OT: Books you have read twice..no phonebooks

[KnightBridgeAZ]

The entire Tolkien (J.R.R.'s works only) ouevre -- still pick one of them up & read a scene (and many following pages) every so often.
The Annotated Sherlock Holmes , William S. Baring-Gould -- every novel & story by Sir Arthur in 2 huge volumes. (BTW, I think the TV series Elementary does a pretty good job of capturing Holmes as I pictured him in my mind.)
The Wheel of Time series, Robert Jordan -- But only the first one and last 2 volumes. Forgive a very ill man the excesses of the middle 10 books, but you don't have to read them. Find a summary somewhere instead.
Pride of Chanur/The Kif Strike Back/Chanur's Homecoming, C.J.Cherryh -- She made me believe I could understand how the culture of a race of intelligent felineites would work, had me appreciate the basis of their emotions and enjoy a rollicking story involving 5 spacefaring cultures all at the same time.
Time Enough for Love, Robert A. Heinlein -- Mostly not a science fiction story, though it takes place on many planets over hundreds of years of one man's life.

And on, and on, but those are the biggies that come up today.

I no longer read much, sad really. I am trying in this time to pick up some books from our home library, mostly non-fiction.

But - while I have reread Shelby Foote's Civil War series and most of Bruce Catton's various Civil War books - it is science fiction and fantasy that I have most often reread, they always tempted me back.

While I reread a lot "in the day", eventually I packed the paperbacks up and most are gone. There is one box still in the garage, it may contain a few I mention below.

Tolkien, but only twice I'm pretty sure.
You mention the Baring-Gould Sherlock Holmes collection - those sit on our bookshelves and I too have dipped more than once.
CJ Cherryh - not just the Chanur series, but several of her others, including the Mri Wars series and the Morgaine books (also read some of her singletons, more than once).

In the quote from your post I kept your reference to The Wheel of Time (I read at least some of it, I think) and Time Enough For Love which is, as you say a wonderful book, but I'm sure does not qualify as something I read more than once.

And to contribute something of my own - the writings of David Eddings, particularly the Belgariad and the Malloreon, but others of his as well. I think this is what is in the mysterious box in the garage.

And yes, in the day, as some others said, I did reread the Agatha Christie mysteries, at least most of them.

 

[trb123]

1. Three Musketeers
2. Twenty years after (Sequel to 1 and better)
3. Count of Monte Cristo

4. Ivanhoe (Go fast over the pages you do not like)
5. Westward Ho (Amyas Leigh was a favorite hero when I was young)
6. Treasure Island
7. King Solomon's Mines (I read this book before I learned to be politically correct. I never regretted rereading it. Alan Quatermain ranked higher than Amyas Leigh.)
8. Children of the New Forest

10. A white sail gleams
11. Story of a real man
12. How the steel was tempered (10-12 are Soviet books and may need some effort on your part to read. They are worth the effort.)

13. Prisoner of Zenda, and The Rupert of Hentzau - two brilliant Ruritanian novels
14. I Claudius, and Claudius the God

15. Complete Sherlock Holmes (Doubleday has a good one volume edition. I bought mine from BOMC 40 years ago. This is one of the few volumes I can pick up today with the same enthusiasm I had when I was 10 years old)

Among my favorite detective fiction:
.
16. Murder of Roger Ackroyd
17. The hound of the Baskervilles (See 15 above)
18. Trent's last case
19. The house of the arrow (18 and 19 were part of "Three famous Murder Novels", a Modern Library Giant)
20. The Bishop's crime (Hard to find)
21. The name of the rose

22. And now Miguel
23. Anne of Green Gables
24. All children's books by Roger Lancelyn Green: King Arthur, Robin Hood, the Norse Saga. He wrote about 20 of them. His son Richard Lancelyn Green edited the superb "Further adventures of Sherlock Holmes" containing this gem of a warning from Moriarty to his minions: He is the most dangerous man in London. His name is Sherlock Holmes.

25. 20000 leagues under the seas, Around the world in 80 days, The mysterious island
26. The amphibious man (wonderful Russian science fiction)
27. Dover volume of 7 science fiction novels by H.G. Wells

28. The Armada
29. Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
30. Eminent Victorians
31. The year of the decision, 1846. Across the wide Missouri. The course of the empire. - Bernard Devoto trilogy
32. Brighter than a thousand suns

33. The day of the Jackal
34. Rebecca
35. Key to Rebecca
36. The Great Impersonation
37. Odessa File

38. Jane Austen's novels
39. Middlemarch
40. Wuthering heights

 

[UcMiami]

Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End - my mother recommended it to me one rainy day when I had nothing to do and was bugging her - said it was one of her favorites. Loved it so much that for years whenever I found a copy in a used book store I would buy it and give it to a friend as a 'must read'. No one I have ever given it to has gotten past the first half of the first of the four books. Go figure.

Most of Dashiell Hammet but particularly my personal favorite The Glass Key. (Love the movies as well which I watch whenever I can as well.) And a follow on with Raymond Chandler - most of his books.

Edie by Joan Stein - about Edie Sedgwick and NYC and the Warhol crowd

Most of Shakespeare

All of Dorothy Sayers mysteries and some of Ngaio Marsh, Agatha, Josophine Tey (The Daughter of Time a favorite), Elizabeth Daly (fiiting for this thread as her detective is a rare book specialist!), Le Carre.

 

[Monte]

Gone with the Wind............The Boys of Summer

 

[Dokey]

Given my profession, I was happy to see many Golden Age mysteries (my specialty) listed.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Robinson Crusoe

 

[BfromCT]

I normally do not read off-topic threads, but this new one on reading books whetted my appetite.

First of all, let me eliminate Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings series because they will rightfully be on many lists. I have read both on multiple occasions. Instead, the focus will be on other titles.

With regard to mystery stories, always enjoyable recreation, any novel by Dorothy Sayers is worth multiple examinations, but my favorite is The Nine Taylors.” Another great read is Anthony Berkeley, The Poisoned Chocolates Case.”

Other fictional works that I have read multiple times are: Nordoff and Hall, Mutiny on the Bounty; Walter D. Edmonds, Drums Along the Mohawk; C. S. Forester, Captain Horatio Hornblower; Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian, an excellent novel on the Dracula theme; and Iaian Pears, An Instance of the Fingerpost, a murder of an Oxford Don in the 1660s told from four different perspectives.

For nonfiction, I have enjoyed reading on multiple occasions Catherine Bailey, The Secret Rooms; George Dangerfield, The Strange Death of Liberal England; Alistair Horne, To Lose and Battle; Robert K. Massie, Dreadnought; and Roy F. Nichols, The Disruption of American Democracy; and the classic Barbara Tuchman, The Guns of August. The first is focused on the disappearance from an archives of letters relating to a member of the British nobility, Dangerfield on events in Great Britain from 1906-14, Too Lose a Battle on France between the wars, while the Nichols book studies the collapse of the Democratic Party between 1856 and 1860. All are extremely well written, enjoyable, and inform the reader about important historical eras.

 

[Centerstream]

The Hunt For Red October (I have an autographed copy)
The Excorcist

I was never much of a book reader except when making patrols on a SSBN and there were just a few things to do while cruising underwater. I read these 2 twice because I read each before the movie was out and then again after watching the movie version.

 

[UcMiami]

Love the Hornblower saga and have read the books more than once. Along those lines - Rafael Sabatini's Scaramouche with the opening line 'He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad and that was all his patrimony' The bolded section supposedly was carved on the Yale library along with other famous author quotes and all the scholars thought it was a wonderful line and wonder which great author had written it - when they discovered it was Sabatini a popular 'hack' they were rather embarrassed. He also wrote another great boys adventure 'Captain Blood'. And Baroness Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel.

All great escapist fun.

 

[HopJim]

Seems appropriate with Geno as our coach, have read The Godfather numerous times. One of the few cases where the book and original movie were both classics.

 

[j66kicker]

The Hunt For Red October (I have an autographed copy)
The Excorcist

I was never much of a book reader except when making patrols on a SSBN and there were just a few things to do while cruising underwater. I read these 2 twice because I read each before the movie was out and then again after watching the movie version.

There are exceptions, but usually I don't enjoy the movie as much if I've already read the book. In the case of The Hunt for Red October I found it difficult to even follow the movie. Even moreso - borderline impossible - for Rising Sun (Micheal Chrichton), even though I'm a huge Sean Connery fan.

 

[CL82]

In The Hunt for Red October Clancy effectively paints a portrait of how Ryan is pushed along by the events that happen around him. It is a great reluctant hero narrative. That remains the narrative all throughout the Clancy books. Circumstances push Ryan and he reacts to them. I really enjoy them.

 

[j66kicker]

In The Hunt for Red October Clancy effectively paints a portrait of how Ryan is pushed along by the events that happen around him. It is a great reluctant hero narrative. That remains the narrative all throughout the Clancy books. Circumstances push Ryan and he reacts to them. I really enjoy them.

I like Clancy a lot too, although I think Bin Laden got the idea for 9/11 from Debt of Honor.

 

[Dokey]

As that most despised of all people, an expert in a field most people look to solely for entertainment—mysteries—I am having fun connecting favorite mysteries of Boneyarders with basketball philosophy. Fans of The Nine Tailors and Daughter of Time offer up especially interesting profiles in that regard. I really don’t have to explain.

For the fan of the novel The Bishop’s Crime, the author is better known, justifiably so, for his many short stories, though I reprinted two of his novels.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

boy, i must be missing something. or you all are the biggest bunch of BS'ers in the universe!!

why in heck would you be re-reading all these books, multiple books, long books, whole lengthy series of books rather than using your limited time to experience all the thousands and thousands of potentially fantastic books that you have not experienced at all.

please, clue me in.

excuse me if you are just listing some of your favorites. cool. ... but if you are actually re-reading all of them, well, ... i'm sorry you don't have better things to do.

btw, i do see why someone would re-read a book or two, but not a library. myself, i am blown away by the prose of 'the great gatsby' -- plus it's short and an easy read.

this is a joke, right? cuz iffn it ain't, then it's just pathetic.

 

[EdSaid]

Bloody Treason by Noel Twyman

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Heart of Darkness
A Rose for Emily
Don Quixote
Animal Farm
Democracy in America

 

[Golden Husky]

boy, i must be missing something. or you all are the biggest bunch of BS'ers in the universe!!

why in heck would you be re-reading all these books, multiple books, long books, whole lengthy series of books rather than using your limited time to experience all the thousands and thousands of potentially fantastic books that you have not experienced at all.

please, clue me in.

excuse me if you are just listing some of your favorites. cool. ... but if you are actually re-reading all of them, well, ... i'm sorry you don't have better things to do.

btw, i do see why someone would re-read a book or two, but not a library. myself, i am blown away by the prose of 'the great gatsby' -- plus it's short and an easy read.

To answer your question regarding re-reading, Paco, a decade or so ago, I uncovered a list of the top 100 novels of the 20th century. I'd read many but not all of the books on the list and, since I enjoy projects, decided to read the complete list, working my way from No. 100 to No. 1. So I did. Reading contemporary novels as well, the project took about five years.

 

[trb123]

My list of 40 books was heavily skewed in favor of British writers. Even then I could not include all the titles I wanted. I now try to make up that deficit.

1. Parnassus on wheels, and The haunted bookshop - Christopher Morley, the author, also wrote the wonderful introduction to the Doubleday volume of Complete Sherlock Holmes.

2. Clues of the Caribbees - 5 superb Dr. Poggioli long stories by T.S. Stribling

3. My glorious brothers, and Spartacus

4. The Zimmerman telegram, Guns of August, and The Proud Tower - All Barabara Tuchman books are worth reading more than once. They are included here although they are not novels.

5. The crisis of the old order, The coming of the new deal, and The politics of upheaval. These are personal favorites. I am not asking everybody to read these books twice.

6. The collapse of the Third Republic - extremely readable prequel to The rise and fall of the Third Reich

7. English History 1914-1945 - AJP Taylor. This is a masterpiece of narrative history.

8. Tom Brown's Schooldays - a must read

9. Hardy's novels. Start with Far from the madding crowd and follow up with The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess and others

10. E.V. Rieu's translation of The Odyssey. I believe that this was the first Penguin Classic.

Penguin Classics, Everyman's Library, Sentry books and Modern Library are my favorite sources of books that I can read multiple times.

 

[Bigboote]

I read at least one Jane Austen book every year, so I've done the entire canon at least five times. I'll need to dig up the volume that has Sanditon in it, having just seen that on Masterpiece. I've only read it once, as it was unfinished.

I'm on my second round through all of Sinclair Lewis's books. I've probably read Free Air and Our Mr Wren 4-5 times apiece.

I've read a lot of Heinlein's books multiple times. A few that come to mind are The Past Through Tomorrow, Double Star, the Door into Summer, Glory Road, and the Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

I'm sure I've read all of HP Lovecraft at least a couple of times, and I'm now slowly going through all his works in chronological order.

 

[Steelerone]

the "Prey" series by John Sanford, The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Early, Late and High Middle Ages by Philip Dialater, history prof. at William & Mary.

 

[Steelerone]

None! I love to read, but am a relatively slow reader. So there are just too many books I want to read once, to read any twice

VA Huskie, did you ever try audiobooks? They are great when you are working outside or exercising. When your library opens just go down and try a few of them.

 

[bluedevil]

Everytime I re read a great book I often find details I missed the first time or knowing the plot can appreciate nuances missed...By Pacos logic why stay loyal to your significant other when there are others out there...kidding about that last part...mine is extraordinary...

 

[CaliHuskyFan]

I know This Much is True, by UConn's own Wally Lamb. UConn women's basketball gets a mention in there, if I recall correctly.

Yes, superb novel of loss and redemption, grief, mental illness, and working through childhood ghosts, in addition to being a primer on the immigrant experience and chronicle of the last 50 years of the 20th century. And yea, there are references to the Women's program and Geno in the very last chapter. Lamb has the central character comment, referring to Geno, " Who's the coach - Frankie Avalon?"

 

[Steelerone]

I forgot - The American Experience In China by Barbara Tuchman, It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, any play by Eugene O'Neill.