With Woodpecker” about once a year but lost my copy ages ago.

I’ve read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings about half a dozen times. Same with "Catch-22”.

5

Miss Manners books, John Waters, Uncle John Bathroom Readers, Greg Gutfeld.

6

I used to be a big re-reader as a kid and young adult. I’d regularly revisit my faves, especially LOTR (which I probably have read over 30 times) and JRRT’s other works. Also my guilty pleasure, Lackey’s Valdemar stuff. Plus Vonnegut. and Burroughs (Edgar Rice, not William S).

But in recent decades, I’ve moved away from that. With new books so readily available via Kindle download, I find myself devouring them like popcorn.

7

The only books I’ve ever re-read are Neal Stephenson’s “Baroque Cycle” trilogy - Quicksilver, The Confusion and System of the World. That is like 3000 pages. It’s historical fiction that takes place in Europe in the 17th/18th century, with lots of real people showing up and a lot of stuff about the Royal Society, Isaac Newton, Leibninz, etc.

Great read. It’s probably been a decade since I read them last and I have been itching to read them again! Unfortunately in that time, streaming media content has been invented and well I can’t be bothered to read anymore :frowning:

8

Watership Down. I need to reread it again soon. It’s been awhile.

9

A lot of books. Some are humorous books that I like the funny parts of. Some are action-adventure thrillers or science fiction or fantasy that’s really well-written. Or a mystery I really like.

Partial list

Lord of the Rings – I’ve long ago lost count of how many times I’ve re-read this. Especially now that I have an audio copy

C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower novels – the while series

Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal – I like his iother stuff, too, but this one is exceptionally well done

All of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories

Most of Robert Heinlein’s works

Most of Dave Barry’s books

Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and sundry other pieces by him

The Iliad and The Odyssey – believe it or not. I have read them multiple times in print and now have listened to them multiple times on audio (Usually the Robert Fitzgerald translation in print and the Robert Fagles on audio).

Bored of the Rings

The Plays of Neil Simon

The Plays of George Bernard Shaw

James Lileks’ books The Gallery of Regrettable Food, Gastroanomalies, and Interior Desecration

Tom Weller’s Science Made Stupid and Cvltvre Made Stupid

Nicholas Meyer’s The Seven per cent Solution (but not his other Sherlock Holmes pastiches)

Some Nero Wolfe novels by Rex Stout

Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels (nut not the ones by other writers. Except Sebastian Foulkes’ Devil May Care)

Some Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novels

Works by Fredric Brown (science fiction, fantasy, and mystery short stories and short novels)

10

I read Foucault’s Pendulum about ounce a year. I never get tried of it.

11

The River Why
A book about fishing and a fisherman that is really only tangentially about fishing.

12

I read many books by Robert Anton Wilson, including The Illuminatus! Trilogy , Schrödinger’s Cat Trilogy, etc. When I read them the first time I never really understood what was going on, so I reread them all later and was still confused.

13

Every few years I re-read the entire ten books of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. It absolutely gets better every time and I still find new things on every reading.

14

I read Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October around Halloween every year. I read LOTR about once every five years.

15

Oh, I forgot (even though I’m currently reading it again) Biblical Literacy: The Most Important People, Events and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible

16

Many. Every four or five years, I go on a little binge where I line up all of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels and reread them in chronological order. Same thing with Richard Brautigan. I’ve also done this a time or two with Donald E. Westlake’s Dortmunder series.

For one-offs, I find that The Old Man and the Sea, Of Mice and Men, The Stranger, UBIK, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas bear rereading every so often.

17

I reread Terry Pratchett constantly. Except Unseen Academicals. That one blows.

I also selectively reread fun fiction, like the 163X universe and John Ringo’s more insane fantasies.

18

Household Gods by Harry Turtledove and Judith Tarr.

A modern person switches bodies with someone who was living in the days of the Roman Empire. A good counterpart to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s court. But it doesn’t really get going until after the switch.

Obscure, but Firehouse Antics by Robert W. Kahle. Humorous stories about what goes on in a Detroit firehouse - behind the facade.

19

Years ago I read similar books by Norah Lofts. She must have written a hundred, all about life in England, from Roman days to Victorian times, to punk rocker days, and the best were the days of feudal times, knights in castles. Much about medieval life among the rich and poor. SO so interesting, she’s out of print now. Like reading the Lord of the Rings, I could immerse myself in another world.

20

CalMeacham obviously has good taste!
Here’s books we both relish:

Lord of the Rings

All of C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower novels

All of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories

All Nero Wolfe novels by Rex Stout

I also like:

  • Larry Niven’s SF and sword/sorcery books
  • Terry Pratchett’s Discworld
  • Dick Francis’ racing novels
  • George McDonald Fraser’s Flashman saga