The Book Vipers discussion

Do you re-read books? Or do you only ever read books once?

If you do re-read books, which ones?

I'm planning to re-read To Kill a Mockingbird next year, and maybe The Secret History.

When I was a teenager I reread EVERYTHING. These days I don't really have the time; I can't remember when I last reread something.

Alongside fairly crappy teen stuff, I reread Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar.

I'd like to read The Ocean at the End of the Lane again at some point, as I think there are a number of ways to read that one.

Also tempted to go back to Anne of Green Gables for nostalgia's sake.

I sometimes re-read books many times, though this year I've been making a concerted effort to read new books and work through my unread books so have only re-read a handful of books, nearly all ones I had read (or 'think' i read') many years ago and barely remembered: The Wind in the Willows, Treasure Island, Alice In Wonderland, Gullivers Travels.

In past years though a large proportion of my limited reading was re-reading books, usually Terry Pratchett. My paperbacks were 'well worn'.

I'm a comfort re-reader.I have to make a real effort sometimes to read new books.

I have lost count of the number of times that I've read my Lord Peter Wimsey books, for example. And I've re-read every Jane Austen novel several times, as well as Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. I think it comes from studying literature where you *expect* to read the book at least twice.

I tend to read the same few books every December (to get me in the mood or something!): The Thirteen Days Of Christmas, Dickens' A Christmas Carol and and Stories for Christmas.

I haven't indulged in comfort reading quite so much this year which means that I have got on with reading some new stuff.

Just remembered Pride and Prejudice and Lord of the Rings - they've both had a number of rereads over the years!

I have re-read The Secret History and also Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in the last couple of years and adored both just as much second time.

I have also re-read The Great Gatsby (still fabulous) and Tender Is the Night (less so) both this year I think.

There are others, but I don't re-read all that much. Though, of course, there is quite a lot of re-reading children's books with my own children.

I couldn't simply go straight back to the beginning of a book and re-read it, though I know some people do, however good it was.

Rarely do I reread. I'm too ambitious and curious and want to move on to the next thing! But as Katherine said, there are some books I will reread, for comfort. I've reread Wodehouse a few times over the years when life is getting me down.

At the moment my backlog is such that i do not re read books. That said I intend to re read all the Iain M Banks Sci Fi ones and Terry Pratchett at some point.

I do reread, have a shelf for them! Lots of Austen like Katherine. Or if it's a series and there's been a gap, like rereading Wolf Hall before starting Bring Up The Bodies.

Have read The Stand about 4 times since being a teenager.

I want to reread Crime and Punishment andBleak House too at some point, both would stand a second maybe third read, if only I had more reading time!

Paul wrote: "At the moment my backlog is such that i do not re read books." < This!!

Ellie wrote: "Paul wrote: "At the moment my backlog is such that i do not re read books." < This!!"

?

I think she means she agrees with you Paul :)

Ah! More coffee required, I think!!

Yes, that's exactly what I meant, Chantal :)

:D

I spotted somewhere that someone is reading 1984. I would love to re-read that. Also, Jean marked The Bonfire of the Vanities as to read, and again, it is so long since I read that and I do remember that it stopped me in my tracks so that could be another candidate.

That said, god only knows where I will find the time!

I have Animal Farm marked as unread as I was so young when we did it at school, I think 13/14? Much if not most of the political allegory went over my head (!)- definitely needs a reread.

Jo - it's funny isn't it that when someone announces something they want to read which is familiar to you, it instantly can make you want to reread it! Sometimes I think that's a surefire indication that I'm not overwhelmed by my present book.

Having said that - yes - I'm constantly rereading books. It's interesting too if time has let you get a different perspective.

Ellie wrote: "Paul wrote: "At the moment my backlog is such that i do not re read books." < This!!"

I've also got a huge backlog of books. Piles and piles, stacked up round the house, and on my kindle. Far too many lying unread :D but I'm going to make a few small allowances for some re-reads of favourites too during the rest of this year and next year, and just see how many of my backlog I can demolish as well!

I'm not sure if it counts as re-reading, but there are several books that I have read Polish translations of, as a teenager, that I would like to now read in English. I've recently read 1984 and am trying (and failing!) to read The Satanic Verses. I would also like to find out how do English translations of Russian novels compare to Polish ones - in particular The Master and Margarita and Crime and Punishment. I also want to read The Plague in English (my French is definitely not good enough to read the original!), that's why I nominated it for classics!:-)

Agata - that's wonderful to have that extra perspective/dimension. It makes me wish I'd worked a lot harder at Languages when I was at school! But it all seemed comparatively boring then....

Hey, how about this for an idea, mods. A special "readalong" category for rereading?

Or should that be a "rereading" category for readalongs maybe? lol

Jean wrote: "Hey, how about this for an idea, mods. A special "readalong" category for rereading?

Or should that be a "rereading" category for readalongs maybe? lol"

That did cross my mind this weekend too! If there's sufficient interest in a re-reading category then I'll set one up.

Anyone who wants to contribute to it would then suggest a book they've already read but would like to read again, but there will be some group members who haven't read it but who would like to join in. So it would end up as a mixed group of readers and re-readers.

Agata wrote: "I'm not sure if it counts as re-reading, but there are several books that I have read Polish translations of, as a teenager, that I would like to now read in English. I've recently read 1984 and am..."

I have no aptitude for languages, unfornutately :( But I realize that there are subtleties that each language conveys that "do not translate." So I admire your breadth of reading, Agata!

Jean wrote: "Agata - that's wonderful to have that extra perspective/dimension. It makes me wish I'd worked a lot harder at Languages when I was at school! But it all seemed comparatively boring then...."

Ha, my knowledge of English comes more from watching episodes of Friends over and over, than it does from school!

I'd love to be able to read novels in their original language and then compare with their translations.

Did your copy of Norwegian Wood have that note from the translator Jay Rubin at the back ch? He is, apparently the second translator of the novel, the first being Alfred Birnbaum who translated it purely for Japanese students who were studying English, so they could read it in both languages. I thought that very interesting, and would love to know if there are any subtle differences between the original and the translated work.

Ok, geeky question.

If we have "read" a book, but want to add it to our "to read" list, can we do both in Goodreads?? Any thoughts?!

Jo - I've wondered that too as my sub-categories all seem to say "read" automatically.

Elizabeth - that sounds brilliant! Trust you to take a vague idea and actually make it WORK :)

Agata - I like your style. But I don't think there are any comedies on British TV in different languages. Just shows how insular we are. *sigh*

I don't think you can Jo - I've tried to do it before but GR doesn't allow it. I'm sure this came up in mod chat and Jen said the way to get round it is to choose a different version/edition of the book, that way you can do it.

Yes definitely great idea Elizabeth :)

I really have no excuses not to be reading in French at my level (outside of set texts) and I have a shelf of them, need to get on with it.

Elizabeth wrote: "I'd love to be able to read novels in their original language and then compare with their translations.

Did your copy of Norwegian Wood have that note from the translator Jay Rubin at the back ch?..."

There was a note at the back of the book... I glanced at it. There was a mention of whether or not the book was autobiographical (it wasn't). I don't know if it was a translator's note...

Chantal wrote: "I don't think you can Jo - I've tried to do it before but GR doesn't allow it. I'm sure this came up in mod chat and Jen said the way to get round it is to choose a different version/edition of the..."

Thanks Chantal, I will do that. In fact, I've sometimes inadvertently ended up with duplicates of the same book so that will work for sure. Good idea to use it for getting round this issue!

My are shelved separately for each year since 2002. As I rarely re-read it has never been a problem. I do have the odd book that I have read several times, I will see what the read date is.

Jean wrote: "Jo - it's funny isn't it that when someone announces something they want to read which is familiar to you, it instantly can make you want to reread it! Sometimes I think that's a surefire indicatio..."

I get (irrationally!) jealous when I see people reading books I really loved and the urge to re-read can be strong!

Hahaha - just give in, why don't you?

Jo wrote: "Ok, geeky question.

If we have "read" a book, but want to add it to our "to read" list, can we do both in Goodreads?? Any thoughts?!"
read, to-read, and currently-reading are "exclusive" shelves, which means a book can only be one of these. However, you can add another shelf to the exclusive choices (for example, I added a shelf named "abandoned"). So you can make a "reread" shelf or something like that.

I re-read books quite often - if I'm tired I'll re-read an old favourite. When I was younger and books were dearer(come on fellow oldies who remembers the net book agreement?) and I was more hard up I re-read constantly.
Since I've got a Kindle I re-read less because it's so easy to download books and to get free ones.
Has anyone read the sci-fi / fantasy series The Many-Coloured Land? I re-read this to death!

I am going to lower the tone now.

My friend is lending me her copy of Riders for a re-read!!! I read it as a teenager when it first came out and caused a storm, and have no idea what I might make of it now...

Jo wrote: "I am going to lower the tone now.

My friend is lending me her copy of Riders for a re-read!!! I read it as a teenager when it first came out and caused a storm, and have no idea what I might make ..."

Jilly Cooper is a blast :)

I came across one of my aunt's Jackie Collins as a tween and remember being baffled about the context of the word "cock" - I could only think of fowl/poultry, I swear, couldn't work it out for a long time - too much info for the book vipers? :D

My friend's husband handed me the Riders book at school pick up today - it did raise a few eyebrows as I tried to stuff it in my bag! I actually can't wait to re-read it. May just have to move it up the list.

Chantal - very funny!!!! We used to hide in the store cupboards at school and read Scruples by Judith Krantz out to each other in groups whilst we were supposed to be doing something much less exciting!

My grandmother (then aged over 80) liked to read racy novels, often Judith Krantz. She would pass them to me (when I was a teenager) with the warning not to tell my mother :D :D Of course I devoured them. Still have no idea why she didn't want my mum to know, though!!

Hmmmm...long discussion here. But does it really matter if books are a re-read or not? It seems like this could get a little complicated. What if someone has never read a "re-read" title, but wants to read it -- could they then NOT be part of the re-read group?

I think all of us have missed out on a few classics. For example, I have never read "On the Road," but I would definitely hop on any group that did, re-read or not...

Jean and I discussed that same point further up the thread. How it will work is if someone wants to re-read a book they have already read, they put details on the reread thread. Anyone is welcome to join in the discussion. First time readers and rereaders. Just a subtle difference, because obviously a rereader knows the plot and can lead the discussion with more depth of knowledge of the book.

Hope that answers your query?

Yes it does...sorry I missed the "further up the thread!" I need to re-read it ;)

Hahaha!

I never really re-read. I read the Twilight series more than once and I also read A Discovery of Witches twice, but now I don't think could as they were probably before Goodreads so I didn't have loads if other books I wanted to read!

It's usually "younger" books I re-read, Harry Potter, Twilight, Enid Blyton's The Faraway Tree (yes even as an adult with no children present!)

I re-read the first Hunger Games book this year as well.

:-) Jen, I read Enid Blyton, Ruby Ferguson and Josephine Pullein-Thompson for myself. I'm glad I'm not alone.

A lot of the books I have on my 'want to read' list are children's books that either I never got round to reading or had never heard of.

I recently read the Fell Farm books by Marjorie Lloyd and enjoyed them thoroughly. I never came across them when I was an actual child.

I don't tend to reread books but have gone back to some of my favourites from my childhood such as The Magic Faraway Tree. Like Paul though I do want to reread Terry Pratchett again as I did lose my way with them.

I am a comfort re-reader and tend to re-read whenever I have an urge to revisit a book again. I am glad to see though, that I am not the only one who also re-reads children's' books. The Pullein-Thompson's just bought back some happy memories for me but I particularly liked Ruby Ferguson's 'Jill Crewe' books. I also had one copy of Fell Farm for Christmas as a child, which I remember loving. Although I am really digressing as I have never re-read any of those! Instead I have re-read (amongst others)the Narnia books, Robinsheugh, The Ogre Downstairs, the first 3 Anne of Avonlea books and Tales from the End Cottage (by Eileen Bell). These are some of the books that were of special significance to me growing up and to think of never reading them again would be like saying to a dear friend, 'I have chosen to never see you again but I'll have my memories' I just couldn't do it!