What book(s) could you read - and re-read - again and again?

[JTG of the PRB]

I ask because today I started re-reading "The Hobbit" for the umpteenth time, and it will be followed once again by a re-reading of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. I re-read those books ever year, and have done so for a number of years. I love those books so much...

So how about you, fellow DUers? Is there a book out there you read every year, a book you could read and re-read year after year and never get sick of it?

[fizzgig]

1. i read the trilogy every year, too

i haven't read the hobbit for a long time. i think i'm going to do that tonight.

[UrbScotty]

2. This:

[pacalo]

3. I loved "The Firm" so much I read it four times over the years.

[lazarus]

4. LoTR, Hobbit, Silmarillion

reread the whole thing every year. And now, I've added the Harry Potter books to the summer reading list.

Also, I tend to reread the Dragaera books by Steve Brust whenever a new one comes out, or when the moods strikes me.

I'm pissed that none of these are fully available on the Kindle. Rowling has some bizarre belief that allowing the HP books on the Kindle would cause piracy. News for her: in ten minutes, I could have a copy right now of everything she's written, in digital format. I just haven't bothered. But I'd pay money for the books in Kindle format.

[Skittles]

5. All Creatures Great and Small

James Herriot (Alf Wight)

[HopeHoops]

6. "Hobbit", "Lord of the Rings", "Silmarillian", "Flatland", "1984", "Animal Farm","Hitchhiker's Guide

The list goes on...

[Terra Alta]

7. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

First read all of them in two days in 2006, and have read them several times since. I never get tired of them.

[MiddleFingerMom]

8. I've read LOTR maybe six times... but for one reason or another, only the LAST time was in order.

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Confederacy of Dunces. Cannery Row (and its sequel Sweet Thursday.
Still Life with Woodpecker. Jitterbug Perfume. Skinny Legs and All.
Stand On Zanzibar. The Sheep Look Up. All the "Oz" books.
.
.
.

[LynneSin]

9. "Memoirs of a Geisha" and any of the schlocky stuff that Judith Krantz put out

"Memoirs of a Geisha" was just so beautifully written that you feel like you're back in pre-WWII Japan and a member of the Geisha society.

I can't explain the Judith Krantz fasination because I'm not usually one into romance novels but she isn't writing cheap harlequin stuff. Some of her novels have rich history built into them and always a girl who had everything but lost it, found herself in amazing circumstances at a young age going against tradition, always alot of rich history built into her stories. My favorites are "Princess Daisy", "Mistrel's Daughter", "Til We Meet Again", "Dazzle" and "Scruples"

[fizzgig]

15. i've read memoirs of a geisha several times, too

good read

[Crystal Clarity]

10. The Quincunx

(The Inheritance of John Huffam) by Charles Palliser. It's a bit like a Dicken's novel, but starts out very dry. I very nearly gave up on it but pressed on and am glad I did. By about pg. 50 I couldn't put it down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quincunx (In case anyone likes this sort of thing)

'Sarum' by Edward Rutherford is another favorite.

[InternalDialogue]

16. I actually picked up Quincunx at a used bookstore because of the cover and end papers.

It's still on my shelf, and from your recommendation, I might pick it up next.

[Crystal Clarity]

17. If you like Dickens, (and mysteries) you'll really like this

But be prepared to give it some time to grow on you. It has such an intricate plot that the setup has to be long - something I began to understand in retrospect and upon re-readings. Skim some of the early stuff if you must. I rarely allow myself to skim, but did it with this... however as I got further into the book, I often found myself going back to the beginning for clues.

I've re-read it a couple of times over the years and still found new things of interest that I somehow missed before. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did (if you do decide to read it that is...) :hi:

[Bertha Venation]

11. _A Tree Grows In Brooklyn_ by Betty Smith

[Supply Side Jesus]

12. A Song of Ice & Fire...dying for the 5th book already

[frogmarch]

13. Wyrd Sisters

and almost everything else by by Terry Pratchett.



quotes:

It would be a pretty good bet that the gods of a world like this probably do not play chess and indeed this is the case. In fact no gods anywhere play chess. They haven't got the imagination. Gods prefer simple, vicious games, where you Do Not Achieve Transcendence but Go Straight To Oblivion; a key to the understanding of all religions is that a god's idea of amusement is Snakes and Ladders with greased rungs.

This man was clearly mad, but at the heart of his madness was a cold, dreadful sanity, a core of pure interstellar ice in the centre of the furnace. She'd thought him weak under a thin shell of strength, but it went a lot further than that. Somewhere deep inside his mind, somewhere beyond the event horizon of rationality, the sheer pressure of insanity had hammered his madness into something harder than diamond.

[TorchTheWitch]

14. Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett

The Charm School - Nelson DeMille
Into Thin Air - John Krakauer
Without Remorse - Tom Clancy
Clan of the Cave Bear/Valley of Horses/The Mammoth Hunters - Jean Auel (two more books came afterward in the series but they really went down hill)

[Lucian]

18. Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned...

Tale of the Body Thief, and Memnoch the Devil.

As well as A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows. I don't want to forget what's happening in those books in case GRRM comes out with A Dance with Dragons within the next five years. :eyes:

[AsahinaKimi]

19. The Princess Bride

Yes, the book was funnier then the movie.

[Sweet Freedom]

20. Ghost Story by Peter Straub /nt

[EastTennesseeDem]

21. Only two have managed to have that kind of staying power

"A Confederacy of Dunces" and "The Road."

[dana_b]

22. The Grapes of Wrath and many of Steinbeck's books

I love his writing

[Capn Sunshine]

23. "the Martian Chronicles" and "Dandelion Wine"

IN fact I think I'll start the Martian Chronicles tonight.

Oh there's also the Trilogy by Asimov

[Biker13]

32. "Dandelion Wine"

Is my favorite book! I have a signed copy, and read it every spring.

Biker's Old Lady

[Gabi Hayes]

24. The Very Hungry Caterpillar:

[Gabi Hayes]

26. those were the good old days...before he destroyed the world?

[applegrove]

25. I really don't reread books.

[Iggo]

27. These.

[WolverineDG]

28. The Long Winter

every July when it's hotter than hell outside.

the long walk home from school still makes me feel so cold, I'll never get warm again.

dg

[Xipe Totec]

29. Mikhail Bulhgakov's The Master and Margarita

Read it several times in English.

Reading it in the Original Russian this time.

[whistler162]

30. Elizabeth Moon The Deed of Paksenarrion

All of David Eddings Belgarion series

Robert Heinlein's Have Space Suit Will Travel

Sharyn McCrumb Bimbos of the Death Sun

and they are now available as audio's which actually adds to the enjoyment.

[Biker13]

33. whistler162...

Please read some of Sharyn McCrumb's other works. I have all her novels, and they all are a great read. Try "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter", I think you'd love it!

Biker's Old Lady

[ldf]

31. i can't

reread books until it has been long enough for me to forget the details...

rewatch movies until i have, just as in reading, forgotten the details...

PORN, on the other hand (hand being a vital component... :-) ), i can reread and rewatch many, many times...

why is that?

:shrug:

[Old Troop]

34. Once an Eagle