Books you think are worth reading two or more times?

[Gwendolyn]

I've read Age of Innocence 4 times; the ending makes me weep every time. Great Gatsby a few times and everything by Andre Dubus more times than I can count.

Am currently rereading a fat epic by Jeffrey Eugenides, entitled MIDDLESEX. Couldn't put it down the first time, and this experience is pretty much the same!! I'm staying awake way past bedtime lingering over every page. :)


"Eugenides weaves together a kaleidoscopic narrative spanning 80 years of a stained family history, from a fateful incestuous union in a small town in early 1920s Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit; from the early days of Ford Motors to the heated 1967 race riots; from the tony suburbs of Grosse Pointe and a confusing, aching adolescent love story to modern-day Berlin. Eugenides's command of the narrative is astonishing. He balances Cal/Callie's shifting voices convincingly, spinning this strange and often unsettling story with intelligence, insight, and generous amounts of humor."


http://www.amazon.com/Middlesex-Novel-Jeffrey-Eugenides/dp/0374199698/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222235401&sr=8-1


Does anyone have any suggestions for a book you cherished so much, you'd pick it up again?

[Kerrytravelers]

1. Every summer, I read "The Color Purple" and "To Kill A Mockingbird."

These books simply make me a better person by reading them.

[bookman]

10. Mockingbird

My favorite.

[Gwendolyn]

29. To Kill a Mockinbird is just beautiful!

[Indiana_Dem]

2. Well, I don't read as much as I should because I'm always online...

but I would read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn again. It's a book that really makes you think about life and how we're living it. It's fictional, of course, but it carries a lot of philosophy in it.

Of course, I LOVE the Harry Potter series. I know, they are children's books but I became more engrossed in the books than my daughter did when I bought them for her!

[pinto]

3. Great Gatsby's a keeper. Cannery Row. Tale of Two Cities. Any Shakespeare.

And any murder mystery you've forgotten the hook, the red herring or the outcome. :evilgrin:

[Clovis Sangrail]

4. I keep a collection of Saki's short stories by my bed

I've read them all many times over but still enjoy them.

[pinto]

7. Good call. Short stories are under rated. O. Henry?

[Gwendolyn]

32. Andre Dubus and T.C Boyle are among my all-time beloved authors.

T.C. Boyles work from the eighties is brilliant and falling off your chair hilariously funny.

Dubus writes beautiful short story fiction about life among the working class of New England. Beautiful! One of his stories was the basis for that flick "In the Bedroom."

[pinto]

5. Moby Dick. It took me four tries to finish, but well worth it.

[Salviati]

6. Pretty much every book I've ever read,

I've read more than once. Of course that has to do with the fact that I'm an inhumanly fast reader, which means 1) reading a book isn't that much of a commitment for me, and 2) I definitely miss things the first time through that I pick up on subsequent reads.

That having been said, I think I'll throw Dune out there as one that I've re-read a large number of times, even though I only first read it about 8 years ago, I've probably read it at least 8 times.

[silverweb]

35. I'm with you.

I buy most of my books at a favorite used book store in San Diego, but only get there infrequently because I live in Mexico. In the meantime, I have a decent collection of nonfiction and various genres of fiction, so I get to reread books I already own between trips.

Like you, I read too fast, so I always get more out of a book on subsequent readings. Too many favorites to list here, but I'll gladly include Dune among them... and all of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon books... and... well, I'd better stop there or this post will get way too long.

[Kare]

45. I have the same problem

Almost all of the books I have read I have reread.
The last two Harry Potter books I read straight through (in one sitting, keeps you up late) then immediately started reading again to catch everything I missed the first time around.

I wish that I read slower so that I could enjoy a book much longer.

In keeping with the original question I am not sure which book I have read the most although I think that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" would be right up there as one that I have read many many times. The first time while in 5th grade and then maybe at least once a year since then.

[Lakerstan]

8. When I was a teen, I couldn't put down the Victoria's Secret catalogue

does that count?

Seriously - anything Vonnegut never gets old for me...

[pinto]

11. LOL. But did you read the articles?

[Lakerstan]

14. Articles of clothing...yes :-)

[soothsayer]

9. a confederacy of dunces

[Libertyfirst]

62. The Confederacy of Dunces is always new every time I read it. I have read it nine times. n/t

[Voice for Peace]

12. Harold & the Purple Crayon

my favorite.

[FlyingSquirrel]

16. :-)

[Voice for Peace]

13. symposium

by plato.

[FlyingSquirrel]

15. "The Richest Man In Babylon"

[Adsos Letter]

17. "Down and Out in Paris and London" by Orwell

Not exactly fiction, but excellent reads nonetheless...

[susanbanks44]

18. Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

28. Yes. Read it many times and have it on CD also. (great for driving)

[juno jones]

19. Anything by Terry Pratchett n/t

[Doctor_Horrible]

71. Good Omens is one of my faves... I just want to hang out with Pratchett and Gaiman for an hour!

[On the Road]

20. I've Read the Alexandria Quartet Twice

and some of it three times -- Justine, Balthazaar, Mountolive, and Clea.

At the other end of the scale, I've read most of Chuck Palahniuk's books twice -- "Choke" three times.

[Gwendolyn]

30. I always said that was my "lost on a desert island book."

I frequently reread especially lyrical, favorite parts of it all the time.


Clea has worn pages coming out of the spine. :)

[likesmountains 52]

44. Yes, The Alexandria Quartet...I need to pull those books out again this winter..

[patriotvoice]

21. "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

http://www.amazon.com/Canticle-Leibowitz-Walter-Miller-Jr/dp/0060892994

[JitterbugPerfume]

55. that is one of my all time favorites!

I never get tired f "A Canticle for Liebowitz" I read it once a year.

When I buy a book it is almost certain that I will reread it .

I have re read most of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams

On the other hand if a book can't "grab" me in the first 100 pages, I put it aside . That does not apply to books that are difficult, just to boring and poorly written works. There are to many good books out there to waste time on somrthing boring . That rule goes for nonfiction too

[Ghost Dog]

22. "War and Peace," the full, unexpurgated edition, translation by Anthony Briggs (Penguin)

Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Dispossessed" and "The Left Hand of Darkness", and most anything by Iain M. Banks.
Anything by Aldous Huxley.
On the non-fiction side,
Carl Jung.
"The phenomenology of the social world" by Alfred Shultz.
The I Ching and the Tao Te Ching of course.

[Berry Cool]

23. "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

Never read it? Do. Read it before? Read it again.

Never loses its savor.

[RebelOne]

67. Read it when I was a teenager.

Loved it then. I'll have to get it and re-read it.

[susu369]

70. Agree 100%

:thumbsup:

[no_hypocrisy]

24. A few classics by Sinclair Lewis

It Can't Happen Here
Main Street
Elmer Gantry
Arrowsmith

[JitterbugPerfume]

56. Great books

Sinclair Lewis is a treasure .

Another one by Lewis that is a TREASURE is Kingsblood Royal

[Richardo]

25. I read "Catch-22" about every two or three years

It's been my favorite novel since I first read it in 1980.

[Jim__]

26. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison

Any good book has to be read more than once to appreciate how well it is written. The first time through, you don't know what comes next. The 2nd and 3rd time through you appreciate the mention of specific objects, the way a particular sentence is written, all sorts of treasures that you can't possibly get the first time through.

A couple by Nabokov: Pale Fire and Lolita.

The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath. Any good book.

[Gwendolyn]

31. This is very true...

"Any good book has to be read more than once to appreciate how well it is written."

It's always surprising to me how people give away their books after one read.


This whole thread is filled with great books I'd hang onto forever.

[DemoTex]

51. Ellison's "Invisible Man" is on my re-read list for the week 1/19/09.

Barack Obama's inauguration and related events.

[XemaSab]

80. I was the shadow of the waxwing slain...

:)

[mzmolly]

99. I've read Invisible Man twice

along with The Great Gatsby.

[YankeyMCC]

27. There are many

The Robot/Empire/Foundation Novels by Asimov although I admit this is more of a 'comfort read' desire.

"Wreck of the River of Stars" by Michael Flynn. It's a short but deep character study that needs/deserves at least 2 or three reads.

Lord of the Rings books - this is both a sort of comfort read but also it's one of those stories that can be enjoyed from so many angles if you wait a few years between each read you enjoy it again for a different reason and perhaps discover aspects you never noticed before.

Odyssey and Iliad - what can I say, the original stories nearly so, you can always find if not something new a helpful and interesting and enjoyable revisit to so many themes that all other stories strive to address.

Pretty much any Steinbeck novel :)

[codjh9]

33. Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Hobbit, The Wall at the Edge of the World, 1984,

Patricia McKillip's 'Riddlemaster' trilogy... probably some Vonnegut... I don't re-read much, because there are so many books I'd like to read, but once in a great while I decide it's been a long time and it's worth it.

[tigereye]

34. Barbara Kingsolver's novels

White Teeth, by Zadie Smith


A Wrinkle in TIme


Russian novels and Victorian writers like Austin which I read when I was 20 make much more sense now when I'm 50!

[terrya]

36. "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood.

I read it once a year. As a reminder to what can happen.

[JitterbugPerfume]

57. That book should be read by everyone!

I also love Cats Eye

[MaineDem]

37. Pooh pooh me if you must but all the Harry Potter books

I've read them all at least twice. I just love the stories and get a different insight into them each time I read them.

I love "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" too and I've read that a few times.

[Libertyfirst]

64. The first of the Harry Potter books saved my sanity when I was in

the hospital for five long months after an accident. It enabled me to escape the hospital and my condition. I read it again and again, it kept me sane. I later read that Stephan King used the series in the same way after his almost fatal accident. Now I have read the rest of the series at least twice. A great world when yours is upside down.

[Billy Ruffian]

38. Patrick O'Brian

I've read all 20 of his completed books in his Aubrey/Maturin series four times, and I'm soon to start on a fifth travel through the series.

My moniker is the play on words that British sailors used for HMS Bellerophon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellerophon_(1786)

Start with "Master and Commander"

[Libertyfirst]

63. Patrick O'Brian provides an endlesss feast for the mind.

[mackerel]

39. A Confederacy of Dunces and On The Road

[Forkboy]

40. The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson.

I've now read it three times since it came out in 2002, and I get more out of it each time. It's a fascinating book with an epic scope, and an extremely poetic ending.

It's an alternate history novel where the Black Death kills 99% of the European population, which results in Christianity never being more than a minor religion that never achieves any influence. That's the take off point. Robinson is usually a writer of "hard" sci-fi, but this book is nothing like that (though there is plenty of science). It follows a bunch of characters through multiple reincarnations (not always in human form even), but the character's names all start with the same letter from chapter to chapter.

From wiki, here are the ten Chapters and it's main theme.

* Book One - Awake to Emptiness - plague in Christendom; the Golden Horde; Zheng He's explorations and imperial China. This chapter is written in a style reminiscent of the Chinese classic, the Journey to the West.
* Book Two - The Haj in the Heart - Mughal India and colonization of empty Europe.
* Book Three - Ocean Continents - discovery of the New World by the Chinese military.
* Book Four - The Alchemist - Islamic renaissance in Samarqand.
* Book Five - Warp and Weft - Native Americans align with Samurai.
* Book Six - Widow Kang - the Qing dynasty meets Islam in western China.
* Book Seven - The Age of Great Progress - beginnings of industrialism in Southern India; Japanese diaspora to North America.
* Book Eight - War of the Asuras - a world-wide Long War, fought with 'modern' weapons.
* Book Nine - Nsara - science, urban life and feminism in Islamic Europe's post-war metropolis.
* Book Ten - The First Years - globalization and sustainability.

And here's a very cool quote from the book that serves as a great illustration of where it's coming from.

"My feeling is that until the number of whole lives is greater than the number of shattered lives, we remain stuck in some kind of prehistory, unworthy of humanity's great spirit. History as a story worth telling will only begin when the whole lives outnumber the wasted ones. That means we have many generations to go before history begins. All the inequalities must end; all the surplus wealth must be equitably distributed. Until then we are still only some kind of gibbering monkey, and humanity, as we usually like to think of it, does not yet exist."

There's one segment in The Widow Kang chapter called "Wealth and the Four Great Inequalities" that should be mandatory reading.

I've never read a book like it, and I see myself reading it many more times as I get older.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Rice_and_Salt

[litlady]

41. Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha

As an English teacher, I have read plenty of books lots of times. But I am sure I have read Siddhartha a good dozen times from high school to last month and it is still a meaningful book.

[hippywife]

42. I've enjoyed most all of the

Michener books I've read and have read many of them twice. :hi:

[pitohui]

43. there are so many that i have failed to answer this question i see

middlesex is certainly an amazing and wonderful choice

it is v. difficult for me to pick out just one other such choice, but hmmm

what about "infinite jest" by david foster wallace, a wonderful read about addiction that strives itself to become addictve and sort of an ever present presence in your life while you're reading it

[yellowdogintexas]

46. "A Song of Ice and Fire" which I am going to read yet again before book V

is released, hopefully in 2009.

Jane Eyre
The Godfather
Gone With the Wind
To Kill A Mockingbird
Auntie Mame
The Joyous Season
Tom Sawyer
Eight Cousins
Rose in Bloom
many Nancy Drew mysteries
Exodus (the novel)
Tolkien
A Short History of a Small Place


my husband is more prone to re read favorites than I ...I am all about the next new place to mentally escape, although I adore any kind of series fiction that explores the same world repeatedly. He, on the other hand, loves to revisit his favorite characters.

He grew up a military brat and moved 36 times before he was 18, and to my knowledge has not communicated with anyone he knew in school.

I lived in the same place until I was 20 and still have friends that I have known since I was a baby.

So I wonder if our very different childhoods influenced our reading habits? I am more of a mystery, historical fiction, thriller/spy, Sprawling Family Epic type of reader. He is totally a Sci-Fi and Fantasy addict. We do read each other's favorites though. I read much more fantasy fiction than before we married; he has read Ludlum, Clancy, and Dorothy Dunnett because I enjoyed them.

Our daughter however introduced us to "A Song of Ice and Fire" and it is by far the 'Family Favorite'! We have long discussions about it, which are interspersed with expletives about the fifth book which is not out yet.

[Forkboy]

48. HBO ordered a pilot episode for A Song...

The idea is to have each season cover one novel at a time, which seems the only way they could really capture the depth of the books. Even a mini-series probably wouldn't do them justice, so a full blown series could be perfect. We'll see if they even end up picking up the pilot. Fingers crossed. :)

[Democrats_win]

47. "Great Expectations." "Density of Souls"

It's great to visit Miss Havisham, the Forge, the Aged One and Pip in "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. There are several movies based on the book, but they can never capture the rich texture of "Great Expectations."

"Density of Souls" is by Christopher Rice. It's a fantastic book whose message is that people who harm others, only end up harming themselves more. In the age of Prop 8, this is a book that provides a message that is both cautionary and demonstrates that those who suffer will eventually be rewarded.

[rhett o rick]

49. "The Jesus Incident", by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom. I reread it about every ten years.

Can't explain it.

[rhett o rick]

50. Everything by Elmore Leonard. nm

[LWolf]

52. Anything that I enjoyed the first time is worth multiple reads.

For me, that numbers in the thousands.

Right now I'm reading The Way It Is by William Stafford; a collection of poetry.

I know, reading it, that I will buy a copy when I can; perhaps with the B & N gift card I'm hoping will be in my stocking for xmas.

Good poetry SHOULD be read and reread, of course.

So should all good stories, imo.

Mark Twain. R.A. MacAvoy. Tolkein (I read and reread Tolkein so many times the first 2 decades of my life that it's hardly necessary to reread; I can recite them verbatim, but I still reread once every 5 years or so.)

Actually I have seven tall shelves stuffed full of books that I reread periodically. When I reach the point that I realize I no longer need to reread them, I pass them on, making room for new passions.

Some of those books have been there for 35 years, lol.

[SheilaT]

53. The entire Laura Ingalls Wilder series.

I've reread them many times since first picking them up as a child. Every single time I read them I get something different out of them. What's most interesting to me, is that in recent re-readings I've found myself identifying with Ma and Pa more than with Laura and her sisters.

[DUgosh]

69. Ghost in the Little House

................the life of Rose Wilder Lane. a biography of Rose by William Holtz. This may explain why you don't identify with Laura

[Hannah Bell]

104. i think she meant she'd aged.

[Abelman]

54. Every Year

I read Catch 22, On The Road, and Breakfast of Champions. I usually wind my way through the Sandman Series as well.

[Kelly Hayes-Raitt]

58. "Windowlight" by Anne Nietzke

~

[RoyGBiv]

59. Most of them ...

Hell, I've read books I don't particularly like more than once just to make sure I didn't like it for the right reasons.

That said, in the spirit of the question, I am nearly always reading _Lord of the Rings_, which I'm sure some find trite nowadays, but it's always brought be comfort. I've read it at least once a year since my late 20's and read it several times before that. I read it twice when I was 16, back to back. I guess you could call me a tad obsessed with it ... but it's not really that. I just enjoy many things about it.

When I say I'm nearly always reading it, I mean I read it through about once a year, a few pages at a time, on my lunch break. Then I put it down for awhile and read another of my "already read and love" books (Pratchett books, especially the Death series, a few by Stephen King, many things by Vonnegut) then start on LotR again. It's a "lunch time" book.

I read new books at night and on weekends.

[Habibi]

60. Little Women. Some Poe.

Mikkelsson's Ghosts. Catch-22, yup. Probably anything by Anne Lamott. Nicolas Nickleby. There's more, I just can't think of them right now. But I *love* rereading good books!

[Are_grits_groceries]

61. To Kill a Mockingbird and

every Christmas I read "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" many times.

It really puts the real meaning of the holiday in perspective and it is hysterical.

Forget the movie.

[bluethruandthru]

65. I don't read too many books a second time

simply because I always have list a mile long that I want to read for the first time! Having said that, I've read "In Cold Blood" 2 or 3 times and "To Kill A Mockingbird" at least 3 times. I would like to re-read "I Know this Much is True" by Wally Lamb because I feel like I went through it too quickly the first time.

[stlove1000]

66. Donald Westlake's Dortmunder books

Easy reading and funny.

[Trigger Hippie]

68. A Prayer for Owen Meany

by John Irving

:D

[saltpoint]

77. As good as it gets. What a sensational book.

[Doctor_Horrible]

72. Anything by Neil Gaiman...!!!!!!!!

[oohoohbaby]

73. I want to read "The Razor's Edge" again really soon...

By Maughm, it's very philosophical and I gravitate towards stuff like that:)

[Paulie]

74. The Dark Conspiracy Trilogy by Michael A. Stackpole

He wrote it on contract as the basis of a role at game. The game publisher went under so a lot ended up in garage. I had to order a couple of sets as I wore out my copies. It's a fun story arc.

When I asked he said he will be putting a copy on the iTunes App store once it's scanned in. That will be just awesome.

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
The Rolling Stones by Heinlein
The Dosadi Experiment by Herbert
The Humanoids by Jack Willison

Those along with the last 3 original Dune novels had to be replaced because I wore them out. :-)

[titanic1]

75. uk mystery,s

anything by ian rankin- if you are looking for a dark moody
anti-establishment cop, he,s the man. makes michael connelly,s
detective harry bosch look like mary poppins

[azmouse]

76. Jane Eyre

The Three Musketeers

Summer of Night by Dan Simmons

[Blandocyte]

78. 1984 and World According To Garp

1984 reads like a current events book each year I read it, and World According To Garp has so many levels to it that I seem to get something new out of it each time.

[Phentex]

108. I haven't re-read Garp...

but I read 1984 a few years ago after having read it many, many years ago and it was different for me as an older perosn. I should probably try Garp again. There's always so much to read!

[Broken_Hero]

79. A few....

Memnoch the Devi by A. Rice, I've read this book at least 5 times, the book I've read the most....

Lord of the Rings trilogy, I've read this one three times...

Reading books a second time, is very rare for me to do, I usually don't reread a book unless I'm forgetting some key idea's. For example, if I forgot Harry Potter lived with the Dudleys, I would reread the series...for the most part I remember the key players, idea's, and pov's.

I will reread a few series though, I've just been on a mission to read all the S. King I can get my hands on, and when I'm done reading all of his novels, I plan on rereading the Black Company series by G. Cook, and the Harry Potter series, and the T. Clancy, Jack Ryan series.

[bluescribbler]

81. I have a few

The Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart
A novel of an Ancient China that never was. Number Ten Ox and Master Li Kao, (an ancient sage with a flaw in his character), set out to find how a plague can learn to count, and solve a crime which had rocked the heavens for centuries. I'm on my fifth copy now. I read it, lent it out, never saw it again, needed to read it again, bought another copy. I went through that cycle too many times. This copy ain't leaving my house.

The Stand, by Steven King.
I consider this one to be his masterpiece.

Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry.
Gus McRae is one of the best characters in fiction, imho.

Deathbird Stories, by Harlan Ellison
Harlan can flat out write, and what an imagination! A great collection of short stories.

[BlueIris]

82. "The Writing Class," by Jincy Willet.

Especially great mystery for those of us who've suffered through more than a few creative writing workshops. I've just finished reading it for the second time and it's terrific. Only the third book I've done that with in the last ten years (the other two being Jane Ann Staw's "Unstuck: A Supportive and Practical Guide to Working Through Writer's Block" and "Property," a novel by Valerie Martin.)

[Enrique]

83. James Joyce's "Ulysses"

I read it several times a year. ;-)

[WCGreen]

87. Your the one...

Couldn't get though it...

I like the stories better, his use of language to tell a story that you could follow ws top knotch...

I tip my hat to you...

[BOSSHOG]

84. Any of the Dave Robicheaux series by author James Lee Burke

There are 17 books in the series about an alcoholic vietnam vet who sometimes makes a living in law enforcement in and around New Orleans. Character development is awesome and the violence sometimes is over the top, but to me reading Burke is like reading poetry.

[timeforpeace]

85. The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett, in which I've read all 20 or 30 books five complete times.

Other than those, only books I've read more than once are The Hobbit and The Lord of The Ring Trilogy, and I read a lot, at least a book a week for many years.

[pitohui]

86. an overlooked treasure -- water music by tc boyle

there are really too many mention that are worth a re read or five, but i saw this thread kicked up again and thought here is an opportunity to mention a book that doesn't seem to be remembered yet would be truly appreciated if it was --obv i was re reading it recently...

[deoxyribonuclease]

88. the Ender saga and Homecoming saga by Orson Scott Card

Obviously I disagree with most, if not all, of his political views, but he's a very talented writer.

I've introduced several people to reading (and science fiction) with these books.

[Hannah Bell]

103. My favorite thing by card was a book of shorts "Hot Sleep". I believe

he wrote the stories, then incorporated some of them into the Worthing Chronicle, but I preferred the shorts. It told a whole history in about seven stories, & I admired the idea of the elites skipping through time while the peons had to endure real time very much.

I still think about those stories. So many things applicable to present times.

Ender was the last thing of his i found interesting.

[raccoon]

89. To Kill A Mockingbird. Alas, Babylon. Going Wrong by Ruth Rendell.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People (I know, it's non-fiction.)

[bain_sidhe]

90. Every book I haven't given away

I only keep the ones I think I'll read again. Even so, my shelves are filled to bursting, and most flat surfaces have a stack of books that won't fit. But I can't buy enough books to feed my habit, so I have to re-read, because a day without reading is like a day without food. I'm a bibliovore.

I also LOVE so-called "genre" books. Science fiction, mystery, alternate history, fantasy, action adventure, etc. I'm not so much a fan of "literary" type books, but only because so many of them are just character studies. That's interesting, and I enjoy some of them, but mostly I want something to happen in a book. I need a plot that moves (hopefully logically) from a beginning, to a middle, to an end. Beyond that, I like good characterization, and good writing. Give me those three things, and I'm a happy camper.

[libguy9560]

91. Some book to check out

the sound and the fury
as i lay dying
1984
don quixote

[elehhhhna]

92. "Coming Through Slaughter" Michael Ondaatje

[create.peace]

93. The Deptford Trilogy, Robertson Davies.....nt

[create.peace]

95. Look Homeward, Angel- thomas wolfe....nt

[Jo March]

94. The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub

That is an excellent book.

* All of the Harry Potter books
* A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
* The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

Those are the ones I've been reading and rereading this year. It changes every year.

[cdsilv]

96. Sut Lovingood by George Washington Harris

Humorous frontier fiction from the early to mid 1800's American South.

Rare but hilarious!

[krispos42]

97. Practically everything I read I read multiple times

I really get into my books!


Seriously, give me a good sci-fi author (especially a series) and I'll read the covers off.


Turtledove, Niven, Pournelle, Forschen, Feintuch, some Stephen King, a bunch more I can't recall now as I'm falling asleep in my chair.

[silverlib]

98. The Women's Room

Every time I've read it, I've been a different character.

I'm so glad it was republished - so shortly before Marilyn French died.

[BlueIris]

100. Oooh, I love that one. I found it on my parents shelf when I was twelve. One of the first

feminist novels I read.

[scarletlib]

101. Les Miserables, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Exodus,

Those are a few of my favorites. I highly recommend Les Miserables and anything by Dickens is always worth reading more than once.

[Hannah Bell]

102. "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith (who wrote 101 Dalmatians), I used

to reread regularly.

Perfect young woman's novel: well-written, heroine human yet gutsy, plot compelling, & setting - a family of oddballs who live in poverty in a crumbling "castle" - wonderfully romantic. Unhappy ending, yet not devastingly so.

When I turned 50, though, I found it harder to sustain interest in fiction. I somehow became conscious that it *was* fiction & found myself reading it a 'word' level, looking at the turns of phrase instead of getting lost in the story.

Interest in poetry left a bit before that. I used to practically drown in the sensual quality of words, now it just lies flat on the page.

I'm down to mostly non-fiction now.

[rantormusing]

105. Someone mentioned Harry Potter, I'm gonna add to that

I've reread Harry Potter a few times, it took me awhile to discover it. I began reading them when i met my first BF, and i would hang out downtown while he was in class at this fancy smancy school. I actually went to a class with him once, and kind of knew the material when noone else did. That was the last time i went to class with him. SO i hung around looking for books, and finally decided to see what the fuss was about. I would read while my bf was taking English 101, it was a couple of months of transition, and i was in love. damn, i could write a ditty for this, anyways.

I love rereading Peyton Place.

[Mad_Dem_X]

106. Watership Down.

I love rabbits, and this tale has everything - adventure, joy, sadness, and an entire made up language.

[closeupready]

107. Hmmm, good question. Lord of the Rings, any of the Discworld books,

the Cairo Trilogy - I don't know - I guess any book that made you FEEL something not because you were in the mood to read something gimmicky just to set you off, but a book that was written so well, that you finished it thinking to yourself, "what a miracle. I hold in my hands a bunch of paper with ink scratchings on it, and it's left me so moved, I'm crying/laughing/cheering."

[elehhhhna]

109. Coming Through Slaughter by Ondaatje

[alfredo]

110. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" "On The Road" "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

"Haroun and The Sea of Stories" "Shalimar The Clown." "My Name Is Red" "Oryx and Crake" "The Handmaid's Tale" "Talking Soft Dutch" "Sophie's Choice" "Satanic Verses"

I've read "On The Road" twice, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" three times, "Talking Soft Dutch" several times, I pick it up from time to time to read her poetry. I've read "Satanic Verses" twice and got a lot from it on the second reading.