# What is your favorite book to read again, and again, and again... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803 "2004-04-30T04:39:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/41 "2004-04-30T20:31:11Z")
Many of my re-reads have already been listed: _Cat’s Cradle_ , Adams’ Hitchhiker’s & Dirk Gently collections, Heinlein, Pratchett… Some other re-read faves: Spider Robinson (the older stuff) LeGuin’s _Earthsea_ trilogy, John Varley (esp the short story collections) Larry Niven (ditto) ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/42 "2004-04-30T20:51:01Z")
Lots of the ones already mentioned–Tolkien, Pratchett, Adams, the Sherlock Holmes stories, and _Dracula_. I’m surprised how many times that has been mentioned. I’d also add M.F.K. Fisher’s various books and anything by S.J. Perelman ---
**Author:** ![rookie523](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@rookie523](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rookie523)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/43 "2004-04-30T20:58:51Z")
Dragonlance Chronicles. Autumn, Winter and Spring. Also I love reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ---
**Author:** ![Corixidae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Corixidae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corixidae)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/44 "2004-04-30T21:46:58Z")
Two series by David Eddings, _The Belgariad_ and _The Malloreon_. First read them in college in the early '90s and I keep copies of several of them in my car for whenever I need a quick read at the coffee shop, on my lunch break, whatever. I’ve also read the _Badge of Honor_ series by W.E.B. Griffin probably a dozen times in the last 10 years. I don’t know what it is about cop stories from 1970s (and in the later books, contemporary) Philadelphia cops, but I find the series very engaging and end up rereading it in its entirety about every two years now. ---
**Author:** ![Vanderbilt\_Higgins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/dbc845/32.png) [@Vanderbilt\_Higgins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vanderbilt_Higgins)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/45 "2004-04-30T22:08:57Z")
I don’t necessarily read the whole book over and over again all at once, but I’ve reread so many of the stories in Neil Gaiman’s _Smoke and Mirrors_ that I’ll need a new copy soon. Some of the best short fiction I’ve ever read, and it always seems fresh. As far as novels go, Orwell’s _Animal Farm_ is the ideal quick read, Achebe’s _Things Fall Apart_ holds my attention every time, and I have an inexplicably deep love for both Stephen King’s _Rose Madder_ and Dean Koontz’s _Phantoms_. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/46 "2004-04-30T22:23:45Z")
A high-five to **cher3** – SJ Perelman roolz, and he’s virtually never mentioned on this board. The only novel I’ve ever re-read is **Lord of the Rings** , which I’ve read 5 or 6 times. ---
**Author:** ![Roadwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Roadwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadwalker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/47 "2004-04-30T22:44:14Z")
Ender’s Game To Kill a Mockingbird Of Mice and Men ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/48 "2004-04-30T23:16:18Z")
All of my favs to reread have already been mentioned. Wind in the Willows A Tree Grows in Brooklyn To Kill a Mockingbird Catch-22 Ender’s Game Watership Down ---
**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:** [May 1, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/49 "2004-05-01T00:23:27Z")
Another vote for Tom Robbins. For years I had a habit of re-reading **Still Life With Woodpecker** every year around Valentines Day. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/50 "2004-05-01T00:28:38Z")
Another for _Lord of the Rings_, which I’ve probably read…I don’t know, too many times. Also _Harry Potter_. Yes, I’m a dork. Other than that, the only book I think I’ve read almost to excess is _The Golden Goblet_ by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. I haven’t read it in a long time (it’s more for the younger set), but back in the day I read it over and over… ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/51 "2004-05-01T00:36:10Z")
I feel like a snob, but **Moby Dick** is the one for me. I can read that one every year and still get more out of it each time. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/52 "2004-05-01T01:23:18Z")
You’d have to go over my bookshelf. I don’t buy books unless I get them out multiple times from the library (well I do sometimes if the library doesn’t have them… but that’s not too often) Lots of Anne McCaffrey (especially the Dragon books) Mercedes Lackey (Valdemar series, elf series and the Bard series) The Horsemasters by Joan Wolf Coyote Woman (I don’t recall offhand who wrote it) David Eddings Belgariad, Malloreon, Polgara the Sorceress, Belgarath the Sorcerer and Redemption of Althalus… and bunches of others ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/53 "2004-05-01T01:55:23Z")
I probably pull out _Lest Darkness Fall_, by the late L. Sprague de Camp, at least once a year. A quick read, and such a seminal work. Would make a great movie, but Hollywood would screw it up. I’ve reread all the Flashman books. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/54 "2004-05-01T02:04:16Z")
I don’t like to reread novels…Usually the element of surprise is important and once you’ve read a book once—the surprise is gone. But I do like to reread books of humorous essays—especially ones by David Sedaris and Bill Bryson. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/55 "2004-05-01T04:51:14Z")
Another vote for Jane Austen, any of them, but, yes, like everybody else, _Pride and Prejudice_ especially. Also, the _Anne of Green Gables_ series. Pure comfort reading. I always feel like I’ve gone on a wonderful vacation with lots of fresh air. Douglas Adams, check. Bill Bryson, David Sedaris, check. Oh, and there’s this one skinny Harlequin romance…_Escape to Happiness_ by Mary Whistler. It was the first romance I ever read, probably age 11, and I think it created the basic “romance” template in my mind (for books, not life, thank goodness). It still holds up after many years (in a literary sense, the book itself is in tatters) I’ll have to look up some of the titles that keep popping up. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/56 "2004-05-02T06:46:30Z")
I seem to always default to Paulo Cohello’s _The Alchemist_. I envision you all looking at each other wondering who left the back door unlocked. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/57 "2004-05-02T11:54:38Z")
Any of the _Hitchhiker’s Guide_ books (I used to just leaf around to a random spot and go, now Im not sure if I could start from anyplace and not recognize the scene). Also _The Great Gatsby_. I used to re-read some Robert Anton Wilson stuff - _Schrodinger’s Cat_, _Cosmic Trigger_ - but it’s been a few years. ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/58 "2004-05-02T19:11:00Z")
I was happy to see I’m not the only one who re-reads Ayn Rand. Atlas Shrugged is a favorite, I think it’s a great love story. The Fountainhead also gets re-read, I’m in love with Howard Roark. Jonathan Carroll is also a great writer to re-read. Handling Sin by Micheal Malone is another for repeated perusal. ---
**Author:** ![Sinshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sinshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinshine)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/59 "2004-05-02T20:18:28Z")
I read a book the first time for escapism, subsequent times for therapy & escapism combined. When I am really down in the dumps and need an injection of hope, I love Mary Stewart’s Thornyhold. For world-myth-mixing heroism, I love Guy Gavriel Kay’s trilogy, The Fionavar Tapestry. His other books are good, too, and I own them all and have replaced several, but the Tapestry has passed into my library Hall of Fame. For pure escapism, and a healthy serving of wry humour, Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. For a reminder that people are generally better than I give them credit for, Mercedes Lackey, particularly the Valdemar stuff. I love historical fiction. My favourite time frame is the Dark to Middle Ages in Britain and Europe, but I go on tangents regularly. So, I keep and re-read Sharon K. Penman, Elizabeth Chadwick (Middle-ages in Britain / Normandy), Barbara Erskine (Scotland, most ages), Jack Whyte (the Arthurian legend from a fall-of-Rome standpoint), and Jean M. Auel (Stone Age). And the book that lives in my bedside table, for midnight wake-up calls from my subconscious, Women Who Run With The Wolves. These are the ones that come quickly to mind. There are more, and always will be. If I own it, I’ve read it several times. Or it’s a text book. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803/60 "2004-05-02T23:39:35Z")
Every ten years or so, I have to dust off **Gone With the Wind** , **Thorn Birds** , **Pride and Prejudice** , **Little House** series and the **Outlander** series. I’m currently re-reading the **All Creatures Great and Small** series. I _still_ crack up about Trickie Woo and _still_ cry when that old heifer comes trotting home after being put on the knacker’s truck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book-to-read-again-and-again-and-again/242803.md?page=4)