# What Books Do You Re-Read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [February 9, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159 "2022-02-09T15:21:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/1 "2022-02-09T15:21:04Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/2 "2022-02-09T15:25:28Z")
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. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/3 "2022-02-09T15:51:52Z")
I reread **The Stand** during the early days of the pandemic. It wasn’t a great idea. I reread Elmore Leonard’s works. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/4 "2022-02-09T15:53:27Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/5 "2022-02-09T15:57:02Z")
Miss Manners books, John Waters, Uncle John Bathroom Readers, Greg Gutfeld. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/6 "2022-02-09T16:04:40Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/7 "2022-02-09T16:07:28Z")
The only books I’ve ever re-read are Neal Stephenson’s “[Baroque Cycle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_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 ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/8 "2022-02-09T16:13:45Z")
Watership Down. I need to reread it again soon. It’s been awhile. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/9 "2022-02-09T16:14:06Z")
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) ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/10 "2022-02-09T16:19:20Z")
I read Foucault’s Pendulum about ounce a year. I never get tried of it. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/11 "2022-02-09T16:20:32Z")
[The River Why](https://www.amazon.com/River-Why-David-James-Duncan/dp/031626122X) A book about fishing and a fisherman that is really only tangentially about fishing. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/12 "2022-02-09T16:22:33Z")
I read many books by [Robert Anton Wilson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/13 "2022-02-09T16:28:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/14 "2022-02-09T16:30:30Z")
I read Roger Zelazny’s _A Night in the Lonesome October_ around Halloween every year. I read LOTR about once every five years. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/15 "2022-02-09T16:32:26Z")
Oh, I forgot (even though I’m currently reading it again) _Biblical Literacy: The Most Important People, Events and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible_ ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/16 "2022-02-09T16:38:31Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/17 "2022-02-09T16:41:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/18 "2022-02-09T16:42:57Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/19 "2022-02-09T16:48:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159/20 "2022-02-09T18:02:59Z")
**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 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-re-read/959159.md?page=2)