Daily Diary discussion

I saw this on another group...the TV we just watched group of all places but I thought it was such an interesting topic I would pose it here as well. What books do you definitely want to re-read or you have read once or numerous times over?

It's difficult to justify re-reading when there's SO MUCH that I want to read for the first time around. But I'm planning on re-reading books I read in high school...esp those that I don't really remember much about (like The Education of Little Tree. I'm also planning on having a Jane Austen summer...I'm reading 'em all again!

I've read Gone With the Wind and To Kill a Mockingbird several times. I want to go back and re-read Catch-22 and Peyton, both of which I loved the first time around. And also read those books that I just read the sparknotes for in high school, which sort of constitutes re-reading because I know what happens.

GWTW definatly, also The Time-Traveler's Wife because it jumps so much you see more the 2nd and 3rd time around. I also loved These is My Words by Nancy Turner-I've read that one twice now. I guess for me it's books that make me feel good when I'm in a reading slump.

I have recently read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. It was an excellent book. Someone told me that the audio was incredible, so the second "read" will be to listen to it. Highly recommended book, with a different style.

The Little Prince, Flannery O'Connor stories, the Moviegoer, Diary of a Country Priest have been books I have re-read.

When I get in a reading "funk," I re-read to help me out. In the fantasy genre, I will pick up David Eddings, or R.A.Salvatore, or Any of the Dragons of Pern series. In the romance genre, I will pick up any of my old Harlequin Presents, I quick enjoyable read. Presents got me hooked on romance when I was a teen. For my all time favorites of Historicals, I pick up anything by Deb Hale, Nicola Cornick, Stephanie Laurens, or Julia Quinn, oh and Amanda Quick. Margaret Moore can get me back in the mood for medievals which is sometime difficult for me to want to read. My copy of Four in Hand by Stephanie Laurens needs to be replaced. Poor thing has been read so many times it is in danger of falling apart.

I keep re-reading Alexandra Marinina's books and stuff like A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II, Poles Apart. The Polish Airborne at the Battle of Arnhem, Kłamca, Kłamca 2. Bóg marnotrawny and Operacja: Dzień wskrzeszenia.

I seldom re-read because, like Melissa, there are too many books (both old and new) to catch up with. But I have re-read three mentioned here - The Little Prince, Of Mice and Men, and To Kill a Mockingbird. There are some I'd like to re-read from my growing-up years (especially some I HAD to read for school, which made me not like them at all!), and one in particular - "Beautiful Joe".

I have read "Tragedy in Tin Can Holler" by Rozetta Mowery once and plan on reading it again. My daughter has already read it twice. Its a great true story. You should read it. You can buy it at Amazon or B&N. Check it out!

Harry Potter series is one that I've read several times (usually in preparation for the latest book that was coming out).

Phantom by Susan Kay is one book I re-read.

I think that is it. There are too many new books to go back and re-read old ones.

Ed wrote: "I saw this on another group...the TV we just watched group of all places but I thought it was such an interesting topic I would pose it here as well. What books do you definitely want to re-read o..."

My TBR stack is so big (or was, before I lost the main spreadsheet-- I'm trying to regroup, but that was about 25,500 titles lost...) that I rarely have time to re-read-- there's just so much stuff out there I want to get to. When I do, it falls into three types:

1. If I've been out of a series (especially a manga series) for a few years and want to start reading it again, I'll read the last book or two of what I read to get back into it; I did this with vols. 13-14 of Fullmetal Alchemist last year. (And then found out they were only up to releasing vol. 15 in America. grrrrrrrrrrrr.)

2. Poetry. There's always time to reread poetry. I know, for example, I'll be going back to Mary Biddinger's Prairie Fever at least once a year. Such a phenomenal book.

3. Stuff I read when I was but a wee badger and haven't revisited in thirty (or more) years. Last year's was Robb White's Deathwatch (which is a hell of a lot darker than I remember it in the final few pages). White's family is starting to re-release some of his long-out-of-print books via self-publishing, so it looks as if I'll get a chance to read some I haven't had access to since I was eight or nine. Great stuff.

I agree with others here that there's just so many wonderful first-time books to be read. I have never read a book more than once for this reason.
But I do agree with Meg....if I were to reread one, Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society would be one of them. Just LOVED that book!
And now I'd have to say I could see rereading The Thirteenth Tale....but...then again, I already KNOW what happens and for me, that would take away from the pleasure.
Two other great ones I loved years ago were A Woman of Substance and The Thornbirds, but never reread them.

I agree about re-reading poetry. Rilke, Eliot, and Plath are a few of my favorite poets, and I'll grab their books off the shelves and read my favorite poems over and over again. It's best to do this when I'm alone in a quiet house; I like to read them out loud.

My copy of The World's Greatest Poems contains hundreds of my favorites.

I, too, have a problem with rereading when there is so much more to experience. I also know that you can get so much more out of a rereading. When I do reread, for instance, I just reread Beloved, by Toni Morrison, I realize just how much I've lost. And so many of the books I own, I own because I think, someday, I will reread them or I want to. One's I'd like to reread include:]
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Kundera
The Mists of Avalon - Zimmer-Bradley
All of Anais' Diaries
Jitterbug Perfume - Tom Robbins.
Note on Robbins, I recently reread "Fierce Invalids Home From HOt Climates" by listening to it, and there is something about rereading which gives you the bug to do it again and again if it is a really good book. Thus, I wanted to reread Jitterbug Perfume, only to find that the library system doesn't have it - my copy has gone missing. Scary.

I agree with ya'll that there are many new books to enjoy, but sometimes you just want to visit an old friend. I reread classics that we "had" to read in high school and series such as Harry Potter and Patricia Cornwell. People see movies many times so why not enjoy a book again?