The original version of this page can be found at : http://forum.sfreader.com/default.aspx?f=43&m=30432
| Posted By : nathan - 1/18/2007 2:55 PM | | Here in no particular order are the books I've reread the most over my life. I'm curious as to who others shake out on this and if my list crosses over to anyone elses. I've omitted books I've reread but less than 3 times and short stories.
1) Such Men Are Dangerous by Lawrence Block. about 5 times over the years.
2) The Sunset Warrior by Eric Van Lustbader. about the same.
3) The Gunslinger by Stephen King at least 8 times.
4) Harry Potter. I reread the entire series right before a new book comes out.
5) Tarzan of the Apes. Read this at a minimum of 12 times as a kid.
6) The Hobbit 3 or 4 times.
If I counted short stories then Robert E. Howard and Karl Wagner would top my list though Hemmingway and Fitzgerald would make enough of a showing to be respectable. I've read a lot of twice but not many reach the level of repetition as the above. I picked 7 for not particular reason.
Anyone else have books they always keep around because they know they'll read read them every 1-3 years?
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." |
| Posted By : Bill Ward - 1/18/2007 3:48 PM | The Gunslinger is a great book, I've read the whole series and I think the gunslinger is the only one I'd read again (I've read it twice I think). I definitely want the 'old' version rather than the one with changes.
1984 is the book I've read the most in my life, five or six times since I was a kid. I'm generally not a big rereader of things, as there is so much I want to get to, but some others I've read multiple times and will definitely read again are: Lord of the Flies, A Clockwork Orange, The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings, Brave New World, The Stand, Dune, The Book of the New Sun, The Name of the Rose, and the Gormenghast Trilogy. These are in about the two to four times range, and I'll certainly revisit them all. |
| Posted By : UnclePete - 1/18/2007 9:12 PM | |
I've reread the Chronicles of Amber by Zelazny, oh...at least half a dozen times, probably more. The Stars my Destination by Bester gets reread every 3 or 4 years, and I probably read the Chronicles of Narnia a dozen times between the ages of 8-20. Same thing with Eddings' Belgariad from 15-25ish, though I didn't care for any of the sequels or any of his (their) other work for that matter. The Martian Chronicles by Bradbury and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein get reread fairly regularly too. And I reread any Solomon Kane stories I could get my hands on, until they conveniently collected them for me in one volume. I'm waiting until Erikson finishes his malazan books before I reread them (though I managed to get the first 6 or 7? from Canada before they had many of them out here).
Good topic, Nathan. Interesting to see what impacts my own and others', (well yours and WDWard's so far) lives. 
____________
"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." --Thomas Jefferson
http://www.creativeguypublishing.com |
| Posted By : nathan - 1/18/2007 10:15 PM | Thanks much. You know I picked up the Amber omnibus and started rereading 9 Princes for the 3rd time yesterday, which prompted this thread. After you mentioned it I have to admit the Narinia series is in the same bracket for me as it is for you. So I should have added them in as well.
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." |
| Posted By : von Darkmoor - 1/18/2007 10:43 PM | Let's see . . . .
The only books I've reread 3 times are
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
Honorable mention (2 times) goes to:
The Chronicles of Narnia
Huckleberry Finn
The Seventh Man
Tarzan of the Apes
and one or two L'Amour Sackett books, can't recall which just now
All of these were years and years ago, however. There's way too much left out there for me to read to spend my time on rereads nowadays.
Again, however, for the first time in those years and years and years I have come across a book I want to read again, a 775-pager to boot and the best book I read in 2006:
Erikson's Memories of Ice
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Lord Jason the Essential
Get Your Own Peculiar Aristocratic Title @ www.masquerademaskarts.com/memes/peculiartitle.php
~ Visit www.vondarkmoor.blogspot.com for reviews and commentary related to writing and reading. |
| Posted By : Jeff Stehman - 1/18/2007 11:05 PM | I've probably reread Two Towers more than anything. The Helms Deep chapter was always my favorite.
--Jeff Stehman |
| Posted By : Frank - 1/19/2007 12:56 PM | I used to reread my favs quite a bit, but not usually more than a second time. The few that I've read three times or more are:
The Hobbit
The Fellowship of the Ring
The War of the Worlds
Starship Troopers
I have to avoid even picking up War of the Worlds off my shelf anymore. Every time I open it up and read the opening paragraph again I can't stop and I end up rereading the whole thing. I've read that one four times in twenty years.
There are many more I'd like to reread but there's too much out there that I haven't read yet at all... |
| Posted By : erazmus - 1/19/2007 1:29 PM | I'm a massive rereader.
Last year I reread Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan saga, Weber's Honor Harrington series, Kurtz's Deryni series, Robert Heinlien's Number of the Beast, Time Enough for Love, Starship Troopers, The Rolling Stones, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and The Star Beast. Also most of Ringo's Aldenatta series and Ringo and Weber's March series, and Eric Flint and company's 1632 universe series, including my own story in that.
Plus a lot of others I don't recall off hand.
Mike
Michael D. Turner
"Psyched Up" in _Turn the other Chick_-ed. E. Friesner-Baen books
www.baen.com
"Dutchman Rescue"in Continuum SF #6
www.continuumsciencefiction.com/orders.htm
"An Incident at Black Tongue Tavern" in _Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy_ from Fantasist Enterprises:
www.fantasistent.com/books/anthologies/BASH.php |
| Posted By : nathan - 1/19/2007 1:34 PM | | The year before I entered the army and during my first year after basic I kept
rereading that book (Starship Troopers), maybe 5 times in two years.
I had forgotten about that one. Thanks Mike.
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." |
| Posted By : ScrewMoonshine - 1/19/2007 1:38 PM | Heh. I've never reread a book more than once, if you exclude picture books. Ping, Goodnight Moon, Jonah, and Tromp-o-Moto got heavy rotation when I was a very little boy. Other than that, rereading takes up too much time, and I forget very few of the better parts of the books, so there's not much point. The few books I've reread include:
The Tripods trilogy
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Indian in the Cupboard
As you might guess, most of these are books I read when I was a young boy and reread as an adolescent or adult. I plan on eventually rereading The Sword of the Spirits trilogy and the Dark is Rising sequence as well, but new books keep on pushing those projects back.
Robert Orme
Out now:
"Such Dreams" in Amazing Journeys Magazine #12 (www.journeybookspublishing.com)
"On the Tree Top" in Ultraverse vol.3 #5 (www.ultraverse.us)
Coming soon:
"The Scab, the Man, and the I.V." in Mount Zion Speculative Fiction Review #3 (www.mountzionpress.com)
"More Than One Way to Protect" in Lords of Justice (www.pitchblackbooks.com)
"And Afterward" and "Candy Lover" in Flashshot, April 30 and May 23 (www.gwthomas.org/subscribe.htm) |
| Posted By : MichaelEhart - 1/19/2007 4:29 PM | Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis
Patrick O'Brian at random.
Incomplete Enchanter
Lew Griffin mysteries by James Sallis--- these last are unlike anything you have ever seen in the genre. I just re-read the entire series. Griffin is a black detective in NOLA from the 50's through the late '90's. His narrative is very unreliable-- in three different books he retells a defining story with three different outcomes. They hit you like an elbow to the kidneys. At the end of several of the novels, there will be casual mention of some detail that is a stunning perception change for the reader. Unusual structure, but not in any way artsy--- they are gritty, realistic, fast-paced, and taut.
"The Scarlet Colored Beast" The Sword Review, September 2007
"Nothing But Our Tears" The Sword Review. August 2007
"Weaving Spiders Come Not Here" The Sword Review, July 2007
"The View from the Shotglass Floor" T. N. Thomas' TimeFlash, January 2007
"The Death of Number 23" Dark Krypt, Fall 2006
"Servant of the Manthycore" Sword Review, April 2006
"Voice of the Spoiler" Better Fiction, Spring 2006
"Dancing with the Elder Gods"-- Thirteen Magazine, October 2005
"It's a Living" Byzarium---November 2005
"An Exorcism Straight, Hold the Elvis" The Sword Review, October 2005
Host, 2005 Nebula Awards Live Chat, sff.net
http://mehart.blogspot.com/ |
| Posted By : von Darkmoor - 1/19/2007 5:14 PM | erazmus said...
I'm a massive rereader.
Last year I reread Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan saga, Weber's Honor Harrington series, Kurtz's Deryni series, Robert Heinlien's Number of the Beast, Time Enough for Love, Starship Troopers, The Rolling Stones, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and The Star Beast. Also most of Ringo's Aldenatta series and Ringo and Weber's March series, and Eric Flint and company's 1632 universe series, including my own story in that.
Plus a lot of others I don't recall off hand.
Mike
You're disqualified, Mike.
Reading 300+ books a year allows you so much more leeway than the rest of us have, it ain't even funny! 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Lord Jason the Essential
Get Your Own Peculiar Aristocratic Title @ www.masquerademaskarts.com/memes/peculiartitle.php
~ Visit www.vondarkmoor.blogspot.com for reviews and commentary related to writing and reading. |
| Posted By : Raph - 1/20/2007 2:24 AM | I've lost count of how many times I've re-read Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "The Number of the Beast". Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon" series is one of my favorites--I've re-read the entire series at least 8 times. And I also re-read the Harry Potter books right before the new one comes out.
Most of the time I re-read things just because they're my favorites; there are other times when I simply run out of stuff to read (I have a very limited budget) and I go back to the ones that I never tire of.
Mike O. |
| Posted By : che2000 - 1/20/2007 1:23 PM | Books I come back to again and again, like old friends or very comfortable shoes:
Shogun by James Clavell (I've lost count of how many times I've read it)
The High Deeds of Finn McCool by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis (but particularly The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle)
Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock
The Getaway by Jim Thompson
The Collected Ghost Stories of M R James |
| Posted By : ScrewMoonshine - 1/20/2007 1:40 PM | Raph said...
Most of the time I re-read things just because they're my favorites; there are other times when I simply run out of stuff to read (I have a very limited budget) and I go back to the ones that I never tire of.
Don't they have libraries where you live, Mike?
Robert Orme |
| Posted By : nathan - 1/20/2007 1:45 PM | Che, I always liked the Magicians Nephew and The Silver Chair the best. I guess I've read Erlic series twice all together but the Fortress of the Peal (this has the Dream Thief's Daughter, right?) I've read several times more.
The Getaway is supposed to be a classic. I keep meaning to pick it up.
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." |
| Posted By : Jeff Stehman - 1/20/2007 2:10 PM | On the short story front, I've probably read Fritz Leiber's _Cloud of Hate_ a dozen times. I got rid of the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series years ago, but when _Thieves House_ came out, putting most of my favorite F&GM stories in one book, I snatched it up. I only wish it had _Ill Met in Lankhmar_.
--Jeff Stehman |
| Posted By : che2000 - 1/20/2007 2:19 PM | The Getaway is a remarkable book - and, indeed, Jim Thompson was a remarkable writer. Savage Night , The Grifters, The Killer Inside Me and Pop. 1280 are amazing.
The Narnia books are timeless classics, Puddleglum the Marshwiggle in The Silver Chair is hilarious when he gets drunk (or pretends to) and refers to himself as 'a respecto-biggle'.
The Elric saga varies in quality as it goes along but the very early ones are great (to my shame, but also to my delight I only read Stormbringer quite recently and it reminded me how fluid Moorcock's imagination was with those books, especially in the way he throws away ideas and concepts that other writers could make an entire novel from). |
| Posted By : Frank - 1/20/2007 4:23 PM | | I love that kind of dense writing, in which authors casually toss around big ideas. Among the books I've recently read, 'A Fire Upon The Deep' by Vernor Vinge had one of those paragraphs almost every second page. My mind was appropriately boggled. |
| Posted By : darkbow - 1/20/2007 5:56 PM | 1.) The Hobbit -- 4
2.) Fellowship of the Ring -- 4
3.) The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe -- 3
4.) Stranger in a Strange Land -- 3
5.) The Stand -- 3
6.) Thieves' World (#1) -- 3
7.) Spaceling (by Doris Piserchia) -- 2
8.) Splinter of the Mind's Eye -- 2
9.) The Three Musketeers -- 2
10.) The Iliad -- 2
11.) Moby Dick -- 2
12.) Pet Semetery -- 2
www.tyjohnston.blogspot.com |
| Posted By : che2000 - 1/20/2007 8:51 PM | | The Stand, I'd sort of forgotten about that - great book (even, or perhaps especially, the 'extended cut' - the miniseries sucked though). |
| Posted By : gardnersteve - 1/21/2007 1:06 AM | There are two little known book series that I reread over and over again.
1. Lure of the Basilisk (Lords of Dus series) by Lawrence Watt-Evans
2. Master of the Five Magics (series of three books) Lyndon Hardy (I wish these would be reprinted they have one of the best magic systems.)
I also like to reread several other books by Lawrence Watt-Evans like the "Missenchanted Sword" and "With a Single Spell."
I higly recommend you give these books a try!
|
| Posted By : Nicholas - 1/21/2007 7:16 AM | |
Off the top of my head, these are books or series I've read three or more times (and will likely read again):
The Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis
The John Carter of Mars books Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Lord of the Rings Tolkien
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Twain
Of Mice and Men Steinbeck
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
The Great Divorce C.S. Lewis
The Four Loves C.S. Lewis
Anthologies of Lovecraft and Poe
Hmm...I'm surprised at how short this list is. I must be forgetting something.
Oh, and several plays that I had roles in--but does that count? I had to read them over and over again until I had my lines memorized. 
www.myspace.com/Ropespor
|
| Posted By : Raph - 1/21/2007 11:48 AM | They do have libraries here, but I never seem to have the time to get to them. And when I do borrow one, it always seems to get lost after I read it, and then the librarians give me that look like they think I'm an axe murderer...  
Mike O. |
| Posted By : nathan - 1/21/2007 1:10 PM |
Frank said...
I love that kind of dense writing, in which authors casually toss around big ideas. Among the books I've recently read, 'A Fire Upon The Deep' by Vernor Vinge had one of those paragraphs almost every second page. My mind was appropriately boggled. As I said above I'm rereading amber series and Roger Z does this in spades. Not the dense writing part as his style is pretty lean but as Corwin scoots through shadows Zel just tosses off huge plot concepts and skims through epic quests in the length of a short story. Jordon should read Amber...
Nick, steinbeck of course! Had to read Mice and Men in high school and promptly read everything he ever wrote over the next 6 months (I think). Loved Cannery Row.
I've read the Stand x2 and the uncut version once. Great epic fantasy.
Stranger in a Strange Land has made it on a lot of people's lists. I remember picking it up then putting it down after I read Starship Troopers -- mostly because it wasn't Starship Troopers.
I think I may just try it again.
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." |
| Posted By : ScrewMoonshine - 1/22/2007 11:20 AM | Funny, Stranger in a Strange Land is one of the few books(you can count them on one hand) that I've stopped reading midway through because it felt like a waste of time. Goes to show how much tastes can vary, eh?
Robert Orme
Out now:
"Such Dreams" in Amazing Journeys Magazine #12 (www.journeybookspublishing.com)
"On the Tree Top" in Ultraverse vol.3 #5 (www.ultraverse.us)
Coming soon:
"The Scab, the Man, and the I.V." in Mount Zion Speculative Fiction Review #3 (www.mountzionpress.com)
"More Than One Way to Protect" in Lords of Justice (www.pitchblackbooks.com)
"And Afterward" and "Candy Lover" in Flashshot, April 30 and May 23 (www.gwthomas.org/subscribe.htm) |
| Posted By : erazmus - 1/22/2007 1:56 PM | A little more than half way through Heinlien shifts gears in the way the book goes. Its still strange, but faster.
Mike
Michael D. Turner
"Psyched Up" in _Turn the other Chick_-ed. E. Friesner-Baen books
www.baen.com
"Dutchman Rescue"in Continuum SF #6
www.continuumsciencefiction.com/orders.htm
"An Incident at Black Tongue Tavern" in _Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy_ from Fantasist Enterprises:
www.fantasistent.com/books/anthologies/BASH.php |
| Posted By : von Darkmoor - 1/22/2007 10:57 PM | And see, now, I much more enjoyed the first half of the book than the later half. Jubal's the only redeeming quality of the book, in my opinion. But sticking to Mike's pretending suggestion, I'd suggest pretending you read it
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Lord Jason the Essential
Get Your Own Peculiar Aristocratic Title @ www.masquerademaskarts.com/memes/peculiartitle.php
~ Visit www.vondarkmoor.blogspot.com for reviews and commentary related to writing and reading. |
| Posted By : gwthomas21 - 1/23/2007 10:09 AM | I'm not a big re-reader but here is my top 5:
THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J. R. R. Tolkien
WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams
DUNE series by Frank Herbert
Newhon series by Fritz Leiber
THE WORLD OF SCIENCE FICTION (1926-1976) by Lester del Rey
GW
G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines includig Writer's Digest, The Armchair Detective and Black October Magazine. He draws the web comic CHUCK THE PENGUIN. His website is www.gwthomas.org |
| Posted By : gardnersteve - 1/23/2007 10:41 AM | What is in "The World of Science Fiction"? Is it a history of sci-fi or short stories? Thanks
Favorite Books>>
*Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery*>>
Nine Princes in Amber (Roger Z.) * Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien) * Master of the Five Magics (Lyndon Hardy) * Lure of the Basilisk (lace>Lawrencelace> Watt-Evans) * Cyborg and Sorcerers (lace>Lawrencelace> Watt-Evans) * Missenchanted Sword (lace>Lawrencelace> Watt-Evans) * On a Pale Horse (Piers Anthony) * Spell for Chameleon (Piers Anthony) * Dark Company (Glen Cook) * Tarra Khash: Hrossak! (Brian Lumley)>>
> >
*Sci-Fi*>>
Foundation Trilogy (Isaac Asimov) Enders Game * Ringworld (Niven) * Mote in Gods Eye (Niven) * Rama Series (lace>Clarklace>)>> |
| Posted By : Rob Santa - 1/23/2007 7:36 PM | Dune series (usually stop at God Emperor)
Clockwork Orange
Aztec
Pillars of the Earth
The Odessa Files (best ending EVER)
Comics: Wolverine in Japan, The Return of the Dark Knight, Daredevil: the death of Electra
...plus a bunch listed elsewhere in this thread
Rob Santa |
| Posted By : nathan - 1/23/2007 7:42 PM | Clockwork Orange the book? Wow. I'm rather chagrined to admit I didn't realize it was a book. Must look it up.
Love Dune. Not much else, but love Dune. My wife has been after me for about 10 years to read Pillars of the Earth. You must have good taste if share a favorite book with my wife.
Wolverine in Japan. The opening fight scene as members of the Hand close in around him and he drinks and brawls himself toward oblivion. Where he is preforming a supplex on that 500lbs thug. I wish I had a poster of that panel.
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." |
| Posted By : che2000 - 1/23/2007 8:46 PM | I'd forgotten about comics/ graphic novels. I never tire of Watchmen & V For Vendetta by Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons & Alan Moore/John Lloyd, Frank Miller's original Sin City & Ronin and (more recently) the three Conan volumes by Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor Smith.
Oh, and a number of great novels by David Gemmell but particularly Legend and the Jon Shannow books (Wolf in Shadow, The Last Guardian, Bloodstone).
A Clockwork Orange is one of the finest novels ever written - a real head rush to begin with and then it just gets better and better. |
| Posted By : Edward Knight - 1/24/2007 10:02 AM | I seldom ever read a book more than once. The only one that I read over and over again in The Hobbit. I re-read it every two or three years and always enjoy it. I have read the oter LotR books more than once, but not as often as the Hobbit.
There are just too many good books out there to read things over and over again.
Edward Knight
Editor
Journey Books Publishing
Amazing Journeys Magazine
http://www.journeybookspublishing.com
http://www.journeybooksonline.com |
| Posted By : typo - 2/4/2007 3:56 PM | Seems to me that the hobbit is one of the most re-read books. Even I am guilty of having read it a couple of times.
But one of my other favorites is by neal stephensen. Snow crash. Or what about the Hitchikers guide to the galaxy?
Could be that they are both not fantasy enough, but I am going to re read that latter one. I really like it when you think you know what your going to read, but then you read it and think:Hey, I totally forgot that and that! Whit the hitchhiker, every time i read it I am pleasently surprised!
Richard typo Warnas.
|
| Posted By : crystalwizard - 2/4/2007 4:32 PM | snow crash is a ciber fantasy. Hitchikers... err... it's in a class all it's own ;)
Never meddle in the affairs of a wizard unless you are soggy and hard to light!
Visit my art gallery on art wanted at
http://artwanted.com/crystalwizard
All my books in print:
http://sojourn.omnitech.net |
| Posted By : gwthomas21 - 2/5/2007 10:29 AM | WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION is Lester Del Rey's history of SF from 1926 to 1976.
GW
G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines includig Writer's Digest, The Armchair Detective and Black October Magazine. He draws the web comic CHUCK THE PENGUIN. His website is www.gwthomas.org |
| Posted By : Stomphoof - 2/5/2007 5:39 PM | I reread alot of stuff by Raymond E Feist.
I will Revert to this Vicinity! |
| Posted By : Viking - 2/5/2007 5:48 PM | Who are these unwashed trogs? Don't any of you re-read anything worthwhile?
My favorite all time re-reading material is anything in the MODESTY BLAISE series by Peter O'Donnell. It's a great series and I try to re-read at least 3 of them every year. Nice wholesome sex and violence. You gotta love it.
Next on the re-read list is any of the F&GM books by Fritz Leiber. (Swords in the...)
All the HORATIO HORNBLOWER books by C. S. Forester. Did the whole series at least 5 times in the last 15 years.
Enjoy.
Lee. |
| Posted By : Anthony G Williams - 4/30/2007 8:51 PM | I used to re-read books a lot more often than I do now. In my teens I read The Hobbit and LOTR ten times (but haven't read them since - and that was 35 years ago). I don't think I've read anything else more than three times. In that list would be Bester's The Stars My Destination, Herbert's Dune, McCaffrey's Dragonflight, and Niven's Ringworld - but I did all of that reading in the 1970s.
My problem since then has been lack of time, more recently in combination with a large stack of books I've bought but not yet got round to reading for the first time - so something has to be really good for me to re-read it. It's much more common for me to fail to finish books because I reckon I'm not gaining enough enjoyment from them to carry on - lack of time has made me more impatient than I used to be!
Having said that, I do keep several hundred books on my shelves in the hope that one day I'll have the time to read them again. One which I actually did read recently, for the second time, was Tepper's Marianne Trilogy. It was just as good as I remembered - absolutely brilliant. Note to self: I must re-read the good ones more often...
|
| Posted By : Xangis - 5/1/2007 4:11 PM | I'm not much of a rereader, but here are my re-readables:
1. Ender's Game series - Orson Scott Card
2. The Foundation series - Isaac Asimov
3. Dragonlance Chronicles - Margaret Weis + Tracy Hickman
4. 1984 - George Orwell
5. Brave New Word - Aldous Huxley
Heinlein would have made the list, but his penchant for completely going off track and enacting his random polygamy fantasies for no apparent reason in the middle of some books tends to get pretty annoying. A brilliant writer when you can keep him on track, but...
Here's my "books I wish I could unread" pile:
1. Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
2. A Song of Ice and Fire series - George R.R. Martin
3. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
4. Any and all technical books by Microsoft Press
5. The Xanth series - Piers Anthony
Jason Champion
Editor, All Possible Worlds
www.allpossibleworlds.net |
| Posted By : snapper - 5/15/2007 7:51 PM | Welcome everyone!
I am way late to this but the book that I have reread the most is one about 30years old. "Inferno" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. A wonderful modern tale of Dantes original work.
Snapper
|
| Posted By : anna - 5/16/2007 8:38 AM | I think I would be here all day if I started listing my re-reads. I'm just glad to have a thread to refer to when people give me a hard time about my home. I am often told it looks too much like a library !
I hit all the book sales I can find. About a half hour drive away is a church that just held their 51st annual sale. It's the only fund-raising they do, and it's HUGE. They collect donations all year long. The sale spreads out through one entire floor of the building.
Picked up all three first edition DRAGONLANCE Chronicles there about sixteen years ago, for fifty cents each. |
| Posted By : PaulMc - 5/16/2007 1:11 PM | Beowulf
The Vinland Sagas
Lord of the Rings (including 'The Hobbit')
honorable mentions;
God Knows by Joseph Heller (2x)
It by Stephen King (2x)
Worms of the Earth by Robert E. Howard (short story, but I love re-reading it)
-- Paul McNamee
My Writings
The Tales of Doran Coyle |
| Posted By : Hermit - 5/17/2007 4:38 AM | Nathan,
I'm re-reading POTUS now. Does it count if the book in question one you've done line edits for?
Otherwise:
- Catcher in the Rye (because I loathe it and hope to one day figure out why it's such a big deal)
- Great Expectations (It's a thriller once you conceive of Pip as a dissociative serial killer)
- Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (I love the Land, and I love the poetic treatment Donaldson gives his prose)
- Strunk & White (because every writer should take a refresher course now and again)
- Master & Margarita (Bulgakov slays me)
- Varieties of Religious Experience
- Hero with a Thousand Faces
That's it off the top of my head. Likely more, but my insomnia is giving way.
Write well, write tight, submit good work.
David
Exile of my own dull vice. . . |
| Posted By : Nik - 5/17/2007 11:11 PM | The Butter Battle Book, by Dr. Suess.
Everyone should read that book each year to remind themselves that petty differences are just that--petty.
Other than that:
Eyes of the Dragon, Stephen King
Watership Down, Richard Adams
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien
Fight Club, Palahniuk
The Dragonlance Chronicles, Weiss and Hickman
Transbluesency, Amiri Baraka (poetry)
Lord of the Flies, Golding
Brave New World, Huxley
Catcher in the Rye, Salinger
Elements of Style, Strunk and White (because I can't remember all the damn rules)
And Rob--I loved that you mentioned The Dark Knight Returns. I've read that one about 20 times.
Nicholas Ian Hawkins
Forthcoming
"Knowledge and Dust," in Magic & Mechanica (Ricasso Press)
"Relativity," in FLASHSHOT, September 28, 2007 |
| Posted By : cathellisen - 5/18/2007 3:40 AM | Jumping in here
Books I reread are Dune (up till the third book)
Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake
The Duncton Wood books - William Horwood
Tender is the Night (yeah, so that's not spec, but I love Fitzgerald)
Imajica, Weaveworld - Clive Barker
The Sandman graphic novels - Neil Gaiman
Oryx and Crake, although just about any Atwood will do
The Wizard of Earthsea series - Ursula Le Guin
Dogsbody - Diana Wynne Jones
Mona Lisa Overdrive - William Gibson
Pollen - Jeff Noon
Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
Michael Moorcock's Elric books
k. I better stop now...
cathellisen |
| Posted By : Pamela J. Dodd - 5/19/2007 6:51 AM | I have also read Stranger in a Strange Land numerous times. I've revisited The Moon is a Harsh Mistress more than once, and have Friday on the list of Heinlein books which I reread from time to time.
With so much new content, I don't reread books nowadays the way I did when I was younger. But I have read Bujold's early books, especially Shards of Honor and Barrayar more than once. The short stories in the Borders of Infinity collection are also on my reread list.
And my favorite David Weber book is Path of the Fury, which I will no doubt reread when I tackle In Fury Born, which is a prequel which includes the first book. (An odd thing, but Weber seems to like publishing large tomes.)
As for Tolkien, he is obviously a favorite here, as well as on the screen, but I dated a guy who was very enamored with his books in college, and it took me almost a year to wade through the LOTR plus the Hobbit, and I have never been inclined to revisit those!
Pamela J. Dodd
www.pamelajdodd.com
http://pamspages.blogspot.com/ |
| Posted By : bleacheddecay - 5/21/2007 3:00 AM | There are too many books in the world. I rarely read them more than once unless my kids are begging me to or something.
A few years ago I re read the following as my part in bringing some of my fav books to my mother / daughter reading arrangment:
Burning Water Mercedes Lackey
On a Pale Horse Piers Anthony
Guilty Pleasures Laurell K. Hamilton
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress Robert A. Heinlein
Daughter of the Empire Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts
Now THIS book's language is so wonderful it's art. Plus it has a good story, violence and even some sex. It's been sometime, maybe even never, that I've found a book I could read over and over again.
In the Moon of Red Ponies James Lee Burke
Of course I have to put this on there because I was once quite devout:
The Bible
And these because they are books you contemplate and ruminate on as well:
The Prophet Kahlil Gibran
The Art of War Sun Tzu
And:
A whole host of wonderful children's books and YA books
One that stands out for the complexity of it's message and the and simplicity of the method in which it was told: The Missing Piece Meets The Big O Shel Silverstein. It's truly difficult to believe that this is from the same man as The Giving Tree.
I could write volumes about good childrens books and YA books. You don't want to get me started. LOL.
Rob Santa said...
<snip>
The Odessa Files (best ending EVER)
<snip>
I LOVED that book when I read it. I've never reread it but it was great. It was another book I could see the movie in my head for as I read it. Another too that the movie was so NOT good. The book is very good.
bleacheddecay |
| Posted By : Keralen - 5/21/2007 10:53 AM | I'll be brave:
Kipling (Just So Stories; Jungle Books) (got to admit his take on imperialism is fantastical  but his writing literally sings) Dickens for just plain rich
Harry Potter - another person who rereads the series
Susan Cooper - The Dark Is Rising, and anything else
Diana Wynne Jones - anything
Patrick O'Brian - anything
Narnia - of course (The Horse and His Boy; The Silver Chair)
Watership Down
Bradbury, again for the language
I used to like Heinlein (Podkayne of Mars) but the sexism in the later books just disgusts me, and I'm not even a feminist.
Shall we get going on Terry Pratchett? 
James, James, it's "reshpeckowiggle" |
| Posted By : John F. Martin - 5/31/2007 1:03 PM | *looks at two bookcases filled with books he's read at least twice*
...Right. I'll just hit the highlights.
When I first encountered Anne McCaffrey at the age of 14, I *inhaled* her work. I read the first eight books in the Pern series ('Dragonflight' to 'Nerilka's Story', all that were out at the time), and immedately turned around and reread them all.
Five more times.
Inside of two months.
Yeah. I was a little hooked there. >_>; I've probably read those eight books ten times in total. After sating myself on that binge, I slowed down and read the rest of the series normally.
Also on the 3+ reread list:
Conan book collections by Robert E. Howard.
Most of Heinlein's work, aside from his juveniles, but especially 'Number Of The Beast'.
Two Cthulhu collections by H.P. Lovecraft.
Elric series by Michael Moorcock.
The Star Trek novels 'The Vulcan Academy Murders' and 'The IDIC Epidemic' by Jean Lorrah. Mostly because I LOVE the way she portrays Vulcans in these. Sadly, after she made Data human in 'Metamorphosis', she was banned from writing ST novels. 
Callahan's Crosstime Salloon series by Spider Robinson.
Lensman series by E.E. "Doc" Smith. Classic Space Opera!
'The Hunt For Red October' by Tom Clancy. I like the rest of his work, but this is the one I reread a lot.
'Dream Park' by Larry Niven and Stephen Barnes. I also like the last book in the series, 'The California Voodoo Game', but the middle one, 'The Barsoom Project', I'm not a fan of.
--John F. Martin
"Heaven save us from people who are terrified of thoughts."
-- Peter David (But I Digress) |
| Posted By : Bitter Irony - 6/25/2007 5:22 PM | The Picture of Dorian Gray--7 times
A Tale of Two Cities--5 times
Selected Works of H.P. Lovecraft--4 times
The Lord of the Rings--4 times
The Second Sons Trilogy (Jennifer Fallon)--3 times
These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. It's strange that the top two aren't even Speculative...hm.
From even the greatest of horrors, Irony is seldom absent.
~H.P. Lovecraft, The Shunned House |
| Posted By : Bruce Durham - 6/26/2007 12:11 PM | These come to mind, though I know there are others, including Harold Lamb's biographies of Alexander, Hannibal, Charlemagne and Genghis Khan.
REH's original Conan stories - lost track
The Black Company - Cook - several times
Legend - Gemmell - 4
Dune - Herbert - 3
Red Storm Rising - Clancy -3
Lord of Light - Zelazny -3
The Iliad - the blind guy  - 3
Janissaries - Pournelle - 3
The Forever War - Haldeman - lost track
Administrator: Community Forums of CPI's Official Site of Conan the Barbarian
Upcoming: Fool's Treasure in Freehold: The Protector and Old Havana in When the World Runs Thin
Recently published: Marathon in December's Paradox and Kalini Steel in Freehold: Southern Storm
Some people dream of success while other people live to crush those dreams. |
| Posted By : che2000 - 6/26/2007 7:40 PM | The Picture of Dorian Gray not speculative? Hmm... debatable point that.
|
| Posted By : Frank - 6/27/2007 11:05 AM | "Dis-moi ce que tu lis et je te dirai qui tu es, il est vrai mais je te connaîtrai mieux si tu me dis ce que tu relis"
- Francois Mauriac
(my own translation here)
Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are, it's true, but I'll know you better if you tell me what you reread. |
| Posted By : che2000 - 6/28/2007 7:48 AM | I always worry about the (hopefully not inevitable) day when I finally 'lose it' and go on a rampage of some description - what will the press say:
"His bookshelf was filled with lurid paperbacks mostly sci-fi (sic) and violent fantasies and, according to his neighbours, he enjoyed watching martial arts and horror movies" - No mention will be made of my love of Shakespeare, Conrad and Kafka, nor will they think to say that Napoleon Dynamite and Singing in the Rain rank among my favourite films!
Mea maxima culpa.
|
| Posted By : Braksis - 6/29/2007 2:53 PM | I've never been a fan of rereading books. I have cabinets full of books that I haven't gotten to yet, so rereading something I already read seems somehow inefficient or unproductive.
That said, way back when Star Wars didn't have over a hundred novels, I was hooked on the Timothy Zahn trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command I believe were the names). I read the first book and loved it. When the second one came out, I read the first and second book and loved them. Then read all three when the final one came out.
Good stuff.
I actually had one of the books with me in a class at college....
It was a most....yeah, boring is the right word. Anyways, this Prof used to tilt back and forth and speak in monotone all class long. So, at some point I began bringing my Star Wars books and reading during class (the only thing that could keep me awake!). One class he called on me while reading.
Instantly alert, I tried to pass it off as "I don't know."
He stayed with me...."You know."
The only thing I knew.....
Luke was taking wires from his hand to pick / short circuit the lock when Talon Karde / Mara Jade had imprisoned him. Artoo was in the next room over. I knew THAT perfectly. Some theory of Microeconomics? Didn't have a clue what was being discussed!
Book tidbit #2.....
The girl I was seeing at the time was with me at McDonald's (maybe it was Burger Kind???). We were picking up food for a big group, and I had my book with me as always, reading whenever I had a free moment (like standing in line). I was also with another buddy at the time.
She said, "Don't worry hunny, I know that if there was a fire you would save your book before me."
Naturally, I replied that I would of course save her first over one book....
Then leaned back to my buddy: "But if it was 2 Star Wars books!!!"
That got me a little playful slap.
Okay, I'm out of this Star Wars trilogy cheezy stories (and this probably wasn't the forum for them anyway!).
Have a great weekend all!
Clifford B. Bowyer
Author of The Imperium Saga novels
|
| Posted By : Firlefanz - 6/29/2007 4:57 PM | Jeff Stehman said...
I only wish it had _Ill Met in Lankhmar_.
This is not funny. First you get me all interested in those Double Editions, and then you mention the one I got two weeks ago as used book.
I find it hard to finish, though. 
Books I read over and over again:
A Wind in Cairo by Judith Tarr - magic fantasy with an enchanted horse. Easily my favourite.
Proof by Dick Francis. Just love all the wine info in that one.
Eagle of the Ninth and Frontier Wolves by Rosemary Sutcliff. I love her style, so deceptively simple and yet she brings me to tears every time.
Mordant's Need by Stephen Donaldson. (Never liked Thomas Covenant, though.)
Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey. I'd say the single best book by her. Sadly, I lost my copy.
There are more, but I'm too tired to go and look at the whole shelf.
- Call me Firle.
Hannah Steenbock
Mystical Adventures
Beyond Horizons |
| Posted By : Daniel - 7/3/2007 12:45 PM | 1) "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
2) "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo
3) "Psychology and Alchemy" by Carl Jung
4) "The Complete Poems of Hart Crane" (ed) by Marc Simon
5) "The Complete Poems of Sylvia Plath" (ed) by Ted Hughes
6) "A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
7) "Voyager: A Life of Hart Crane" by John Untermeyer
8) "Deliverance" by James Dickey
9) "Illuminations" by Arthur Rimbaud
10) "The Palm at the End of the Mind; (ed) by Holly Stevens
Selected Poems and Prose of Wallace Stevens"
11) "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by William Shirer.
I tend to read books over and over and over (like a dozen times or more!) if I like them, so the above are just ones off the top of my head. My collected "Poe" (in hardback!) and my copy of "The Godfather" are so worn out the pages are dropping like autumn leaves. I'm on my third or fourth copy of Plath's poems having worn the others all the way out and my third or fourth for Crane. I've probably got ten to twelve books where you have to hold the pages IN while you read!
The Rimbaud prose-poems are the only entry above that are there for any real *reason.* I am still working on my complete translation of his "Illuminations" prose poems. I'm grateful to the folks on this board who helped out some months back by taking a look at my initial efforts!
"Art is the celebration of the ego's destruction."
Daniel |
| Posted By : David Boultbee - 8/8/2007 7:53 PM |
I love to read and I can spend hours at it. Unfortunately my wallet and my favorite authors can't keep up with my reading habits so I am constantly re-reading books. >>
Space is also an issue so only those books that I might re-read stay on my shelves.>>
Heinlein - some of earlier stuff I must have read a dozen times or more. >>
David Weber - Honor Harrington obviously but my favorite series by him are the Mutineers Moon Series. That and Path of the Fury. Having said that I don't feel that his recent re-release of PoF with the additional text adds a lot to the basic story. >>
L.E. Modesitt Jr. - I've read the early Recluse series at least three or four times, as well as some of his better SF novels. I like Flash - there's something about it that appeals to me.>>
Timothy Zahn - his non-Star Wars stuff is good and only gets better. Even his juveniles aren't bad and the idea in them is interesting and well done.>>
Steven Brust - his Vlad Talto's series is well done.>>
Stephen Gould. Not very prolific but a good storyteller with a knack for taking an existing idea and tweaking it to make it better.>>
I'm sure there's more but I don't want to bore everyone.
David Boultbee
|
| Posted By : Nicholas - 8/9/2007 1:42 AM | | To Serve Man
|
| Posted By : Gustavo - 8/23/2007 3:42 PM | | Anything ever written by Douglas Adams - sadly a man who died in his prime leaving much too little output.
Also: The Foundation Series, Asimov's Robot Series, I, Robot and Asprin's Myth Series. |
| Posted By : Marius - 8/26/2007 5:51 PM | Dune - have read the series at least 3 times
Thomas Covenant - both trilogies twice
Stranger in a Strange Land - three times, the last was after I found out it had be republished after his death with an additional 30k new words in it
not SF or Fantasy, but Colleen McCullough's Caesar/Rome series 3 times
Donaldson's Gap series twice
Modessit's Order series twice
Pern series twice
Foundation series three times
Gateway (two or three books?) three times
Amber series twice
Robin Hobb - everything twice, except for the latest two books
David Wingrove's Chung Kuo series - am just starting my second time through (this time I have ALL the books at once...)
Anne Rice - everything she has written (except for the bondage stuff under a different name) at least twice |
| Posted By : Charles Gramlich - 9/3/2007 11:41 AM | "To Tame a Land" by Louis L'Amour. My favorite western ever. I don't typically reread books but that one I've read about four times.
Charles Gramlich
Charles Gramlich
|
| Posted By : RHFay - 11/3/2007 10:54 AM | I reread sections of Katharine Brigg's An Encyclopedia of Fairies a lot when I'm composing my fairy lore inspired pieces. I read this one originally when I was in junior high (many years ago), and I reread it completely more recently. I find the information contained within that tome to be highly useful.
I've also read Dracula, various H. P. Lovecraft collections, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings at least twice.
|
| Posted By : ghostposts - 11/15/2007 11:40 AM | Anything by Tom Piccirilli. The Hitchhiker's Giude to the Galaxy. Blood Rites, by Janrae Frank, and Legion, by William Peter Blatty. Forever Odd, by Dean Koontz.
http://sfreader.com/firebrand-20070820.asp
|
| Posted By : Nicholas - 11/20/2007 1:12 PM | | Daniel: _Deliverance_ is well worth rereading; I hope to get back to it again soon. I considered assigning it to my English 111 classes next semester, but I'm afraid all the females in the class would be somewhat left out of the loop.
|
| Posted By : gwthomas21 - 11/21/2007 12:14 AM | For me it's Lester Del Rey's THE WORLD OF SCIENCE FICTION, THE LORD OF THE RINGS and anything by Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
GW
G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines including Writer's Digest, The Armchair Detective and Black October Magazine. He draws the web comic CHUCK THE PENGUIN. His website is www.gwthomas.org |
| Posted By : cussedness - 11/26/2007 4:24 PM | Books I have re-read. Hard one to remember them all.
Illiad
metamorphosis (ovid)
Anne Bishop's Dark Jewels Trilogy (nine or ten times)
dune
Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis
the Deryni books
Lord of Light
The hobbit
LOTR
Lynn Flewelling's Bone Doll's Twin
Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.
Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa’necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.
Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm
website
www.janraefrank.com
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ |
| Posted By : Nicholas - 11/27/2007 1:56 PM | TO SERVE MAN
Especially around the holidays.
heh heh heh
|
| Posted By : humboldthny - 12/2/2007 3:41 PM | It's been many years since I've actually found a book I wanted to re-read...I've got a few up in the bookshelf 'aging' so I can re-read them without getting bored.
I re-read books a lot more often when I was young. When I was in grade school mine was the only name on the check out card for Ghosts I Have Been for about 3 years. I also loved The Halloween Tree by Bradbury - it's one of my favorites of all time. |
| Posted By : Despiciblus - 12/6/2007 10:49 PM | The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Only Begotten Daughter by James Morrow
The Terror by Dan Simmons
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Demon Princes series by Jack Vance, who happens to be my favorite writer.
 |
| Posted By : Steven the Git - 1/4/2008 9:18 AM | Have to keep rereading the Lord of the Rings.
Also Gemmell and Pratchett books keep getting taken off my shelf.
Dracula
The Illiad
Narnia books
Certain Shakespeare plays - Macbeth, Coriolanus, the historical ones
Also varfious graphic novels - Bad Company especially
“Hello, I am William Burton, Head of Recruitment and Integration for the Agency for Peaceful Regulation and Definitive Cooperation of Extraordinary Existence.”
spinetinglers.co.uk Bakemono will not stop! |
| Posted By : Xenophon Hendrix - 5/23/2008 11:19 AM | The three books that I've reread most often are Stranger in a Strange Land, Time Enough for Love, and The Three Musketeers.
Magician's Merger |
|