Books To Re-read

A few days ago, I did a giveaway on EDIWTB and asked entrants to tell me the name of a book they like to read over and over again. I got some really interesting responses and thought I'd share them here, and ask other EDIWTB readers for their favorite re-reads.

Here are the ones that came in:

• A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
• To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (submitted twice)
• Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver
• Cane River, by Lalita Tademy
• The Expected One, by Kathleen McGowan
• Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
• Sahara, Clive Cussler
• Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden
• Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
• Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

First, I have to commend Betsy, the person who picked Harriet the Spy and Pride and Prejudice. Harriet the Spy is tied with The Westing Game as my all-time favorite book when I was a kid. I must have read it over 50 times. I loved it.

As for me... the two books I most enjoy re-reading every few years are Pride and Prejudice and Lolita. Pride and Prejudice is, to me, the most romantic story I've ever read, and I love its feminist angle as well. Lolita is worth a re-read just for sheer joy of reading Nabokov's writing, though I do find that the ending sucks every time. :)

So, EDIWTB readers... what are your favorite re-reads? Please comment below - this is a great way to learn about new books.

Comments

[Stacy]

I alternate rereading "Pride & Prejudice" and "Sense & Sensibility" every year, trying to figure out which one I like better. Still working on that -- this year it's "P&P"'s chance to sway me.

[hh]

I've read Gone with the Wind several times; I'm currently re-reading The Bell Jar (love Plath). And I always enjoy reading Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier.

[Lisa]

I'll have to say that my all-time favorite book and the one to reread often is To Kill a Mockingbird. I also love anything by Jane Austen.

[Paula]

This is a strange one, but I re-read 'An American Tragedy' by Theodore Dreiser every summer. I picked it up after staying at Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks and learning that a murder that took place there inspired the author to write the book. The movie 'A Place in the Sun' with Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelly Winters is based upon the book and definitely worth watching.

[Jill]

When I went to re-read "The Fountainhead," I was nervous that it wouldn't have the same impact it had originally, but it didn't disappoint. I'll probably give it a third read one day. As for a childhood favorite: I still enjoy reading from "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein. What could be more fun?

[yishane]

Mating, by Norman Rush
The Sea, The Sea, by Iris Murdoch
Birdsong, by Sebastian Faulks
Captain Corelli's Mandolin, by Louis de Bernières
Black Dogs, by Ian McEwan
And yes, Lolita.
Not that I reread all of these regularly, but I have read them more than once and aim to do so again. Except for Birdsong, which I lent out and never got back, alas. Hopefully the person I lent it out to is rereading it!

[heather (errantdreams)]

I almost never reread, simply because there are sooo many books I want to get to! But I have reread Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy, because they're simply That Good.

[Kiki]

There are a few books that I have re-read countless times. Gone with the Wind and To kill A Mockingbird are two of them, and I also adore Jack Finney's Time and Again. Recently, I would add Atonement to the list of books I will definitely pick up again (well, I've already read it 3 times!) But I think my all time favorite re-read--and that is truly how I determine if I love a book would have to be E.M Forster's A Room with A View--when I read Lucy and George's story, I am completely transported and I laugh and love with all the characters--they are so wonderfully written. I truly think it is the perfect novel!