# What books have you read the most times? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2002, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624 "2002-04-09T05:12:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/21 "2002-04-09T15:16:05Z")
I’ve read every book I own at least twice, and some many times more. The only one that jumps out at me right now is _The Stand_, which I’ve read every summer for the past 7 years, and usually during winter break, too. Both the edited and unabridged versions. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/22 "2002-04-09T16:04:52Z")
You really don’t want me to list all the books I’ve read twice… (checks OP) good, you don’t. I’m a compulsive reader, and anything I liked even a bit, I’ll probably reread. Madeleine L’Engle’s science fiction and diaries, particularly Two-Part Invention Narnia, and anything else by Lewis, particularly A Grief Observed and The Abolition of Man Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper LOTR (I first read it about three years ago, at a friend’s urging. I read the whole series in four days, and I was convinced I’d turned into an Ent… Little House… Laura Ingalls Wilder Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy by Tad Williams, my second-favorite fantasy author, after Tolkien Orthodoxy, G.K.Chesterton (I kept lending it to people, and not getting it back for months. I finally got another copy, so I’d have one to lend, and one for me.) Outlander series, Diana Gabaldon Four Quartets, T.S.Eliot. Also Choruses From The Rock Those are the ones I really love. The others are just filler. I’m hacking my way through the Otherland series right now, also by Tad Williams. One series I’m not going to reread is The Wheel Of Time. I’d be shot first. ---
**Author:** ![Fingolfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@Fingolfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fingolfin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/23 "2002-04-09T16:26:56Z")
All J.R.R. Tolkien books: **The Hobbit** - 3 times **The Lord of the Rings** - 6 times\* - ‘Shadow of the Past’, ‘Council of Elrond’, and Appendix A Chapters- Over 10 times each. **The Silmarillion** - 4 times **Unfinished Tales** - 4 times ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/24 "2002-04-09T16:27:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Lissla Lissar \* > \*\* > Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper_\* I still love that series. My favorites are: The Wizard of Oz series (all 14 books; they’re absolutely thrashed since I reread them at least once a year). London Fields by Martin Amis Dead Babies by Martin Amis American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis Anything by Geoff Nicholson, but esp. The Food Chain and Footsucker Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace ---
**Author:** ![Jello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@Jello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jello)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/25 "2002-04-09T16:45:22Z")
As I’m only 16, I haven’t had a chance to read any book dozens of times. So far my fiction list is topped with _Catch-22_ at six readings, \*Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas \* at four, and \* Johnny Got His Gun \* at three. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JohnT \* > \*\*I’ve read selected works from Will and Ariel Durant’s _Story of Civilization_ multiple times (_The Reformation, The Age of Louis XIV Begins, The Age of Voltaire_). > \*\* I’ve probably read _Caesar and Christ_ three times over the years. I’ve spent most of this school year reading the entire series. ---
**Author:** ![galrion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aca169/32.png) [@galrion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galrion)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/26 "2002-04-09T17:08:18Z")
> [@](#): > > One series I’m not going to reread is The Wheel Of Time. I’d be shot first Why is that? I’ve read that series probably a dozen times. More for the early ones, less for the later ones. There isn’t a fiction/fantasy/sci-fi book that I’ve read that I haven’t read more than once. mostly I’ve read and re-read stuff by Zelazny, Robert Jordan, Niven, Eddings, Moorcock, and Tad Williams. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/27 "2002-04-09T17:15:00Z")
Add me to the list of “The Stand” re-readers. Probably a half-dozen times. I’ve read Ferrol Sams’ “Run with the Horsemen.” “The Whisper of the River” and “When All The World Was Young” at least 3 times each. I’ll reread them a dozen times more I’ll bet. I love them love them love them and I will die a happy woman if another Dopers tells me he/she has read them. ---
**Author:** ![JessEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cdc98d/32.png) [@JessEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessEnigma)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/28 "2002-04-09T17:23:58Z")
I’m not giving any estimates on these. I reread books obsessively…I’ve been known to finish a book and immediately start reading it all over again. I’ve read all the _Harry Potter_ books so many times I have dialogue memorized. :o I can’t think of any other books, aside from the infinitely quotable ones, where I’ve done that. Madeleine L’Engle’s books, but especially _A Swiftly Tilting Planet_ and _A Ring of Endless Light_. _The Martian Chronicles_ is my favorite, specifically There Will Come Soft Rains. _Alice in Wonderland_, but that was more because I wrote a paper on it recently. But I read it a lot when I was younger too. I read T.S. Eliot’s _Murder in the Cathedral_ aloud twice. I love the emotion that lies underneath the words. I can’t get the same effect from reading it silently, but my family does tend to frown upon dramatic readings in the living room, so no luck. jessica ---
**Author:** ![cagiva650](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cagiva650](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cagiva650)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/29 "2002-04-09T17:29:56Z")
Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles Dracula The Hobbit Memoirs of a Geisha Lonesome Dove ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/30 "2002-04-09T17:47:03Z")
I’m glad I got to this thread late, because by the time I got to the bottom I finally remembered my most-read book. 🙂 _Red Storm Rising -_ Tom Clancy. After that, I’d say the entire _Incarnations of Immortality_ series by Piers Anthony. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/31 "2002-04-09T20:47:20Z")
Of the many, many books I read as a child - the most often repeats would probably be \* Little House on the Prairie\* series, Madeline L’Engle’s _Time Quartet_ (I wanted to be Meg!), the Miss Bianca series by Margery Sharp (the first Rescuers Disney movie was based on these characters) and the Narnia series. As an adult – whoo boy - just about every book I own I’ve read multiple times. THHGTTG series (Douglas Adams) probably wins out - I have a sentimental attachment to those books (Hi Chris!) Close behind would be Heinlein, Spider Robinson, Terry Pratchett (finally completed the Discworld collection!) & Stephen King. Oh yea - Piers Anthony - the early Xanth books & Incarnations of Immortality. Senior year of high school I devoured Ayn Rand & Vonnegut’s works – and I eventually got better 🙂 I do re-read both on occasion. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2002, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/32 "2002-04-09T21:41:28Z")
Well, the champ would have to be Tolkien: I cycle through _The Hobbit_, _The Lord of the Rings_, and the _Silmarillion_ each about every year or 18 months. _The Hobbit_ would be the most, but just because that’s the one I read first. Other contenders are L’Engle’s _A Wrinkle in Time_ and sequels, Lewis’ _Chronicles of Narnia_ (I had _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ darn near memorized before I even started reading), and Lloyd Alexander’s _Chronicles of Prydain_. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/33 "2002-04-10T00:29:10Z")
_Little House on the Prairie books_ because I read and re-read them as a kid/teenager/adult and now I’m reading them to my kids. Books I’ll re-read every few years: _Gone with the Wind_, _Pride and Prejudice_, _The Thorn Birds_, _All Creatures Great and Small_ series and _Lonesome Dove_ ---
**Author:** ![\_your\_name\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/919ad9/32.png) [@\_your\_name\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_your_name_here)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/34 "2002-04-10T00:56:15Z")
well, being 15 i haven’t been able to re-read alot of books. but i have! let’s see… **the hobbit** 2 or 3 times. first 3 \*\*sandman \*\*books at least 4 times each. **death: the time of your life** : probably 7 times. **the stand** is here at 2. hey it’s a huge book! the unedited version, of course. **stardust** :about 4 or 5 times. **neverwhere** at 3. any **far side** book i own: about 50 times each. i guess they don’t count though. **jonathan livingston seagull** : about 8 times. **the angry clam** : about 20 times. hey, it’s short. thats what i can think of. hm, that is kind of a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Polyhymnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19b73/32.png) [@Polyhymnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polyhymnia)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/35 "2002-04-10T01:18:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by galrion \* > \*\* > > mostly I’ve read and re-read stuff by Zelazny, Robert Jordan, Niven, Eddings, Moorcock, and Tad Williams. \*\* Glad to see several nods to Tad Williams. I picked up the first Otherland book for $.50 in a bargain rack (Hardcover! Jacket and all!). I’m now twice through all the Otherland novels and three times through his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series. I read pretty quickly so the total immersion into several thousand pages of story is a rare pleasure. More often than not I reread things, even if they sort of suck. I always assume I missed something. Some of my favorites not mentioned above, 3+ reads: \*Little, Big, \* \*Foundation, The Complete Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, 2001, \* MZB’s _The Fall of Atlantis_ and _The Firebrand,_ Antonia Fraser’s \*The Kings and Queens of England, \* and (don’t laugh) Diana Gabaldon’s time travel/romance series _Dragonfly in Amber._ I even have the companion book complete with unpublished text and recipes. I hadn’t thought about it in years but I recall being about 13 and trying to read my mother’s copy of _Gravity’s Rainbow._ I must have read the first fifty pages over and over again trying to “get it.” One of those moments where I didn’t realize I’d forgotten something. It really does belong on my **Now That I’m a Grown-Up List.** -Polyhymnia- (narrowly missing death-by-lurking) ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/36 "2002-04-10T01:23:01Z")
**The Stand** ~6 times (once the original the other ~5 the unedited version) **of Mice and Men** between 7 and 15 and the end always makes this big tough guy cry **Watchers** by Koontz **Have a Nice Day** by Mic Foley and **IT** all twice. I dont read anywhere near as much as I used to in high school. dead0man ---
**Author:** ![JessEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cdc98d/32.png) [@JessEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessEnigma)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/37 "2002-04-10T02:25:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by (your name here) \* > \*\*well, being 15 i haven’t been able to re-read alot of books. but i have! > \*\* I scoff at such self-imposed limits. I’m 17-- reread plenty of books so far. Just compulsively reread one or two books every few weeks or so and you’ll get the numbers up there pretty far. My school library still used a “sign the card” method of checking out books up until January of this year…on some of the books I’ve checked out recently, my name has been written on the cards four or five times in a row. I guess I really am the only one who checks fiction out. And I forgot one on my list earlier: _Contact_ by Carl Sagan. I love that book so much. jessica ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/38 "2002-04-10T04:40:12Z")
Does it strike any one else that many of these books are science fiction or fantasy? Is this because these genres invite multiple readings, or is it something in the type of person who reads these genres? Oh, and add in the _Amber_ books on my list, and Steven Brust _Vlad_ books. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/39 "2002-04-10T04:51:46Z")
Well, every book I have in my house I have read at least 3 times so I’ll give a list of authors I re-read the most. Stephen King- All his books at least 4 times each. Peter Straub- See King Tad Williams- See King Tom Clancy- The Jack Ryan series, probably 3 times each. Orsen Scott Card- Mainly the Ender series but also some Alvin Maker stuff and other assorted novels. Slee ---
**Author:** ![moe.ron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed8c4c/32.png) [@moe.ron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moe.ron)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624/40 "2002-04-10T07:02:57Z")
Ender’s Game/Ender’s Shadow- 2x each. Incrdible books, Ender’s Shadow took a couple of times before I understood everything that goes on. I have yet to read shoadow of the hegemon, speaker of the dead, etc. Which are worth reading, In your opinion? On another note, the internet word is that there’s a movie in the works for Ender’s Game. I hope it works out with all of the special effects, and the length of the story. Check it out. Chronicles of Narnia- 3 times. Great books. I’m not big on fantasy, but these books bring a brief child-like mentality, which makes my mind very receptive to everything around me. In other words, they make me feel young again. Woohoo!!! I know this is a bit of topic, but I’ve read books such as Hyperspace a couple of times (2nd time after refreshing my memory on physical concepts), and have understood them much more clearly. Don’t forget those introductory level books folks!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-read-the-most-times/102624.md?page=3)