Do you have a favourite book that you will read again and again?

[stolemyusername]

I absolutely love reading but never read a book twice, a friend once said that rereading a book that she loved was like catching up with old friends but once I know what will happen I lose interest, the only exception I have to this rule is Jane Eyre, I absolutely love this book (although I did slightly ruin it for myself when I deconstructed it for an essay.)

Please tell me what book you will read again and again and why?

My comfort reads are Georgette Heyer, Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.

Oh Judy Blume, I loved her books so much! I've tried to get my dd's to read them but they're just not interested. My favourite from my teenage years was called 'a Summer to Die' by Lois Lowry I think and Goodnight Mr Tom which my eldest dd does love.

I love all the Stephen king books, but I read so many of them as a teenager, I think I will give them a go again and see what I missed the first time.

I re-read hitchikers guide to the galaxy but in random order, it seems t o make no difference overall.

to those who've re-read the dark tower series. do you now stop near the end when he warns you to?

I love re-reading books which is quite useful as I haven't had time to read one in full since 13 year old DS1 came along with his trusty helpers now aged 10 & 5. Bit of catching up to do...

One of my favs is the 'Tales of the City' series by Armistead Maupin, I always get something else from it when I read it again.

It would be easier to send you pictures of my bookcases, I am a serial re-reader, and have read all my books at least twice I think. At the moment I am re-reading, for the nth time, the Cadfael series.

It's not an adult book as such, but one of my most read is 'Goodnight Mr Tom'

For me Oryx and Crake by Margaret Attwood. Startling near future apocalyptic worldview. Have read 3 times.

Love in the Time of Cholera, Louis de Bernieres. Brilliant.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson.

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Be warned, it's a weepy, but is such a vast incredible book that captures the good and bad of human nature I cannot help but lose myself in it.

Middlesex by Geoffrey Eugenides. Superb. Read x2

Water land by Graham Swift. I was bought it as a gift and thought my friend had lost her mind when I read the blurb but look past that, read it and love it. 3x now

JGKMS

I have to add two more, Gone with the wind, and the Anne of Green Gables series. I was so obsessed with GWTW at one point I had Raiford, Rhett, and Beau on my boys names list, hehe. Anne is as some others have mentioned very comforting, and it still makes me cry.

For me Oryx and Crake by Margaret Attwood. Startling near future apocalyptic worldview. Have read 3 times.

Love in the Time of Cholera, Louis de Bernieres. Brilliant.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson.

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Be warned, it's a weepy, but is such a vast incredible book that captures the good and bad of human nature I cannot help but lose myself in it.

Middlesex by Geoffrey Eugenides. Superb. Read x2

Water land by Graham Swift. I was bought it as a gift and thought my friend had lost her mind when I read the blurb but look past that, read it and love it. 3x now

JGKMS

Theres

Oh yes, Tales of the City is excellent!

I re-read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy because no matter how often you read it it is still so funny.

No, I re-read to the end every time. And, every time, I still wonder if it might be different - this time. In so many ways, it is the right, indeed the only possible, ending, I think - but I still always wish for another one! I wish he'd write another book, with a 'happy' ending.

syne - no, I don't stop. I wish I had the first time But I found when I read it the second time and had my interpretation of that ending and what it meant in my mind the whole time, it actually made more sense. It's one of the most irritating endings ever written, but imo it does actually make sense on rereading. All that "19" malarkey makes sense to me now (trying not to give spoilers to anyone who hasn't read it)

Every time I read Gone With the Wind, there's a part of me that wants to read a book where Scarlett marries Stuart or Cade at the beginning.

Ooh - message me please, and tell me your thoughts re 19 (and I'll tell you mine!) :)

My go to favourite books are Animal Hotel by Diana Cooper and Love Forty by Sue Limb. Gentle reading, funny.

MsDonna I love The Mists of Avalon

Interesting to see the number of people who reread P&P. In the days when I used to reread books, that was one I reread a lot - usually once a year. Other favourites were certain books by David Lodge (esp Changing Places and How far can you go?), Margaret Drabble (esp A Summer Bird Cage) and Nick Hornby. I never reread these days. I feel as if I'm in a race against time and have to move onto the next thing. I don't know why this has happened, but it makes me quite sad.

For me it's House of Sleep by Jonathan Coe, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, the Borrowers, Anne of Green Gables and Around the World in Eighty Days

Most of my collection of Noel Streatfeild books but especially Ballet Shoes, The Painted Garden and Curtain Up.

The Sadlers Wells series

Requiem for a Wren by Nevile Shute.

A Handmaid's Tale and various other MA books.

Anything by Bill Bryan.

I used to reread a lot, especially Barbara Pym and E F Benson. Then suddenly, I just lost the ability to do it - I seem to need the freshness of a new book, and one I've read already seems "stale".

I'm intrigued to find that it's happened to other people too. With me, it's not a sense of being up against the clock in life terms - it might be down to feeling a bit more secure in life. I reread the most when under stress (I delved obsessively into Harry Potter at one particularly challenging time - haven't been able to go back to them since).

It means I can happily get all my books from the library - no point purchasing if you're not going to reread.

I love to reread books. I rarely read a new book at bedtime because I find it too hard to put down. I read a quote years ago in a Lavinia Derwent book about rereading, I can't find the book now but the quote said something about reading a book for the second time being like eating soup on the second day - the flavour is always so much richer.

Anna Karenina

Re-reading certain novels is definitely a comfort thing for me, but also I think I get more out of them second (third, fourth!) time around. Especially if I've flown through the book the first time to find out what happens. Other times certain passages get stuck in my head and I have to re-read to exorcise them.

My favourites that stand up to repeated readings:
-The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen
-The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
-Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flag
-all of Barbara Kingsolver's books
-Stephen King (reliving my teenage years!)

The only books I re-read now are the Adrian Mole and the Harry Potter books.

I re read constantly! When im really enjoying a book i so speed read, so when I re read I feel less urgency to fly through it. My most re read books include gone with the wind, wuthering heights, the harry potter series and the malory towers books!! I must have read them 50 times when I was a kid and am currently reading them with dd! We're both loving them!

William Golding's books (especially The Spire, and Lord of the Flies) reward rereading, in my experience. So much in them!
More for comfort, will re-read stuff like Terry Pratchett, and also books I loved as a kid, like Jennings, William, and also my personal best book ever, Watership Down.