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Original poster

A book you can read over and over again?

131 replies

JennaTooIs · 13/03/2023 16:49

I don't have a lot of room for books so I'd like a few goodens I can reread. What are yours?

OP posts:
InsertSomethingMotivationalHere · 13/03/2023 22:13

Any Adrian Mole is immensely re-readable, or Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

mrsdolittle · 13/03/2023 22:11

Jfw82 · 13/03/2023 21:43

Neville Shute - the trustee from the tool room OR a town like Alice

I love both of these books. So glad someone else does!! Nevil Shute is a forgotten treasure imo

SlightlyJaded · 13/03/2023 22:08

And next will be House of Spirits by Isabelle Alende :)

SlightlyJaded · 13/03/2023 22:06

I am a big reader but rarely read something more than once. I am always intrigued by the idea of taking comfort in re-reading a book as it just doesn't occur to me to do that. I think I am going to pepper my reading with revisiting books I've loved. So on that basis, I am going to start by re-reading Beloved by Toni Morrison.

Doodaadoo · 13/03/2023 21:54

Palmfrond · 13/03/2023 21:04

For reasons I can’t fully explain I must have read “The Razor’s Edge” by Somerset Maugham five or six times.

It’s simultaneously genteel and lurid, and most of the characters are fairly unlikeable. It’s also a fascinating window into a not-very-popular period of history.

Oh I agree, and I like you very much. Funnily, anyone who likes his writing, and thus book in particular, has a special place in my heart.

jane Austen, on the other hand. Can’t stand. Not read her since A level, when I used to have to force myself to read the set text (pride and prejudice), or was it persuasion. Possibly both. Dreadful.

is there a sort of Venn diagram of Maugham v Austen, where the circles don’t cross, or do you like JA, @Palmfrond

i could also (and have) read Rebecca many times, @Pieceofpurplesky

i guess I like clean, almost journalistic, writing. Not ribbony whittery endlessly convoluted sentences. For this reason, I like dickens too.

And I probably read a new factual book every couple of days. There are factual books I return too, but they tend to be psychology-type books.

GrouchyKiwi · 13/03/2023 21:48

The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
Room With A View by EM Forster
And many, many Heyer books.

There are a few fantasy writers who are regular rereads for me too - Helen Harper's Blood Destiny series, and The Emperor's Edge series by Lindsay Buroker are just two of these.

DomesticShortHair · 13/03/2023 21:47

I’m a big fan of the Oxford English Dictionary. I first started reading it as a child, and whilst I might have put it down for periods throughout my life since, I find myself drawn back to it again and again.

TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 13/03/2023 21:47

And Georgette Heyer. And Antonia Forest. And Jane Eyre. I re-read a LOT.

TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 13/03/2023 21:46

The Chalet School
Any LM Montgomery - I have her complete works on Kindle. Currently rereading The Story Girl for the millionth time
The Vorkosigan Saga
Dorothy L Sayers
Dick Francis
Lord of the Rings

crisscross101 · 13/03/2023 21:45

Before I'd even ready any replies there's only one book I go back to time and time again; pride and prejudice.

minipie · 13/03/2023 21:44

Dotcheck · 13/03/2023 21:10

Just get a library card?

Yes surely this?

I re read Georgette Heyer and PG Wodehouse plus a few other slightly more serious books. But most of the books on my shelves, however great, will never get re read and I get new ones from the library all the time.

If the library isn’t nearby you can get ebooks using the Libby app (if your library is a member).

Jfw82 · 13/03/2023 21:43

Neville Shute - the trustee from the tool room OR a town like Alice

Lansonmaid · 13/03/2023 21:39

Swallows and Amazons series, especially Peter Duck and We didn't mean to go to sea.
Trinity by Leon Uris
Covenant with Death by John Harris - the story of a Pals battalion in World War 1.
The Master mariner by Nicholas Montserrat - wonderful story and a real pity that he died before he could complete book 2.

A particular non fiction favourite is The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby. My son and I can quote chunks of this to each other, we love it so much. Also One Summers Grace by Libby Purves.

magimedi · 13/03/2023 21:17

Swallows & Amazons forever ........ and death to Captain Flint!!

squashyhat · 13/03/2023 21:12

Any Rosamund Pilcher, all the Arthur Ransome Swallows and Amazon series and all the Dorothy L. Sayers Peter Wimsey detective novels (and Jill Paton Walsh's sequels).

Dotcheck · 13/03/2023 21:10

Just get a library card?

HumphreyCobblers · 13/03/2023 21:08

I have so many but Robertson Davies novels are my absolutely favourite books to re read. Also
Bad Blood by Lorna Sage
All of Austen
All of Mary Renault
Earthsea Novels by Ursula le Guin
Agatha Christie's autobiography

YewandOak · 13/03/2023 21:07

Neverthecornflakegirl · 13/03/2023 19:31

I was just coming on here to say The Shell Seekers or Winter Solstice. I have lost count of the number of times I’ve read them.

Show quote history

Same here.I've read and reread all of Rosamunde Pilcher's books many many times,they're so comforting.

I'm on the last Fairacre book-also a comfort read,back to times gone by when life seemed to be simpler.

DustyLee123 · 13/03/2023 21:05

The Shell Seekers and most of Maeve Binchy’s books.

Palmfrond · 13/03/2023 21:04

For reasons I can’t fully explain I must have read “The Razor’s Edge” by Somerset Maugham five or six times.

It’s simultaneously genteel and lurid, and most of the characters are fairly unlikeable. It’s also a fascinating window into a not-very-popular period of history.

LadyPeterWimsey · 13/03/2023 21:00

theproudgeek · 13/03/2023 17:01

Anything by Jane Austen, Terry Pratchett or (if you like sf) Lois McMaster Bujold.
I have read all three often enough that their characters live rent-free in my head and I will quote at length if even slightly relevant.

There are not enough lovers of Bujold around here. A Mumsnetter introduced me to them a few years ago and I adore them. Have you read her Five Gods fantasy series?

AnneKipankitoo · 13/03/2023 21:00

The “have “ was an error.

AnneKipankitoo · 13/03/2023 20:59

Ghostwritten, David Mitchell
The Masterpiece, Emile Zola
Tess of the Durbervilles, Thomas Hardy
1984 , George Orwell
Animal Farm , George Orwell
have

GoBackToTheLibraryWhereYouBelong · 13/03/2023 20:57

Any Jeeves and Wooster
Catch-22
Any Discworld

tatteddear · 13/03/2023 20:54

@Squirrelsnut A traveller in time was my favourite book as a kid and I re read it once a year or so. Never met anyone else whose even heard of it!