Do you ever reread books? Nowadays, I only reread books for two reasons: 1) my book club has picked a book that I’ve previously read, or 2) my daughter is reading it for school and I thought it would be fun to discuss it with her. Before I had an e reader though, it was quite common practice for me to pick a book off my shelf and look at it with fresh eyes.
Today, I am going to give you a snap shot into some of the books I’ve read over again. Some of them you may know, others you will probably be a little surprised.
- “Rich Man, Poor Man” by Irwin Shaw. Odd choice- I know. You’ve heard about my Mother, right? When I was younger I was above my grade in reading. When I was in sixth grade my Mother repeatedly reminded me that the elementary school had been bringing in High School books for me since 3rd grade. When you gave me money for the 6th grade book fair, the stipulation was that I buy a book from the “adult” shelf. My delusional Mother must have assumed that this section would be filled with classics. Alas, it was filled with best seller types.ย When I was in 6th grade, that sort of became the year of the mini series: Rich, Man Poor, Man was the show to watch. Needless to say, the book it was based on was immensely popular. This was the first, let’s say tawdry novel that I had ever read. And re read. And read again.
- “The Outsiders” SE Hinton. This book stole my young heart. When my daughter had to read it in sixth grade I was thrilled to go along for the ride with her. Stay Gold Pony Boy.
- “Are You There God, It’s me Margeret” by Judy Blume. Puberty. Angst. So beautifully portrayed for me…..loved this book.
- “Lace” by Shirley Conran. I got an advance readers copy of this book when I was around a senior in high school, maybe college Freshman. This was the first book I read that had somewhat explicit sexuality…..good times…
- “Gone with the Wind” Margaret Mitchell. Scarlet O’Hara was the toughest woman I had ever encountered in fiction. She might still be. Long live tough women.
- “Pride and Prejudice” Jane Austen.ย Come on. I want to be Elizabeth Bennett
- “Yurtle the Turtle” by Dr. Suess. This was the first book that I truly loved. I still have my copy from the 1960’s, the only book I have kept from my youth. That’s how much it means to me. Love of the written word starts here.
- “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” Betty Smith. Just a special coming of age story. Love love love.
- “And then There Were None” Agatha Christie. I thought this was so clever- my favorite Christie.
- “Catcher in the Rye” JD Salinger. Ohhhh this book kind of crushes me when I read it. Sad and funny and everything.
So here’s the question: Do you reread books? If so, which are the standouts?
I re-read A LOT of my favorites… I usually turn back to them if I am in a reading rut or I miss that particular story. I have worn out copies of my Judith McNaught books and had to have them replaced…We would be here a long time if I had to list all the books I have re-read! LOL
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐๐๐๐๐
LikeLike
At this point I’m a “one and done” person. I do remember reading some childhood favorites more than once: Heidi, Little Women as examples… and of course as you noted Austen, and the Bronte’s.
Interestingly, at least when I really think about it, I have read the Bible more than once as well. Not studied it, but just read it as one would a novel. Honestly I am an atheist, but I do enjoy reading about varied religious beliefs, not just Christianity. I think I went through a phase when I went back to college as an adult, trying to discover as much as I could about the world. Religious texts were big on my list then.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I tend to be a one and done as well. Very interesting learning about the various religions and belief systems. Iโm guessing thatโs the key to the world now….
LikeLiked by 1 person
I generally don’t re-read books. The only exceptions have been as you mentioned, book club or school. I have so many books on my to be read list I don’t want to take the time to re-read. I have inadvertently re-read books before by not remembering I had already read it when I picked it up at the library.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Iโm the same way. Too many new books to look at!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love rereading books but unfortunately I donโt do it very often. I am currently participating in the rereadathon and I am rereading the Illuminae Files trilogy and Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My daughter loved the Simon book!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh I did too. I read it 3 times in one month when I first read it because I couldnโt get enough of it. If I get to it this week it will be my 4th time reading it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐๐๐๐
LikeLiked by 1 person
Itโs such a pleasure to reread books. The magical thing is that with the passage of time they are very different. Of course, itโs me that changes, not the book. And I see elements that I may have missed in earlier readings. The books Iโve reread the most are probably Persuasion (Austen), The Deptford Trilogy (Robertson Davies), Cancer Ward (Solzhenitsyn), Kitchen Table Wisdom (Rachel Remen), The Master and Margarita (Bulgakov). Oh, I could go on and on . . . a good book begs to be reread! Great discussion to start a Monday!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! Great list! Sometimes thereโs just a gem that you have to look at with fresh eyes!
LikeLike
I’ve read Gone with the Wind 7 times. I’ve also reread many of my favorite serial-killer-murder-mysteries more than twice. And I sometimes have reread a book not remembering I’d already read it …. like the book I’m reading now. Thank goodness for GoodReads, though.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good reads is awesome for keeping track!
LikeLiked by 1 person
great question………..i tend not to re-read books either except to my kids and some health books that I have found particularly helpful. ๐
LikeLike
I love your list LA! I’ve read them all except Rich Man and Lace. I’ll have to read those now. ๐ GWTW has been a long time favorite which I’ve reread. My grandma used to read the Bible from cover to cover every year. I can’t say I’ve even finished reading the Bible myself, but I liked her spiritual tradition. I’ve reread some self-help books like You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay. But normally, I read it once and move onward.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you! I think the Bible is something that many people reread. Iโve read parts, but never the whole thing
LikeLike
I’ve never read the whole thing either. Maybe someday…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nopes I don’t reread.. I have too many books to read..
LikeLiked by 1 person
I get that! I have almost book FOMO….
LikeLike
There are so many books out there to read that I don’t usually re-read. Little Women is one of my all time faves and I have read that a couple of times. I have many of the books you listed on my TBR list and I may have read them in high school but I can’t remember.
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐too many books, too little time!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I, too, re-read a lot until I got an e reader. I have enjoyed rereading many of the books in your list. I’ll add Of human bondage by Maugham, Battle of the wild turkey and any Wodehouse.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love Jeeves and Wooster!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I re-read every so often, but my favourites are Little Women and Wuthering heights
LikeLiked by 1 person
Little women probably should have been on my list actually!
LikeLike
Oh I absolutely re-read books…they are a form of comfort-food at times.
“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” is one I gravitate to, too and then “The Shell Seekers” by Rosamunde Pilcher and then an oddball one called, “Bachelor Brothers’ Bed & Breakfast”.
But I’m always on the search for new good reads…I go through so many disappointing newer novels that the classics really demonstrate why they are classics!
๐
ps-too funny about your stint with “Rich Man, Poor Man”!
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐๐shell seekers!! So good!! I almost have fomo for books….Iโm constantly searching for the perfect book….but yeah…something about the older novels
LikeLike
I have a couple of books that I have had on my bookshelves since the 80s that I keep because they are comfort books. They are looking tatty now because I reread them every few years. They include Gone Woth The Wind, A Town Like Alice (Neville Shute), The Captains and theKings and Too Many Passings (Cathy Cash-Spellman).
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are just certain books that reel us in and keep to our hearts. Doesnโt matter why….just that they do!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The World According To Garp, read in German (excellent translation) and many times over in English. This is the book that made me want to be a writer.
Buddenbrooks…in German. โค
The Outsiders, same as you. ๐ Loved the movie too. The house in the film is now a museum… I’ll blog about it and send the link …
Catcher in the Rye, same as you. ๐
There are others…
LikeLiked by 2 people
The house is a museum? Shut up!! Must see!! Harp is awesome!
LikeLiked by 1 person
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐๐
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐ ‘Lace’ by Shirley Conran sounds a good read for a young lady.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll often dip into a good autobiography.
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐๐
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, there is one I haven’t thought about in a long time: “Rich Man, Poor Man.” I remember watching the movie with I believe Nick Nolte, and another actor I had a big crush on: the brother of Julia Roberts. I must of watched every role he played in the movies and on tv! I love to reread good poetry and Edna Buchanan’s crime stories. Reality is stranger than fiction.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Reality is way stranger than fiction!
LikeLiked by 2 people
The other lead was Peter Strauss. Every woman had a crush on him or Nick.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Nick nolte was hot
LikeLiked by 2 people
I re-read Jane Eyre and Chocolat and Winnie the Pooh. Not all at once, of course. But every few years. They ground me.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Iโm a Pooh girl, but havenโt read it in years!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I always say I am going to re-read Dragon Seed by Pearl Buck, but so far I haven’t. Can’t think of any books other than children’s books that I have read more than once. I just started a book, Beartown by Fredrik Backman. I am dying to read it right now but I keep doing other stuff!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love โa man called Oveโ!,
LikeLiked by 1 person
About the only book I’ve re-read that I can remember is The Great Gatsby. And I’d read it again. Love it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That book shows up on tomorrowโs list….๐
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love to reread books. Especially Anne McCaffrey books. Its like catching up with a friend you haven’t seen in a while. I usually will reread a book when I’m struggling mentally and just need something comfortable. After an old book or two, I’m ready to start a new to-be-read list.
I’m also reading the Book of Mormon again. A chapter a day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that thought….catching up with an old friend…perfect!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love self help books. I reread loud
LikeLiked by 1 person
Let me try again… I love louise hay. I will reread her books. I do love Judy blume and s. E. Hinton.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Judy Blume and SE Hinton. Love love love. That was my youth
LikeLike
Mine too. Thanks for the memories
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐๐
LikeLike
I reread a lot of books! I’m currently rereading The Lord of the Rings and Sense and Sensibility, and I’ll probably reread some other favorites this spring, in the midst of all the new and new-to-me books I’ll be reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love how youโre diagraming lotr. Really cool. I used to love to reread books, but now, not so much. Now itโs almost fomo for me….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! I’ve learned so much about Tolkien and LotR thanks to that project.
I get caught up in new book hype sometimes, but I’m often disappointed when a popular book turns out to be mediocre. It’s nice to know that there are books I know I’ll love waiting for me if I run across a string of lousy new releases.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The book hype kills me. Thatโs happened in the past five books I read…all sorts of great press and books are eh…..kills me
LikeLiked by 1 person
It kills me, too. So many bestsellers are so, so poorly written while better books are overlooked. *sighs*
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know. They overhype certain genres…like now itโs psychological thrillers. I may write about that on Friday if I come up with a good hypothesis
LikeLiked by 1 person
I re-read A Christmas Carol every year in December. I could probably recite entire sections from memory I’ve read it so many times. It always gets me in the mood for Christmas.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I watch a Christmas Carol every year…๐thatโs a great one to reread. Great story and my favorite Dickens
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like it so much, I wrote a 5000 word blog on it last December, quoting large swaths of it, as it is still so timeless today….although I can’t say I’ve ever attending an office Christmas party as much fun as old Fezziwig’s!
LikeLiked by 1 person
๐๐๐
LikeLike
Often I’ll go back to old favourites, like old friends they give you comfort and a warm sense of familiarity. My go to re-reads are Mary Poppins – PL Travers, Darling Buds of May – HE Bates, Lion Witch & Wardrobe – CS Lewis and anything by Janet Evanovich. All guaranteed to lift my mood and give me that warm, fuzzy feeling.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is the best reason to reread a book, to bring you a mood lifter. Sometimes a book does it better than anything else!
LikeLike
I love to reread childhood favorites such as The Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time, Island of the Blue Dolphins, etc. I also have a soft spot for time-travel fiction: The Mirror, Time After Time, Replay, etc. Otherwise I rarely reread books.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are so many that I want to read, I canโt reread too many!
LikeLiked by 1 person