# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/21 "2014-02-21T21:07:41Z")
Why the Straight Dope series, what else. One volume by the stool, one at the bedside. Why has it been so long since the last of the series came out? ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/22 "2014-02-22T00:08:52Z")
Before: The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Silmarillon, Moby Dick, most Wambaugh police books, three of Michener’s, Clear and Present Danger, Dune 1, Defeat in the West, Samurai, Panzer Leader. Now: Harry Potter 1-7, Illiad, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Autumn Lightning. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/23 "2014-02-22T00:16:25Z")
Several of the Heinlein “juveniles”: Have Space Suit—Will Travel, Between Planets, Tunnel in the Sky, Red Planet, Rocketship Galileo. SM Stirling’s Island in the Sea of Time trilogy. A few Dean Koontz novels: Phantoms, Strangers, Coldfire, Twilight Eyes. Ariel by Steven Boyett Hardwired, Voice of the Whirlwind and Days of Atonement by Walter Jon Williams. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/24 "2014-02-22T00:19:39Z")
I have read _ **Watership Down** _ probably dozens of times. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/25 "2014-02-22T00:43:46Z")
Like **Amateur Barbarian** , I have read and reread the Travis McGee series a few times. I read them as I found them in the beginning, went back and read them in order, and I will pick one up now and then to read still. I just happen to have started on A Purple Place for Dying a couple of days ago. Have them all, except for A Deadly Shade of Gold, on my bookshelf. I have read Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion a few times and will likely pick it up again. I also go back to Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion books time after time. Love the way she writes and how she can pack so much story into a few sentences. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/26 "2014-02-22T00:47:37Z")
Lord of the Rings trilogy - I have and will read it from cover to cover every year or two until I die. I am instantly transported into another world, all fades away. Gone With the Wind - many times, there’s always some new little thing I notice. At Home - nonfiction, by Bill Bryson. Fascinating story of the history of the house. Square Meals - Jane and Michael Stern. A retro cookbook featuring recipes from the 20’s through the 50’s, written in their own inimitable style. So droll, so soothing, and such good home-cooking type recipes! Encyclopedia of Country Living - Carla Emery. A huge pulpy non-fiction compendium on how to live out in the country on that homestead, like a hippie/pioneer/farmer. From buying land to planting a kitchen garden to slaughtering a steer, plus lots of Erma Bombeck-ish family stuff in between chapters. I’ve read several Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers from cover to cover, you have to really LOVE reading, there is so much in them, and so many of them. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/27 "2014-02-22T00:49:15Z")
Many, many books; too many to list. I’ve worn out several copies of Earth Abides. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/28 "2014-02-22T00:52:29Z")
**The Razor’s Edge** **Of Human Bondage** **Siddhartha.** **Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance** **World of Jeeves** **Ready Player One** - Ernest Cline **The Rook** - David O’Malley **Point of Impact** - Stephen Hunter Lawrence Block’s **Hitman** and **Burglar** series. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/29 "2014-02-22T00:52:44Z")
Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea trilogy. If I were condemned to have only one book to read, ever, it would be the third book in the trilogy, “The Farthest Shore.” Jack Vance. ANYTHING by Jack Vance! I’ve reread his stuff uncountable times. The man is (was) amazing. His style is unique, and I adore it. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Classics, and deservedly so. Some of the most quotable literature in history. (“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”) ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/30 "2014-02-22T01:05:07Z")
I’m an inveterate re-reader - Pratchett, Niven, Heinlein and Varley are some of the authors I return to regularly. The _Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ is probably my most-read book & (to a lesser extent) the sequels as well as both Dirk Gently books. In fact, I think I’m due for a re-read of the whole shebang… 🙂 Kurt Vonnegut - _Cat’s Cradle_ and _Sirens of Titan_ the most often; have read most of his other works at least once or twice. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/31 "2014-02-22T01:14:01Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > 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. I was completely hooked by the first few paragraphs of Curse of Chalion in a way that is very rare. I’ll definitely revisit it. Too bad I haven’t been able to get it up for the sequel. I’ll have to check out other Bujold stuff though! I always go back to _Hitchhiker’s Guide, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Anansi Boys, Good Omens, A Night in the Lonesome October,_ and my favorite HP Lovecraft stories. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/32 "2014-02-22T01:16:15Z")
Hunter Thompson, some of Vonnegut’s stuff, certainly _Brave New World_, some Stephen King favorites. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/33 "2014-02-22T01:18:57Z")
Heinlein: _The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress._ Heinlein: _Time Enough for Love._ Hugo: _Les Misérables._ Rand: _The Fountainhead._ Rand: _Atlas Shrugged._ Boorstin: _The Creators._ Hofstadter: _Gödel, Escher, Bach._ Clarke: _Childhood’s End._ And a new one: Levitin: _This Is Your Brain on Music._ ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/34 "2014-02-22T01:55:35Z")
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. I have a lot of Stephen King, Clive Barker, and H.P. Lovecraft that I read repeatedly, but Cuckoo’s Nest is the one that I read a few times every year without fail. I love that book. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/35 "2014-02-22T02:07:28Z")
Kim by Rudyard Kipling. Awesome book. I take it with me on business trips (I have a lot). There are many different parts that I reread and sometimes the whole thing. I have to read to sleep, and there’s always some dead time in transit, and if I’m stuck on a flight with nothing to do then it’s right there. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/36 "2014-02-22T03:35:05Z")
A Prayer for Owen Meany ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/37 "2014-02-22T03:52:07Z")
Larry Niven (Ringworld, Ringworld Engineers, Protector) Stephen King (Misery, Salem’s Lot, etc.) Michael Moorcock (the Corum Swords Trilogy, the Chronicle of the Runestaff) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/38 "2014-02-22T03:56:30Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Kim by Rudyard Kipling. Awesome book. I take it with me on business trips (I have a lot). There are many different parts that I reread and sometimes the whole thing. I have to read to sleep, and there’s always some dead time in transit, and if I’m stuck on a flight with nothing to do then it’s right there. I’ve only read it twice… Time for another go! Have you read any Talbot Mundy? (Many of his books are free on Project Gutenberg, including a trove on gutenberg.net.au. Why the Ozzies have books of his that we Yanks don’t, I dunno.) I like to describe Mundy as an Americanized low-calorie Kipling. You might enjoy “Guns of the Gods.” Had Kipling written it, it would have been much more harum-scarum, gung-ho, over-the-top adventurific. Mundy is more sotto voce. But, doggone, I do love him! ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/39 "2014-02-22T04:57:02Z")
I don’t reread much, but have done multiple readings of Josephine Tey’s _The Daughter of Time_, Yann Martel’s\* Life of Pi\*, and John Irving’s _Cider House Rules_. I also finally forgot the plots of all the Agatha Christie books I read as a teen and enjoyed reading all those again over the past couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907/40 "2014-02-22T05:10:43Z")
Lots and lots of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. Each time, I discover some new level of humor and depth in his writing. Another one for the Harry Potter books, too. I don’t quite know what it is about them; they’re kind of like potato chips - almost addicting. I think it has to do with the way she writes dialogue. The way conversations ebb and flow just sounds really _natural_. It’s something I’ve never really found in other novels, no matter how much more highly regarded they are than hers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-do-you-read-and-re-read/681907.md?page=3)