Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Do you reread?
Which books and why?

I've been thinking about rereading Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.

I was planning on rereading a ton this year but haven’t gotten very far. I’m re-reading the Riyria Revelations so far.

Now only occasionally, I used to reread more. Now mostly books that I enjoyed a lot/loved years ago but can't remember very much of anymore because of how long its been. The last couple years I've been slowly rereading all the Drizzt books, has been a lot of fun.

I have reread many of my Robert Heinlein and Andre Norton books. While some of the stories are dated, those were wonderful tales. Surprisingly, I have also been rereading some of my old fan-fiction and it's given me some ideas for other stories I want to begin.

Absolutely. Like NekroRider, more years ago when books & other distractions were more limited, but I still revisit some old favorites like the Heinlein Juveniles & others. I'll highly recommend some such as To Kill a Mockingbird which I first read when I was Jem's age & again when I was about Atticus'. It's well worth the differing points of view & to refresh my memories after 40 or 50 years.

I also reread some series books when they've stretched out a long time &/or were published out of chronological order. Modesitt's Recluce books are a good example. He started it with The Magic of Recluce (1991) & he's published over 20 books in the series covering almost 2000 years. I just read the latest book The Mage-Fire War (August 2019). 'Magic' is set very late in the chronology & the latest takes place about the middle. That's 20+ books in almost 30 years, a lot to keep straight & it is worth doing so.

He recommends reading them in published order since he develops themes throughout, but they're even better reread in chronological order. He's stayed true to his overall vision of the world & kept the details straight. It's really interesting to see how the characters remember the past & stories change in the retelling. If you're interested in the chronological order, I have it in my review of The Magic of Recluce. He even helped me put all the short stories into the chronology correctly. You can find it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I definitely re-read, particularly when I look at a book and think to myself that I had really loved it when I first read it but now I'm having trouble remembering the details of it.

I also reread when I start a series, but then put it on hold for a long time (whether because I decide to wait for all the books to be out, or the author takes forever for the books to come out, or I just have other things to read for a while), then I may want to start over from the start. I just had the experience reading the last two books in the Acorna series and not remember much of anything what came before and doing a lot of "what going on?" or "who is this character?" though I didn't like that particular series enough to spend time starting over.

And there are some books that just need to be read multiple times, LotR is definitely one of them.

And there are others that have some sort of twist at the end that changes how you would experience the story if you knew the twist from the start. Or a book that just has so much in it, that you can find new things in it after each read.

And of course it's always interesting to read a book many years later, particularly one you loved as a kid (say Wrinkle in Time) and then read it again and go..."What did I like about this???" The Suck Fairy strikes again!

Of course I've also got so many books I haven't read yet I try to keep my rereading fairly limited :) And I've been getting a little better about getting rid of books I won't be able to read again, say Todd McCaffrey's Pern books. They were ok to go through once, but life's short and even though they books are mint condition and the cover art nice, and I have the full set, I don't have the space to keep them, or the time to reread them kind of thing. I hate getting rid of books though :(

The library helps with "getting rid" of books, because even if I loved the book, I still have to give it back! And I can always borrow it again if I liked it that much after all.

Hehe Andrea, I agree with almost everything you just posted. Now that I have a lot more books (and ebooks!), I limit my rereading. LotR still gets reread (probably close to 30 times now) and Heinlein fairly regularly. I'm currently in the middle of slowly rereading my Moorcock books.

On the infrequent occasions when I have a cull of my books, I find it really hard to get rid of any.

I reread often. I have no problem reading old favorites over and over again through the years (Tarzan, Little Women, Pride & Prejudice, etc.) And there are more recent books that I reread just because I enjoy them so much every time I read them (The Martian, Red Rising, Dies the Fire).

I also tend to reread series books when a new one comes out, especially if it's been a while. I just reread Miles Cameron's Cold Iron in anticipation of his next book (and I've reread his The Red Knight several times because I love it!). Now, I'm reading "The Shadow of What Was Lost." I've had the sequel for a long time, but I had to gear myself up to dive into that world again.

I also reread nonfiction books that I've truly enjoyed--Into Thin Air, Endurance.

I rarely reread mysteries because once you know the killer, why bother?

My husband on the other hand never rereads anything. That's why all the books on the shelves are mine!

I used to re-read more, but now that it's so easy to find and purchase quality books I just don't have the time. I sell, trade or give away all the books I have finished reading except for my favorites (5 stars and a few really good four star books) and those are the ones I would potentially revisit someday.

I would also re-read a book in a series if I felt it would add something to my understanding and enjoyment of future books in the series.

I used to reread more when I was younger, but I've found that adulting takes up more time and I have enough trouble just keeping up with the series I'm reading the first time. I've been on my second read of Wheel of Time off and on since 2014, but all my other revisits have actually been first listens of books I've previously enjoyed reading visually. (The wife and I went through the entire Hitchhiker's Guide series on audio together, and I am currently going through ASOIAF as a first listen at my job while I work.)

RJ wrote: "I used to re-read more, but now that it's so easy to find and purchase quality books I just don't have the time. I sell, trade or give away all the books I have finished reading except for my favorites"

Mike wrote: "I used to reread more when I was younger, but I've found that adulting takes up more time and I have enough trouble just keeping up with the series I'm reading the first time."

Yeah, tell me about it. Adulting sucks.
I don't sell or give away books unless they're doubles or I hated them. I'm not a full on hoarder but I am when it comes to books.

I usually don't re-read books. There are so many new ones to discover. When I was young I re-read my books because I didn't have many. I remember re-reading Lord of the Rings, Foundation, and The Chronicles of Amber. I re-read Game of Thrones in 2015 anticipating Winds of Winter being published in 2016, alas, that was not to be. There is always next year.

It's been 15 or 20 years since I last read Ironbrand & I just reread it. Wonderful! I read it when it first came out in the early 80s, too. I guess this is the third time, so it wasn't new, but enough details had faded that I discovered a lot all over again. It's a fairly typical fantasy, but just the thing as I was feeling tired from stretching my brain around a lot of new nonfiction & pretty peeved at some new fiction that drew a 200 page story into twice that.

I liked to do rereads every year , not the same books but different favorites. I've reread the Harry Potter books so many times, The Hobbit and LotR, The Eye of the World etc I'm hoping in 2020 to get a few classics in and a reread of the ones I've mentioned in again. I'm thinking my first reread for Jan 2020 will either be Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone if I don't do it next month or Interview with the Vampire.

Sometimes I've re-read books in a series just because I haven't continued on with it and I need that refresher for when I do want to move forward in it. And then sometimes I need pick up a much loved story because there is something comforting in revisiting with my old friends. :)

There are books that I've forgotten, but I still haven't reread them. Despite the fact that they have scored 4 or 5 stars, I prefer rereading the really obvious ones. Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings. Add to that the fact that next year I'm going to read only 1000-paged books or higher, then rereading is a faint attraction for me.

Yeah, LOTR and Harry Potter are my rereads for next year.

Luffy wrote: "There are books that I've forgotten, but I still haven't reread them. Despite the fact that they have scored 4 or 5 stars, I prefer rereading the really obvious ones. Harry Potter, and Lord of the ..."

Only 1000 page+ books? Damn how many tomes do you have laying around?

I'm with Gary. I'm planning to re-read the Game of Thrones series but not until Winds of Winter comes out. It's been so many years that I've forgotten most of the minor characters.

Apart from LotR (including the Hobbit, and sometimes the Silmarillion), there are a few which I have reread a number of times. ERB's Barsoom series and 'Doc' Smith's Lensmen series would be the only series that I have read more than 4 or 5 times.

Carrie wrote: "Luffy wrote: "There are books that I've forgotten, but I still haven't reread them. Despite the fact that they have scored 4 or 5 stars, I prefer rereading the really obvious ones. Harry Potter, an..."

All of them are e-books, Carrie. Some of them would have been really unwieldy as paper books. E.g. the 4 books of Eragon, which is over 2000 pages long.

Luffy, I had the hard cover of 2 of them, they are big.

Carrie wrote: "Luffy, I had the hard cover of 2 of them, they are big."

I believe you. Hence this challenge of reading them altogether.

Carrie wrote: "Luffy, I had the hard cover of 2 of them, they are big."

This year I read an omnibus of 3500 pages. That's why I think I can possibly stick with my challenge. I will set my yearly book challenge at 5.

Luffy wrote: "Carrie wrote: "Luffy, I had the hard cover of 2 of them, they are big."

This year I read an omnibus of 3500 pages. That's why I think I can possibly stick with my challenge. I will set my yearly b..."

I haven't read a massive tome in ages. I had planned on at least 1 this year but that wont be happening.

I love massive tomes. They're just so big and solid. That's one reason I don't like e-books.

Book Nerd wrote: "Do you reread?
Which books and why?

I've been thinking about rereading Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter."

I absolutely reread on occasion. Sometimes I want to revisit a world I enjoyed and walk those same paths again or appreciate the artistry of the story.

That said, I'm choosy about the ones I do visit more than once. If the world-building is amazing, or the characters are especially dear to me, then I'm likely to reread. I've been thinking a lot about rereading The Lord of the Rings.

It's often a lot of fun to reread a book and see what I notice that I didn't the first time around. Once I know the outcome, I can pay closer attention to the small details. For example, I've reread the Harry Potter books, and I'm impressed by the level of world-building and foreshadowing even more than I was when I devoured them the first time.

Sometimes it's fun to read in a different format, too. If I read a print copy, maybe I might reread as an audiobook.

I try to balance my new reads with an occasional reread. There are just so many shiny books to read. I don't want to miss any.

At some point, I'd like to revisit The Dispossessed, which I read in college. I read it for a seminar on '70s American lit. I'd like to reread it now for fun, lol. Also, I'm intending on rereading Fahrenheit 451 with the group, as it's been at least 15 years since I've read it.

Angie wrote: "Also, I'm intending on rereading Fahrenheit 451 with the group, as it's been at least 15 years since I've read it."

I don't think I've read it since high school, back in the mid 70s, although I have seen the movie a couple of times. I did purchase a copy a few years ago, intending to reread it, but never got around to it, so I will be joining the group read.

Angie wrote: "and foreshadowing even more than I was when I devoured them the first time"

I love to re-read books that have foreshadowing that lead up to some twist ending. Sure, second time around you know what the ending is but you get to appreciate more all the hints that led up to it.

Glad there's a lot of Fahrenheit 451 fans, even if it's mostly re-reads for all of us, it's one of those that deserves a pass every decade or so :)

Angie wrote: "It's often a lot of fun to reread a book and see what I notice that I didn't the first time around. Once I know the outcome, I can pay closer attention to the small details. "
Yeah. Rereading ASOIAF was really great.

I talked myself into my first reread of the first 13 books of The Wheel of Time because... Well, I told myself it was so I could make sure I had everyone's storyline straight when I read the final book. I think I was just afraid of it being over. no, there hasn't been a second reread of The Wheel of Time, yet.
I'm going to reread LotR as soon as I finish To Green Angel Tower.

I'm intending to reread all of Asimov's future history series before the release of the Foundation TV adaptation next year - a total of 16 books (5 Foundation, 2 Prelude to Foundation, 3 Galactic Empire, 4 Robot and 2 books of Robot short stories).

I don't usually reread books, but since I got married I've been rereading extreme favorites in audio with my husband. He hadn't really discovered the delights of science fiction yet.

I almost never re-read, either; but have recently considered re-reading some books which I really liked and read long enough ago that I can't remember most of the details of. So I'm re-reading the Dragon King saga by Stephen Lawhead (one of my favourite authors). I just finished the first book (In the Hall of the Dragon King) - it's in an omnibus, so readily available for the rest. Definitely heoric fantasy! Dark and dastardly baddies, brave and noble heroes, difficult struggles, and the triumph of good and light. Good traditional stuff, and very readable. I'd only imperfectly remembered what happens, and I think my recall is more about the whole arc of the series.

I re-read often and for a number of reasons - sometimes it's been so long since I originally read a book, it's like reading it from new, sometimes to find the hints and clues I may have missed to an ending twist so as to feel more enlightened and like I have experienced the book more fully and sometimes (mostly at the moment) as a comfort at times of anxiety, to re-read something loved and familiar that I know I'll enjoy. Plus I'm not greatly endowed with wealth and our library is mostly computers these days so, frankly, it's easier to read the things I already have around the house!

I re-read very rarely, mainly because I have so much that I haven't read yet. I used to re-read some favourites often as a teen. This year I did re-read one book, but it's one that I hadn't read in so long that I couldn't remember anything but the basic plot. There are a few others from my past that I'll probably re-read at some point to refresh my memory, but the vast majority of my reading is material that I hadn't yet read.

I like to re-read the Harry Potter series every now and then. 😄