Do you re-read books?

[mae]

As a slow reader (sometimes it may take me months to read a book), it fascinates me that people talk about re-reading books. So I was wondering how widespread this is. Me, I've never re-read a book, I don't think. And I doubt I ever will. I always want to, of course - books I've read years and decades ago, but fuck, there's always new stuff to read! What say you?

[Iwritecode]

I’m constantly re-reading books. I have a few that I’ve re-read 4 and 5 times. Mostly it’s because I’m too cheap and lazy to go out and get new books. I have a list of books that I want to read that I’ve just never gotten around to borrowing or buying.

I always bring a book with me to work so I have something to do on my breaks and lunch. I read pretty fast so I can go through a book in a week or two.

[dnemec]

This is where I think audiobooks come in handy. I have tons of books to read, and I'm always buying more. I'm not a slow reader, but you're right, Pablo--there's always more to read!!! I've reread a bunch of SKs books through the speakers of my car, but it's rare for me to pick up a physical book more than once (except for a couple that I read 20+ years ago).

[jhanic]

I often reread books that I like. If I don't care too much about a book, I just don't reread it. When rereading a book, I often find things that I missed the previous times.

John

[Jean]

I often reread books that I like. If I don't care too much about a book, I just don't reread it. When rereading a book, I often find things that I missed the previous times.

John
what John said.

If I like a book, I'll reread it many times, once in a shorter or longer while. I am an extremely fast reader, and I always read a few books at once, one (maximum two) of which is new and the others are rereads. There also are books I reread every year or two. (I am talking only about books in Russian and English, because I read much slower in other languages.)

[Ricky]

The only time I ever re-read books is when a film adaptation is coming out and it's been awhile since I've read the book. Other than that, while there are a lot of books that I would love to read again, there's just too many that I haven't read yet!

[ELazansky]

I never re-read books. Always something new out there for me to read, and that's how I'd rather spend my free time

[Br!an]

I re-read favorite books or series of books. I also re-read when there is a movie adaptation or sequel in the offing. I re-read The Shining before reading Doctor Sleep for instance.

[alkanto]

I have this habit where I actually re-read books instead of reading new books I've bought. So I end up needing new copies of books 3 or 4 times over, while having scores of books that are new and unread sitting next to the bookshelf. I just love the old books soooo much

[Ben Staad]

Rarely do I ever re-read anything. There are a few exceptions to this but upon the re-read I've found hidden gems of phrases or ideas that I missed the first time around.

[fearless-freak]

i'm currently collecting The Witcher series and so when the next volume comes out because it has to be translated from Polish i re read the previous volumes

[ladysai]

I re-read those books I really enjoy. Ive reread the DT series, LOTR, and Harry Potter many times; as well as individual novels like The Stand, The Night Circus, and others.
Audiobooks are an awesome format for rereads since you cant skim over details, as I often do when reading a new book and hurrying along the plot.

[Mattrick]

I re-read some books yearly but these are often smaller books. It's harder to re-read longer books. Books like Notes From Underground, Candide and Catcher In The Rye and The Sun Also Rises I can re-read over and over.

[stroppygoblin]

I am a Constant Re-Reader. I have a number of SK favourites that I have read dozens of times and (apart from the most recent books) I have read every SK book at least twice.

I also listen to audio books in the car, the DT books get a listen at least once a year.

[CyberGhostface]

There are a number of books I've reread more than once. I've read It a couple of times now. Although I try to spread out rereads, probably less than once a year.

[Roden]

I voted rarely..

It's been a long time since I actually did re-read a book, but I can see myself re-reading a few special books in the future. Atlas Shrugged, some DT books, maybe LoTR. Recently I've read some great books like It, and although they're almost perfect I seem to have no desire to read it again. And then there's books like Pet Semetary, which aren't as perfect but actually make me feel like re-reading them already.

[Jean]

just now... I have unfinished Mr.Mercedes, a ton of books to (re)read for the article I have to write very soon... and guess what bears are doing? They are rereading The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, and looking forward to rereading at least three more Dickens' novels

actually, thought of rereading Chuzzlewit because bearmother is now reading it (in Russian), and there's great delight in reading books together - even though it is in different places and different languages

[Dan]

I have not read Chuzzlewit. I will put that on my to-read list. I have loved every Dickens I've ever read. I tried to listen to an audiobook, but got so lost I stopped. His works are something to be read and cherished.

[Girlystevedave]

I'll re-read a book if it's something I loved the first time around. There are those rare instances where a book affects me in such a way, that I want to experience that feeling a second or third time around.
It's like revisiting a close friend. :)

[Jean]

I have not read Chuzzlewit. I will put that on my to-read list. I have loved every Dickens I've ever read. I tried to listen to an audiobook, but got so lost I stopped. His works are something to be read and cherished.
oh, do read Chuzzlewit! It's such delight!

P.S. Everyone who loves Dickens automatically becomes a honorary bear

[Dan]

I feel honored to be an honorary bear. It's on my short list now.

[Deaf&Dumb]

Even books I thought I hated I've reread. Second/Third time through is when I make my final decision.

[Jon]

Even books I thought I hated I've reread. Second/Third time through is when I make my final decision.


Oft leads to firewood.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

I retread frequently, though most of the books I have retread are King. Some like pet Sematary I have read a half a dozen times or more. I think I've read IT three times, though my last time through I told myself it was the last time because it is falling apart.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Though if I don't make it through at least 25 new books a year, I am disappointed in myself.

[divemaster]

I re-read old favorites on a regular basis. Mostly King, though. Most King books I've enjoyed I've read at least twice. I read The Stand about once a year. Non-King favorites I re-read on occasion. I've read The Bonfire of the Vanities 3-4 times and Memoirs of a Geisha twice (and recently thinking about reading it again).

This does cut into my overall reading time to try new books, which perturbs me. But I can't stop!

[Merlin1958]

I re-read LOTR once a year.

[Nickelwise]

I'd say for roughly every 20 books I read, one of them will be a reread. IT and The Stand are the two I've reread the most (11 for IT, 8 for The Stand.) Most of my rereads are King books mainly because he's my favorite author and so prolific, but I've also read all of Joe Hill's novels and short stories twice, except for NOS4ATU. I've also read almost all of Robert Bloch's books and short stories collections 2-3 times. On The Road by Jack Kerouac 3 times. Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey 5 times. All of F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack books except for the last couple 2-3 times each. That's just off the top of my head, there are plenty more.

[Tommy]

Another thread about which non Dark Tower related King books have you read the most started me thinking about this topic and sure enough, mae has started a thread exactly about that! Thanks mae!

The only King book I've reread is The Shining and mainly because I was too inexperienced as a reader when I first tried The Shining (11 or 12 I think and not having read any adult books before) so about 15 years later I reread it because I was on a King kick that summer and read about 15 of his books in a row.

Non King Books I've read more than once.

Three or four times:
Lolita - Nabokov
The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald
Catch-22 - Heller
Hannibal - Harris

Two Times:
Red Dragon - Harris
The Lord of the Flies - Golding
Invisible Monsters - Palahniuk
Lullaby - Palahniuk
American Psycho - Ellis
Blood Meridian - McCarthy
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - Joyce
The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway
To Kill a Mockingbird - Lee

and there are more that I will add as I think of them...

Other than these exceptions I don't tend to reread a lot. But I love that there are folks out there who've read a book 20, 30 times. That's awesome!

(A bit of a tangent but there are several films that I've seen well over 20 -30 times and some over 50 times)

[St. Troy]

Resuscitating a thread that most of the regulars have already had their crack at, but what the heck.

I re-read pretty frequently for someone who is always desperate to find something new.

I read A Christmas Carol every December, and I may begin annual October re-reads of The House With A Clock In Its Walls this fall. Unfortunately, I can only do this with very short things; I know one of you (possibly Ben Mears) re-reads 'Salem's Lot each year, and I might like to do that, but conventional novels are just too long for me to re-read that regularly.

I've read the Harry Potter series multiple times, but not all the same number of times (things got out of hand). I think I read the first 5 books once, then maybe read them again when #6 came out; I think I then read the last hundred pages or so of #6 again, and might have fully re-read #6 just before #7 came out; I also think I read #2 a 3rd time just before #7 came out (and I stopped to re-read around 100 pages of #7 before I finished it). I will definitely re-read this (in some ways, it's the best thing I've ever read), but given the time it takes, I don't know when that will happen.

Lord Of The Rings - hell yeah. No real explanation needed.

Most often, re-reads are done because something is just that good, but often, I've simply forgotten most of the book, and knowing that I liked it at all, I have to go back to it; such was the case with Peter Straub's Ghost Story, which I re-read earlier this year. I also need to re-read Full Moon (a biography of Keith Moon), which came out when I was twelve, and I'm sure I got to it pretty soon after that. With King, it's a combination of both.

I've (very slowly) been doing a King re-read since 2012:
2012: Carrie, Salem's Lot, Night Shift, The Shining, The Bachman Books, The Stand (original version)
2013: The Stand (uncut), The Dead Zone, Firestarter, Danse Macabre, Cujo
2016: TDT: The Gunslinger, Different Seasons, Christine, Pet Sematary, Thinner, Cycle Of The Werewolf, Skeleton Crew, It
2017: The Eyes Of The Dragon, TDT: The Drawing Of The Three

...and nothing since.

I won't be re-reading his entire catalog (some things I read relatively recently, enough to recall them, but many of his early "classic" works I last read when I was a teen, and that was a loooooong time ago), and he has a number of things I haven't yet read at all (and I have to get on those). I will re-read most everything through DT7: possibly Bag Of Bones, definitely The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and Hearts In Atlantis, definitely not Dreamcatcher (awful) or From A Buick 8 (fun, but that's all), possibly Everything's Eventual. After DT7, I've probably missed more than I read, and the things I've read I generally either read them too recently to warrant another read (Revival, Doctor Sleep), didn't like them enough for it to be worth it (Cell), or both (Under The Dome, Black House). I may hit Lisey's Story and Just After Sunset again. Of course, I may re-read Doctor Sleep very soon, to prep for the movie...so.

[St. Troy]

Another that I will re-read throughout life: Douglas Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid.

I would describe it as a meditation on consciousness, communication and thought built upon the foundation of a comparison and contrast of the work of the mathematician, woodcut artist, and composer for whom it is titled.

It's definitely not for everyone, but I have to recommend that people at least look into it. If you do, bear in mind that the Amazon description makes it sound hopelessly remote, but some of these quotes do a better job:

"Every few decades an unknown author brings out a book of such depth, clarity, range, wit, beauty and originality that it is recognized at once as a major literary event. This is such a work."—Martin Gardner, Scientific American

"In some ways, Godel, Escher, Bach is an entire humanistic education between the covers of a single book. So, for my next visit to a desert island, give me sun, sand, water and GEB, and I'll live happily ever after."—John L. Casti, Nature

"A brilliant, creative, and very personal synthesis without precedent or peer in modern literature."—The American Mathematical Monthly

"I have never seen anything quite like this book. It has a youthful vitality and a wonderful brilliance, and I think that it may become something of a classic."—Jeremy Bernstein

"A huge, sprawling literary marvel, a philosophy book disguised as a book of entertainment disguised as a book of instruction."—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"A triumph of cleverness, bravura performance."—Parabola

"A wondrous book that unites and explains, in a very entertaining way, many of the important ideas of recent intellectual history."—Commonweal

"Godel, Escher, Bach was a triumphantly successful presentation of quite difficult concepts for a popular audience. There has been nothing like it in computer science before or since."—Ernest Davis, IEEE Expert

[kingfan2323]

When I think about re-reading a book I think of ALL the books I have not read. With that said I am 8 books into a total Stephen King Re-read.

seeking: anything DT related #246
Night Shift Anniversary Ed. (blue skull cover)

[Ben Mears]

I re-read many books but the two most frequent are 'Salem's Lot (once a year, beginning on September 5th, since 1976) and Summer of Night (yearly, beginning on June 1st, since 1991).

[Heather19]

I've been wanting to reread Summer of Night for the past few summers now. And it's funny because I was thinking of it again on my drive into work this morning :lol:

So I joined a SK bookclub a few years ago, so I've been rereading quite a few of his books recently. It's fun to revisit ones that you haven't read in forever. I've also reread a few of my favorite books throughout the years as well.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

I have begun using audiobook format for my rereading, for the most part. I rarely listen to a book for my first time through, because I feel like I miss too much and can’t savor it the way I can while actually reading it. Audio also provides a different experience. I always have one or two books that I am reading in physical form, often one contemporary and one classic, as well as an occasional non fiction or two, and I am always going through an audiobook at the same time, usually a reread. There are still some books I reread frequently. I read A Christmas Carol annually around Christmas time, and I have several of my favorite books that I just keep returning to. Most of the Stephen King Classics I have read at least twice, and many of them I’ve read half a dozen times or more.

[Ben Mears]

Every time I re-read 'Salem's Lot I get a kick out of the following Mark Petrie passage: His mother would be holding a book by Jane Austen on her lap...she read them over and over again and Mark was darned if he could see the sense in reading a book more than once. You knew how it was gong to end.

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

I recently read THE PASSAGE for the third time, and THE TWELVE for the second time so I could read THE CITY OF MIRRORS for the first time and know what was going on. I don't regret it.

[kingfan2323]

I recently read THE PASSAGE for the third time, and THE TWELVE for the second time so I could read THE CITY OF MIRRORS for the first time and know what was going on. I don't regret it.Have to get back into The Passage. Only Read half but maybe was not in the mood.

Do have CD The Twelve S/L if interested.

seeking: anything DT related #246
Night Shift Anniversary Ed. (blue skull cover)

[St. Troy]

I re-read many books but the two most frequent are 'Salem's Lot...

I guessed right (it was you).

[Ben Mears]

I re-read many books but the two most frequent are 'Salem's Lot...

I guessed right (it was you).

Guilty as charged!

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

Just turn yourself in to the Library Police and save us a lot of trouble.

[Girlystevedave]

I re-read Cujo recently. It was the first book I ever read when I was 12 years old and, reading it this time, I was amazed that I could literally remember NOTHING about it. It was basically like reading a new King book. :lol:

[ratchet41]

funny enough that's one of his i've never read but i have had that happen to me lots of times in fact, when i was re-reading it a couple years back there was a lot i had completely forgotten about. one thing that i love when that happens to is not just king's books but Mysteries, if i read a mystery and wait a few years before i read it again i than just completely forget who the killer is, the same thing for movies that if i don't see a movie i've seen lots of times i will forget who the killer is and tv shows too and that's not a bad thing and it's not cause of i'm getting old either cause it was like that all my life. so that is something i don't complain about in fact, hell re-reading the Xanth books i had forgotten so much and though i'm still on the 3rd book lol i am enjoying reading those again


i did put all the time, but really it's sometimes i just hit the wrong one oh well. cause not everything i read are books i've read before

[Ricky]

I wish I had more time to re-read books. There are lots I'd like to re-read (especially some of the first King books I read), but I usually pick new books over re-reads, unless a sequel to a book I like is coming out and I need to re-read the others for a refresher.


I recently read THE PASSAGE for the third time, and THE TWELVE for the second time so I could read THE CITY OF MIRRORS for the first time and know what was going on. I don't regret it.

I still need to get to City of Mirrors, but know that I need to re-read The Passage and The Twelve first (and what a chunk of my reading year that would be). Same reason I haven't read Doctor Sleep yet. :(

[Joe315]

I recently read THE PASSAGE for the third time, and THE TWELVE for the second time so I could read THE CITY OF MIRRORS for the first time and know what was going on. I don't regret it.Have to get back into The Passage. Only Read half but maybe was not in the mood.

Do have CD The Twelve S/L if interested.

seeking: anything DT related #246
Night Shift Anniversary Ed. (blue skull cover)

The Passage was so good

[Tommy]

I re-read Cujo recently. It was the first book I ever read when I was 12 years old and, reading it this time, I was amazed that I could literally remember NOTHING about it. It was basically like reading a new King book. :lol:

Cujo is one of my favorite King books. I read it in a single day back in my teens at some point. It was the first book I had ever read in a single sitting. Loved it.

King says in On Writing that he was on a cocaine binge at the time of writing Cujo and doesn't recall writing it.

I think when I do re-read another King book, it will probably be Cujo.

[Tommy]

I recently read THE PASSAGE for the third time, and THE TWELVE for the second time so I could read THE CITY OF MIRRORS for the first time and know what was going on. I don't regret it.Have to get back into The Passage. Only Read half but maybe was not in the mood.

Do have CD The Twelve S/L if interested.

seeking: anything DT related #246
Night Shift Anniversary Ed. (blue skull cover)

The Passage was so good

I liked The Passage a lot. But some of the latter parts I found myself skimming through a bit and I rarely do that. I would have liked it more if it had been a just a wee bit shorter I think. The Twelve was OK. And City of Mirrors is a satisfying conclusion. The Passage is the best though. It is good.

I didn't watch the TV show. I think it could still make a very cool movie one day, maybe.

[kingfan2323]

I re-read Cujo recently. It was the first book I ever read when I was 12 years old and, reading it this time, I was amazed that I could literally remember NOTHING about it. It was basically like reading a new King book. [emoji38]

Cujo is one of my favorite King books. I read it in a single day back in my teens at some point. It was the first book I had ever read in a single sitting. Loved it.

King says in On Writing that he was on a cocaine binge at the time of writing Cujo and doesn't recall writing it.

I think when I do re-read another King book, it will probably be Cujo.Great Re-Read story! Looking forward to reading it again.

seeking: anything DT related #246
Night Shift Anniversary Ed. (blue skull cover)

[Tommy]

Another thread about which non Dark Tower related King books have you read the most started me thinking about this topic and sure enough, mae has started a thread exactly about that! Thanks mae!

The only King book I've reread is The Shining and mainly because I was too inexperienced as a reader when I first tried The Shining (11 or 12 I think and not having read any adult books before) so about 15 years later I reread it because I was on a King kick that summer and read about 15 of his books in a row.

Non King Books I've read more than once.

Three or four times:
Lolita - Nabokov
The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald
Catch-22 - Heller
Hannibal - Harris

Two Times:
Red Dragon - Harris
The Lord of the Flies - Golding
Invisible Monsters - Palahniuk
Lullaby - Palahniuk
American Psycho - Ellis
Blood Meridian - McCarthy
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - Joyce
The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway
To Kill a Mockingbird - Lee

and there are more that I will add as I think of them...

Other than these exceptions I don't tend to reread a lot. But I love that there are folks out there who've read a book 20, 30 times. That's awesome!

(A bit of a tangent but there are several films that I've seen well over 20 -30 times and some over 50 times)

I realized just know that I've reread The Stranger by Camus several times so adding that to the list along with The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger. Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea I've read twice also

I reread Fight Club last year, still a tremendous, vicious treat. Love it!

I also recently reread The Silence of the Lambs at the beginning of last year and it is one terrific book. I haven't read the new one yet but man! SotL is a truly disturbing read.

Also, I have reread Carrie twice and don't know how I forgot that in the original post. :doh:

[Girlystevedave]

I just realized that in my post, I said Cujo was the first book I ever read instead of saying "the first King book I ever read". :rofl:

[Girlystevedave]

I re-read Cujo recently. It was the first book I ever read when I was 12 years old and, reading it this time, I was amazed that I could literally remember NOTHING about it. It was basically like reading a new King book. :lol:

Cujo is one of my favorite King books. I read it in a single day back in my teens at some point. It was the first book I had ever read in a single sitting. Loved it.

King says in On Writing that he was on a cocaine binge at the time of writing Cujo and doesn't recall writing it.

I think when I do re-read another King book, it will probably be Cujo.

I remember reading that in On Writing also. I think it's the one he wrote in a frenzy with the typewriter balanced on his knees in the laundry room or something, right?

And it really was a great story. Not only could I recall nothing about it, I figured my perception of it would be WAY different now since a 12 year old's brain just doesn't perceive things quite the same as a 38 year old. haha. From the beginning, with the way it told things from Cujo's perspective (before he became rabid), I thought: "Damnit, this book is gonna get me this time around". :lol:

[Ricky]

Amanda's parents: "Okay, sweetie, we're gonna read some Curious George now--"
6-year-old Amanda [kicking and screaming on the floor]: " I WANNA READ CUJO!"

[Girlystevedave]

Amanda's parents: "Okay, sweetie, we're gonna read some Curious George now--"
6-year-old Amanda [kicking and screaming on the floor]: " I WANNA READ CUJO!"

:rofl: Oh man.

Imagine as a baby in my crib, the Halloween theme music playing in my nursery. haha

[Ricky]

It's your origin story! :rofl:

[Girlystevedave]

:rofl:

[ratchet41]

funny you should say that changed my celly ring tone to that theme the other day

[daniel_pyle]

I used to re-read much more often when I was younger and had more time (and no children). The Shining and Jurassic Park are the two books I've re-read the most—thirteen and seven times respectively. These days, I really have to be in a certain mood to want to spend my precious time re-reading something, but I do try to add a couple to my list every year.

I guess I was in a particularly nostalgic mood last year, because I re-read The Shining, Doctor Sleep, The Running Man, and NOS4A2. This year, I think I might do either Skeleton Crew or 'Salem's Lot. Maybe both. We'll see.

It is mostly King books I've re-read though. The only ones I can specifically remember re-reading by other authors are:

NOS4A2
Frankenstein
Jurassic Park
Fahrenheit 451
Lord of the Flies

I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting, and I won't count things I read in high school and re-read in college—The Great Gatsby comes to mind—because those weren't really my choice, and who can remember back that far anyway? :lol: There are some I know I'd like to re-read at some point (Sphere, Congo, and/or Prey by Crichton, and The Ruins), but we'll just have to see how things go. So much to read, so little time, right?

[St. Troy]

Never enough time, but sometimes you have to revisit the special ones.

Also: nice avatar.

[Sai Sheb]

The older I get the harder it is to find time... but I've re-read almost ever SK book ive read at least once. James Herbert and Andy McNabb also get re-read... as previously said, "it's like visiting an old friend" ...

[St. Troy]

Sai Sheb...where do you find these avatars?

[daniel_pyle]

Never enough time, but sometimes you have to revisit the special ones.

Also: nice avatar.

Definitely. And thanks!

[Sai Sheb]

Sai Sheb...where do you find these avatars?

I make some and just find the rest online....
It fills the the hours that aren't spent here or re-reading books.

[kingfan2323]

The older I get the harder it is to find time... but I've re-read almost ever SK book ive read at least once. James Herbert and Andy McNabb also get re-read... as previously said, "it's like visiting an old friend" ...As someone that is doing a complete Stephen King Re-read this question still pops into my head.

Visiting an old friend is great BUT what if there is better, life changing friend that you never meet at all because of a Re-read?

Everytime I re-read a book I think about the thousands of great books I have not read.

But damn it I did I enjoy my The Stand re-read!


seeking: anything DT related #246