Do you books you like over and over?

[LEMtheoriginal]

I am reading shadow of the wind again asi want to read the latest in the series. I dont usually do this.

Do you and why?

My copy of The Secret History is utterly ravaged. Between 1995 and 2009 I just have read it over 20 times. Then I just stopped. It's on a shelf looking at me now, no cover and illegible spine.

I have loads of favourites. Terry Pratchett like PP, read them all several times. Lots of series like this and I often read a whole set when a new book in a series comes out so I remember everything. X

Most of Samuel R Delaneys science fiction.
Subtle use of language that can make you reevaluate a scene you've already read a lot of times. Characters that are at once reprehensible and relatable and he really understands perversion

Anything by Kurt Vonnegut

The crying of lot 49, just cos

Some of my very favourite Pratchett's I've read well over 50 times, probably edging towards a hundred. It's like a ritual, the safety & security of something familiar that's there exactly when I need it and will never let me down. I read my first of his over 25 years ago and have read everything at least three or four times.

Oh yes - some Georgette Heyers (like a hug in a book), Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch, lots of others. And then there are the special pre christmas reads (The Dark is Rising and The Box of Delights).

A Suitable Boy - read it once every few years, plus often dip back into the McCall Smith Scotland Street books if I want something light.

Another one for Jilly Cooper. I must have read Rivals over 20 times. Usually when I'm ill or feeling down or just need some distraction from Real Life.

Also Pride and Prejudice.

@TheQueenSnortsAvocados Yes that's the one. Trisha Ashley is very good at Christmas novels IMO but that is my favourite. I will probably get in some of the others over the coming weeks!

@CMOTDibbler we have the same taste in books

I used to right up into my teens but I get so little time to read now that I rarely do. I've also read the original Harry potters over 50 times, certainly, the first three, 4 definitely 20+ but the rest less often, possibly in single figures. That shows how my reading habits changed from the age of 10 to 18.

The Oryx and Crake trilogy by Margaret Atwood i read every year. And every year i cry buckets at the end

While i was pregnant and going through a really, really rough patch, i read and re-read Twishite. Very embarassed about that now. Where shall i leave my MN scarf on my way out....?

I've read "Z for Zelda" about five times now. I just love it and it feels like real escapism even though it's a book about a real person.
Can just pick it up and start again over and over and still be amazed by the life she led every single time.

It’s nearly time to start on Hogfather again 😉

I'm not really a reader (I read really slowly and get bored) but listen to audio books and I'm obsessed with the passage trilogy think I've listened to it three times.

I absolutely love reading A Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher at this time of year. I love all her books and read them over and over especially The short story books Flowers in the Rain and the Blue Bedroom so uplifting and heartwarming.

I've read every book by Agatha Christie at least three times (except the Mary Westmacott ones). Some of them I've read well over ten times. Same with the Sherlock Holmes books. In fact it's not often I read books that I haven't read before.

I get more out of a book if I read it twice on the first reading. First time I'm always wanting to rush to see what happens, second time I can enjoy the details of how it happens. I've got a very poor memory for books, I can remember the characters but not the plot, and reading twice sets it in my memory better.

I don't always read them in order, if somethings interesting me I'll skip ahead to see how it pans out, then come back and read the in between bits. I got in a right pickle reading "Life after life" like that!

I don't dispose of books unless I don't like them, so there's always something to read. The ones I come back to most are Nabakov, Le Carre, Pratchett.

I could read Chocolat and it's sequel over and over again. Also the Harry Potters and another one by Marian Zimmer Bradley whose name is escaping me now.

Just downloaded Rivals by Jilly Cooper as a result of this thread. .

Dont think ivr read any jilly cooper. I read all jackie collins when i was a teenager - i felt sooo naughty!

I read Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch over and over. I just love this book.

Her writing is so dense and desperately needs editing that I skip over huge swathes of text when I'm reading her. So it serves to read it all over again to see if I'm more patient!

I read the Mapp and Lucia's over and over, also Lucky Jim and Woodhouse.. I think there's something comforting about really well written, funny books..

I also have things I read at certain times of year.. I'll read the Christmassy chapter of Wind in the Willows again soon, and the beginning of The Dark is Rising..

Does anybody else read them along side new reads?

I have about 10 old favourites on rotation, very eclectic mix from Louise Bagshawe to Joseph Heller. I read them along side my current read as "comfort" reading.

I will read my "new read" curled up on the sofa or commuting and my "comfort read" for bath and bed..... I think I am weird now I am typing it.

The Tales of the City series and the follow up books. They're like coming home.
Jane Eyre.
Wuthering Heights.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Just love the words and how they are used to create meaning. I feel special when I read them, almost privileged. Especially Jane Eyre. She's just an example of rising above all the abuse and crap, finding yourself and the strength you didn't know you had and living the life you have made for yourself. I also like how self contained she is. I wish I was more like that!