Which book have you read over and over again and why?

[waltzingparrot]

What makes us read the same book over and over when we know what happens and there's nothing new to learn about the characters?

Mine's 'The Painted Veil' by W Somerset Maugham. I've read it 4 or 5 times now and feel I need to dust it off in time for summer. I can't even explain why it resonates so.

I like the historical period (1920s cholera ridden china) but I've learnt about that now.
The main character is not particularly likeable (don't want to be her or live her life).
It doesn't have the ending I hoped for/expected.
Every emotion under the sun in one character - she's irritating and fickle and annoys me.

Why do I need to keep reading this book?

What's your book and can you explain why you want/need to re-read it every so often?

Gabriel's inferno

The Great Gatsby. Because there's so much in it. It's a love story and a mystery and a social commentary and a decadent description of the jazz age. And because I'm in love with Gatsby even though in real life I;d probably find him really brash and showy with his wealth. And also a bit in love with Nick.

A town like Alice

Gone with the Wind. So very well written.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (and the sequel). I love the idea of going out to post a letter and ending up walking 400 miles. And it ALWAYS makes me cry...

Dorothy L Sayers - Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night and Busman's Honeymoon. So much more literary than any other detective stories. Find new things every time, cover major social issues. One of the only writers who uses words I don't know and have to look up.

Childrens: Eva Ibbotson's Secret Countess. Just very sweet and funny. And Michelle Magorian's Little Love Song.

I have half a dozen ‘comfort’ books.

Rebecca,
P&P
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Asta’s book - Ruth Rendell
The Common Years - Jilly Cooper
Down Under - Bill Bryson.

There are others that I’ve read many times but these I turn to over and over again.

My favourite Anne book is Anne of the Island but I love them all.

I reread things all the time. If you love the atmosphere and characters of a book, I don’t think knowing the plot already is an issue.

Crime: Ngaio Marsh, D L Sayers, Margery Allingham, Josephine Tey, Agatha Christie and I like Patricia Wentworth, too.
Light fiction: Rosamund Pilcher, Georgette Heyer, and D E Stevenson, Elizabeth Goudge.. All of them, a lot of times. Plus, as a PP said, the Elizabeth Pewsey Mountjoy books are fab.
Classics: As we all agree, Pride and Prejudice and other Jane Austen and also Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell and Middlemarch by George Eliot.
Loads of children’s books, too.

Remains of the Day. I learn something new about the world every time I read it.

Great expectations and in recent years every winter The Snow Child. When feeling really unwell I will reread the early Patrica Cornwell books.

Rebecca
Gone With The Wind
East of Eden
No More Meadows
Most of the Anne books
Cold Comfort Farm
Circle of Friends
The Greengage Summer

I re-read most books (after a suitable interval) if I've enjoyed them the first time. I agree with many on here. Trying to pick some that haven't been mentioned yet -

For childhood books, I have re-read my Antonia Forest collection more times than I can count.

Adult - Jane Austen - I like Pride & Prejudice, but Mansfield Park is my favourite re-read.

I read through my Iris Murdoch collection about once every couple of years, but it has to be in early summer (for some reason!).

If I'm ill I'll cheer myself up with one of David Lodge's novels because they're so funny.

I don't re read books anymore, I did as a child. I read the Narnia books over and over again, I absolutely loved them. Also She by Rider Haggard. Many more but I can't remember them!

Doris Lessing -Shikasta (and subsequent in series)
Vikram Seth -A Suitable Boy

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (and the sequel).

@rosebud5678 There's a sequel to Harold Fry??? How come I haven't heard of it? People are always raving about what a wonderful novel it is (I agree) but I've never heard anyone mention its sequel before.

I've reread Brideshead quite a few times, and have read the Gerald Durrell Corfu trilogy as a child myself and to all of my children. They have never failed to make them laugh.

Generally though I have too many unread books on my bedside table to find time for those I've already read.

Screaming Nice Work is one that I read every few years.

Newdeer - it's called The Lovesong of Miss Queenie Hennessy and is JUST as good as the first book. I can't recommend it enough.

Thank you!

The Time Travellers Wife
The Magic Cottage by James Herbert

Might dust then both off for another go!

I keep books fully intending to reread all of them , I never find the time sadly .
Stephen King's The Stand is one that I've read a few time and will again . I enjoy the first part , all the little stories of what happens when society breaks down .

I am such an avid re-reader that I have to force myself to read new things.

The whole Antonia Forest series
KM Peyton's Flambards books, her Pennington stories and Marion's Angels which also features PP.
The Swallows and Amazons series.
The Anne of Green Gables books, although I rarely reread the first two as I prefer the later ones.
Far from the Madding Crowd
Return of the Native
Great Expectations
Remains of the Day.
The Cadfael Series.
The Great Gatsby and Tender is The Night

I knew as soon as I saw your name you'd be another Forest re-reader, Tarquin .