The joy of re-reading...and re-reading again

[KateESal]

Do you have a favourite book that you have read many times over and will probably read again?

One of my favourite comfort reads is Gerald Durrell's My Family And Other Animals (I have been known to quote it once in a while...), but although I've read it several times, I go back to it knowing that it will always make me chuckle, fill me with wonder for the natural world, paint my imagination with the colours of Corfu and yet still find new details I had forgotten were there.

But, by re-reading an old favourite, am I wasting time when I could be expanding my personal horizons by trying something new?

This article discusses exactly that.

Which books are your comfort reads?

 

[Katie-Ellen]

You are not wasting time. You will find new things, and you will draw nourishment from the familiar things. There is reading to learn, reading for entertainment and sometimes escape and distraction, and then there is reading to re-connect with a touchstone.

The touchstone is the holy grail. The heart stone.

 

[georginaK]

I have several of those—Shipping News by Annie Proulx, The Bone People by Kerri Holme, Possession by A. S. Byatt, early Margaret Atwood. It’s strange because they’re not particularly comforting books, but for some reason they resonate for me and are like visiting family or old dear friends. I suppose the aspect of darkness or flawed characters reminds me that we all struggle to navigate through this life and are not alone during the difficult times. *Not to mention they all write beautifully and certain lines still stop me in my tracks!

 

[Robert M Derry]

I've read The Stand twice, but that's the only book I've read more than once.

To be honest, there's so much out there that I personally wouldn't want to spend time re-reading something. I'm like that with films as well - I only watch the very best more than once.

 

[georginaK]

I've read The Stand twice, but that's the only book I've read more than once.

To be honest, there's so much out there that I personally wouldn't want to spend time re-reading something. I'm like that with films as well - I only watch the very best more than once.

I’m kind of embarrassed to say that I’ve seen some films probably 10 times or so! And they’re always escapist—I love my warm fuzzies

 

[Robert M Derry]

I’m kind of embarrassed to say that I’ve seen some films probably 10 times or so!

I did that when I was younger, but I felt like I'd watched them so much that I'd spoiled them. I wish I could watch my favourite films again for the first time.

 

[CageSage]

If a story can still make me cry after three reads, it's definitely worth keeping, rereading, and studying how it does that.
Films - the Shawshank Redemption. The original novella isn't compelling in an emotional way, but the movie elicits an emotional twist at the right moment each time. I've read the novella dozens of times trying to find that moment, but it's not there because it's not a gradual build-up to the moment as it is in the movie.
Every story that gives us 'that moment' is one worth rereading to feel and find out 'how'.

 

[Andy D]

I re-read The Lord of The Rings over this past year while going through a really hard time. It was like comfort food in that the characters, places even, felt like family, but also an escape from dark places when I didn’t want to think. The peril was softened because I knew the story so well (but that’s what I needed) and yet more palpable in that state of mind. What I gained most though was the sense of hope, especially as Frodo and Sam journeyed through Mordor. They clung to it, and so did I. It was a different experience but no less rewarding than the first time, to be fair, and perhaps more important.

 

[georginaK]

I re-read The Lord of The Rings over this past year while going through a really hard time. It was like comfort food in that the characters, places even, felt like family, but also an escape from dark places when I didn’t want to think. The peril was softened because I knew the story so well (but that’s what I needed) and yet more palpable in that state of mind. What I gained most though was the sense of hope, especially as Frodo and Sam journeyed through Mordor. They clung to it, and so did I. It was a different experience but no less rewarding than the first time, to be fair, and perhaps more important.

Exactly

 

[RK Wallis]

My body has a nasty habit of waking after 4 hours sleep, so to put myself back to sleep (a good half an hour), over and over, I listen to Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver and Uprooted (I don't want to open my current read because I don't want to miss anything). In the morning, I can't read my Ipad because my eyes aren't strong until later. I try to absorb the storyteller skill. Before this, Pride and Prejudice was my fav book to reread. But, thanks everyone, I've got some great books to add to my 'to-read' list Except LotR, I've read that

 

[Paul Whybrow]

The writer I've most re-read, since discovering him 50 years ago, is Guy de Maupassant. A master of the short story form, he can tell more about human nature in 3,000 words, than many writers manage in a whole book. His tales of avaricious peasants, doomed love affairs and scheming bourgeoisie are, by turns, amusing, comforting and sad.

On the theme of 'faint heart never won fair maiden', try reading Regret:

Regret

 

[SAMelia]

The one I read and re-read is Player of Games by Iain M Banks, followed basically by all his books. But I also like The Hunger Games (book 1 is possible the most breathtaking novel I have ever read in the way it grabs you from page 1 and does not let you go.)

 

[RNMunn]

I have several Go-To rereads. As a matter of fact, it's very difficult for me to branch off to new books because, to be perfectly honest, there are just so many out there that aren't my cup of tea. My favourites are like that comfortable blanket that I take with me to sit by the fire and lose myself in a whole other world. Here are my favourites that I've read and reread time and again:


The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (and later by Brandon Sanderson)
Harry Potter (I didn't read these until just two years ago, and now I've read them three times) by JK Rowling
Any book by Jennifer Wilde (An author of historical romance from the 70s who turned out to be a man!)
Song of Albion Trilogy (by Stephen R. Lawhead)
and lastly
Dragonlance - all three main Trilogies by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman


However, my all-time favourite book is The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser. I haven’t read that in years because I owned the hard cover for a really long time but lost it. I just saw that it’s in KU!!! I think I know what I’ll be reading tonight! Woo hoo!!

 

[RNMunn]

The one I read and re-read is Player of Games by Iain M Banks, followed basically by all his books. But I also like The Hunger Games (book 1 is possible the most breathtaking novel I have ever read in the way it grabs you from page 1 and does not let you go.)

I haven't read The Hunger Games yet. I really need to get on the ball and try them out because they are right up my alley for what I enjoy reading.