# What books do you read and re-read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907 "2014-02-21T19:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/1 "2014-02-21T19:59:52Z")
It’s been a couple years since there’s a thread like this, as far as I can tell… Me: All the Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan-verse books. I’ve read all at least three times, and we’ve purchased (in one form or another) most of them more than once. Harry Potter, of course - both as they came out (e.g. when 5 came out, I re-read 1-4), but periodically since then. Right now I’m slogging through book 1 in French (made much easier by purchasing a dictionary for my Kindle). Knowing what’s going on helps me figure out what’s happening when I don’t quite get the idiom being used. Plus hey, I’d much rather be a Moldu (Moldue? the book isn’t clear whether one should feminize the noun) than a Muggle :D. Some classic SF - have read most of Heinlein at least twice and even sprung for the audiobook of The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/2 "2014-02-21T20:07:07Z")
_The Best and the Brightest_, by David Halberstam (1972) It’s non-fiction, and provides a detailed perspective of how and why we got stuck in Viet Nam, but his character studies and anecdotes are better than any fiction I’ve ever read. Read it when it first came out, and take it on vacation about every 5 years. _Lolita_, by Vladimir Nabokov. I re-read it to see what I missed the first 12 times I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/3 "2014-02-21T20:07:39Z")
I would estimate that I’ve read _Gone With the Wind_ cover to cover over a hundred times. _Jane Eyre_ is my comfort book, I can pick it up and start on any page and instantly feel better. The Narnia books and various Stephen King books are next most read. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/4 "2014-02-21T20:15:48Z")
David Eddings, Belgariad. Always find something new in them every time. The Harry Dresden novels. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/5 "2014-02-21T20:15:51Z")
Robert Heinlein-_Time Enough For love_ Alan Sherman-_The Rape Of The A_P\*E\*\* Terry Galanoy-_Down the tube;: Or, Making television commercials is such a dog-eat-dog business it’s no wonder they’re called spots_ Jessica Mitford-_The American Way Of Death_ ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/6 "2014-02-21T20:21:25Z")
Sherwood Anderson, _Winesburg, Ohio_ Penelope Fitzgerald, _The Beginning of Spring_ ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/7 "2014-02-21T20:22:45Z")
I reread John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series about once a year, and usually get to _Condominium_ and _On Any Sunday_ somewhere in the same term. Lawrence Watt-Evans’ Ethshar series gets a readthrough on a regular basis. A wonderful and obscure novel about the craziness of the tech industry before there was a tech industry, Robert Grossbach’s _Easy and Hard Ways Out_… which may contain the real genesis of Dilbert and in any case will be highly amusing to anyone who’s worked in tech. Thomas Perry’s Butcher’s Boy novels, although the third one may not ever become a re-reader. And fork me, **Czarcasm** , I didn’t know anyone else had ever heard of Galanoy’s book! ETA: The complete Heinlein used to make up much of my “old shoe” reading, but I honestly haven’t read a word of RAH in well over six years. It’s a very long story. Why, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/8 "2014-02-21T20:26:06Z")
P.C. Hodgell’s Kencyrath novels. Every time a new one comes out, I reread them from the beginning. I do the same with Butcher’s _Dresden Files_, though that’s becoming more of an undertaking. I return to Barry Hughart’s _Bridge of Birds_ regularly, and the other two chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox are among the long list of books I re-read occasionally. _Calamity Trail_, by Dan Parkinson, stand out as my only frequent re-read that’s a Western. Indeed, it’s about the only Western I’ve ever liked. It’s still funny, no matter how many times I read it. I’m about to start scanning my copy, before it falls apart completely. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/9 "2014-02-21T20:26:55Z")
Thought of another: _Good Morning, Miss Dove_, by Frances Gray Patton ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/10 "2014-02-21T20:29:47Z")
_A Fool’s Progress_ by Edward Abbey _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ by Heinlein. ---
**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 21, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/11 "2014-02-21T20:31:40Z")
Most Pratchett. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/12 "2014-02-21T20:32:17Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > All the Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan-verse books I enjoyed most of those, although I thought she mailed in _Cryoburn_. But the one book I’ve read almost annually for the last several years is her non-Miles _Curse of Chalion_. I’d have to say that as of now, it’s my favorite novel ever. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/13 "2014-02-21T20:32:20Z")
Once a year, I buy _The Alienist_ by **Caleb Carr** , read it then give it away to someone who hasn’t read it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/14 "2014-02-21T20:38:16Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > And fork me, **Czarcasm** , I didn’t know anyone else had ever heard of Galanoy’s book! The lion-shaving story is my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/15 "2014-02-21T20:44:19Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The lion-shaving story is my favorite. No, no. Slamming the hood on the tiger’s tail… or is it “On Thursday she was bald…” or is it the downside of using European models… oh, hell, they’re all classics. And it made _Mad Men_ seem very familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/16 "2014-02-21T20:45:07Z")
It’s been over 10 years since I’ve last read it but I’ve read Of Mice and Men a whole buncha times. I’m not a fan of Steinbeck otherwise, but I really got into that book for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/17 "2014-02-21T20:49:31Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > It’s been over 10 years since I’ve last read it but I’ve read Of Mice and Men a whole buncha times. I’m not a fan of Steinbeck otherwise, but I really got into that book for some reason. Thank you for reminding me of another I love rereading. John Steinbeck-_Travels With Charley_. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/18 "2014-02-21T20:50:00Z")
Assuming you’re talking about rereading from cover to cover, and not just going back to revisit favorite passages, then there are only two books that I’ve read more than three times, and intend to reread again: _Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman_ by Richard Feynman, and _The Cuckoo’s Egg_ by Clifford Stoll. ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/19 "2014-02-21T20:52:21Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > It’s been a couple years since there’s a thread like this, as far as I can tell… > > Me: > All the Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan-verse books. I’ve read all at least three times, and we’ve purchased (in one form or another) most of them more than once. Me: The _Ramona_ series by Beverly Cleary. I’ve purchased them several times over with different cover arts and illustration styles; the stories are the same great stories that Beverly wrote all those years ago and that I’ve enjoyed both in print and audio (and still do to this day), but this current crop of illustrations and covers by Jacqueline Rogers, in my opinion, is the best treatment to date that I’ve ever seen of Ramona, Beezus, and all the other denizens of Klickitat St. in Portland. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/20 "2014-02-21T21:00:59Z")
_Atlas Shrugged_. Going through a re-cursory-reading right now, in fact. [The Book of Basketball](http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Basketball-According-Sports/dp/0345520106), Bill Simmons. [Cities in Civilization](http://www.amazon.com/Cities-Civilization-Peter-Hall/dp/0394587324/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393015851&sr=1-1&keywords=cities+in+civilization), by Sir Peter Hall. I rave about this book whenever I can, and if you’re interested in either history, cities, or how the forces that changed mankind developed (wait, that’s three!), then this is your book. [A Penguin History of the World](http://www.amazon.com/Penguin-History-World-Sixth/dp/1846144434/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393015951&sr=1-2&keywords=penguin+history+of+the+world), JM Roberts. Like a lot of old farts, I prefer the first edition rather than the constant updates - for starters, it reads better as it is a complete narrative w/o the subsequent revisions and, worse, excisions. ☹ [A World Lit Only by Fire](http://www.amazon.com/World-Lit-Only-Fire-Renaissance/dp/0316545562). This is, simultaneously, the most-poorly researched yet entertaining as hell, history book I’ve read. It’s the Cheeto’s™ of history books - not at all good for you, and you know this while consuming it, but damn! They’re so tasty! Other than AS, I don’t really have any fiction that I’ve kept up with through the decades. I still have copies of David Brin’s _Earth_, SR Donaldson’s _Gap_ series… but I don’t know if I’ll ever re-read them. The one exception is Peter F. Hamilton’s [Pandora’s Star](http://www.amazon.com/Pandoras-Star-Peter-F-Hamilton/dp/0345479211), which pretty much has everything I want in a space opera: cool interstellar societies, conflicts that can devastate star systems, lots of characters involved in the highest levels of society, business, and the government, and, handwaving away the miracle wormhole technology that makes it all possible, it’s relatively believable given today as a starting point. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907.md?page=2)