I will re-read to have that feeling you get when closing a good book and how that book’s ideas will stay with me and I will think about it all over again for a couple of days. My Irving book is A Prayer for Owen Meany . Thanks for all the book ideas!
I have reread books depending on my mood at the time and what the book evoked for me the first time I read it. My Irving book that I return to is The Cider House Rules.
You said Susan Cooper. OMGWTFBBQ. The Dark is Rising is so outstanding, until the last one in the series, where I feel she kind of dropped the ball. Whatever. It's still great. I used to read Lord of the Rings every ten years or so, and was rewarded. As the saying goes, when you reread a great book, you don't see more in it than you saw before. You see more in yourself than you saw before. I'm thinking of rereading Swann in Love.
I am a middle school librarian - so I reread a lot of younger fiction from my youth, or I re-read the earlier parts of series or duologies when the second book comes out! My re-reads when I was a kid/young adult were C.S. Lewis' Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Lord of the Rings. (Also my Irving book is Hotel New Hampshire). I also re-read T.S. Eliot. A LOT.
I reread mostly children's and young adult books due to incredibly good memories of reading as a child - plus the knowledge that these books will go fast. Some recent rereads include the full Little House on the Prairie series It was fascinating as an adult to look at the geography of where the Ingalls family went, and also amazing how much Laura remembers of her Pa's songs, and the incredible detail of how everyday items were made. Also Watership Down (fantastic in every way) and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (ditto). Harriet the Spy is on deck as well...
Just saw another commenter below. Of course The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings cycle through from time to time as well. It's been a while, but I'll be back to them for certain.
Understanding that re-reading is valuable in many ways, I re-read, if necessary, only for book club discussion. (So much other stuff to read and so little time!) Sometimes, we choose a classic, last read as a long-ago school assignment. It's great fun to realize how grown-up eyes often get so much or different perspectives out of these reads. Want to add that the NF "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson is a work that I will often re-read, at least, parts of and highly recommend.
I re-read to rediscover. It doesn't happen often - usually in the context of leading a book group discussion, but there is always something I missed the first time. The first read is usually exploratory - my interest and enjoyment, but the second goes deeper. I will say the compulsive re-read seems more relegated to childhood; I had forgotten my own tendency to do so until I watched my kids do the same thing. I thought I just didn't have many books as a kid, hence the repetition, but I had access to the library, so deprivation definitely wasn't the deal. It was something more - almost like looping in today's terms. Sadly, I miss that feeling, but now at middle age, I feel the pressure of "so many books, so little time."
I must be one of the outliers when it comes to re-reading a book. I don't! My reason is because I want to be surprised or blown away by the ending. If I already know the ending, there's no "punch" to look forward to!
I have been re-reading some of the Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe books. I read them many years ago. While reading them it feels like I am visiting an old friend, who does not leave his house!
I will re-read to have that feeling you get when closing a good book and how that book’s ideas will stay with me and I will think about it all over again for a couple of days. My Irving book is A Prayer for Owen Meany . Thanks for all the book ideas!
I have reread books depending on my mood at the time and what the book evoked for me the first time I read it. My Irving book that I return to is The Cider House Rules.
You said Susan Cooper. OMGWTFBBQ. The Dark is Rising is so outstanding, until the last one in the series, where I feel she kind of dropped the ball. Whatever. It's still great. I used to read Lord of the Rings every ten years or so, and was rewarded. As the saying goes, when you reread a great book, you don't see more in it than you saw before. You see more in yourself than you saw before. I'm thinking of rereading Swann in Love.
I am a middle school librarian - so I reread a lot of younger fiction from my youth, or I re-read the earlier parts of series or duologies when the second book comes out! My re-reads when I was a kid/young adult were C.S. Lewis' Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Lord of the Rings. (Also my Irving book is Hotel New Hampshire). I also re-read T.S. Eliot. A LOT.
I reread mostly children's and young adult books due to incredibly good memories of reading as a child - plus the knowledge that these books will go fast. Some recent rereads include the full Little House on the Prairie series It was fascinating as an adult to look at the geography of where the Ingalls family went, and also amazing how much Laura remembers of her Pa's songs, and the incredible detail of how everyday items were made. Also Watership Down (fantastic in every way) and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (ditto). Harriet the Spy is on deck as well...
Just saw another commenter below. Of course The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings cycle through from time to time as well. It's been a while, but I'll be back to them for certain.
Understanding that re-reading is valuable in many ways, I re-read, if necessary, only for book club discussion. (So much other stuff to read and so little time!) Sometimes, we choose a classic, last read as a long-ago school assignment. It's great fun to realize how grown-up eyes often get so much or different perspectives out of these reads. Want to add that the NF "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson is a work that I will often re-read, at least, parts of and highly recommend.
I re-read to rediscover. It doesn't happen often - usually in the context of leading a book group discussion, but there is always something I missed the first time. The first read is usually exploratory - my interest and enjoyment, but the second goes deeper. I will say the compulsive re-read seems more relegated to childhood; I had forgotten my own tendency to do so until I watched my kids do the same thing. I thought I just didn't have many books as a kid, hence the repetition, but I had access to the library, so deprivation definitely wasn't the deal. It was something more - almost like looping in today's terms. Sadly, I miss that feeling, but now at middle age, I feel the pressure of "so many books, so little time."
I must be one of the outliers when it comes to re-reading a book. I don't! My reason is because I want to be surprised or blown away by the ending. If I already know the ending, there's no "punch" to look forward to!
A Prayer for Owen Meany tops my list. (Just downloaded The Water Method Man.)
The Magician series by Lev Grossman.
They are like old friends and always enthrall me.
I have been re-reading some of the Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe books. I read them many years ago. While reading them it feels like I am visiting an old friend, who does not leave his house!