How often do you reread your books?

A lot of us buy Folio editions of our favourite books we read in the past, perhaps in a paperback when we were younger, and often times we plan to reread them.

How often do you do this? and what books have you reread? I have some of my favourite books still unread in its Folio edition, simply because there is so many things that I still want to read, I find it hard to find the time to spend in a book I already know, even if its in its beautiful Folio edition.

Happy to hear your thoughts on the topic

>1 capiri: Almost never in my case. In fact, if we restrict attention to long-form literature (as opposed to things like books of engravings with small amounts of text that can be read in an hour or two), the only ones that come to mind are

Treasure Island (read three or four times)
Romeo and Juliet (read twice)
Macbeth (read twice)

I'd say around 5-10% of the books I have ever read were good enough to justify a reread. But there are so many great books and I only manage to read about 30 of them a year, so it's very hard to bring myself round to spending a week or two with one I have already read.

This is actually the main reason I started my Folio Collection just recently (got my first ever 3 books yesterday).

I have a list of core books i have already/want to reread and decided I wanted to upgrade my paperbacks/ebooks to something nicer like Folio.

For me, I find some books, just like people, have some unique qualities that appeal to me and makes me want to see them again and again. That's what keeps me coming back to these titles.

Here are some of the titles I have reread and am looking to get some nicer Folio copies of:

Fyodor Dostoevsky - anything by him really. I find myself very engaged in his story telling for some reason, even during the slower scenes. I don't ever get bored reading his books, even ones i am rereading.
Divine Comedy - I seem to visualize a lot of the scenes more clearly than i have with most other books.
Metamorphosis (Ovid) - I enjoy mythical stuff, and to have so many of them all in one neat package is fun.
Treasure Island - currently rereading this one, it's a fun adventure and a really quick read. Quick reads are nice after reading a really heavy book.

For the foreseeable future i am doing a fair mix of rereading and new readings.

I reread 22 books last year. Mostly classics or shorter works.

As time passes I always find I get something new (or have forgotten key elements) from a book. I have never regretted a revisit.

As for collecting them as FS editions, not really. I enjoy the FS quality, but not as a ceremonial experience.

Most of the FS books on my shelves are still unread. One part of FS that I really like is being introduced to new authors, like Josephine Tey , Le Fanu, or my recent purchase of “The Greatest Benefit of Mankind.”

Perhaps the only Folio volumes I resort to repeatedly are books I read entire once, but lately only dip into, such as Burton's Anatomy and Florio's Montaigne. The novels I've read most times have in common that the FS has never, and probably will never, publish them: the likes of Scott's Antiquary, Seton Peacey's Crutch, some of Charles Morgan and T.F. Powys, Anna Sebastian, and most recently and fervently the later work of Adelaide Mary Champneys.

Depends on my mood. I reread books that I like - sometimes because I've decided to work through the books of an author I like, sometimes just because I need a book I will like. And sometimes it is because I read it for the first time in my teens or early 20s and people's perspective change. Or because I originally read it in translation. I sometimes envy people who can remember all the details from books and movies years after they had watched/read them. My brain just does not work that way - the details are in my short term memory and fade, the main details remain (although sometimes my brain has funny ideas of what the main details are). On the other hand, if you remember that way, you lose the feeling of revisiting a book and finding details you somehow missed (or did not pay attention to) last time.

I would not buy a book if I don't plan to read it - which means that if I buy a Folio edition of a favorite book, that means that I reread it occasionally so I will read that copy. But I also tend to read fast (not by using any special speed techniques and things like that which are fine for studying (maybe) but are just weird when you read for pleasure) so taking an evening to reread another Tey or Christie or Asimov novel is not a big burden on my reading life...

As for how often my rereads are Folio books - I don't really keep track but the usual rule applies - if it is there, I had planned to read it... eventually.

16 of the 86 books I read last year were rereads, mostly "comfort" reads to balance out some of the tougher reading I commonly do. I love re-reads both because I love a story and to tease some more nuance and meaning out of the book.

I seldom reread entire books--maybe 2 or 3 of the 110 or so books I read in the average year. But I do flip through old favorites and skim over beloved passages.

>8 ambyrglow: Yeah... that's how a lot of my rereads start - let me just see that specific page/scene/chapter... and a few hours later, it had changed into a full reread :)

About 20% of the books I read are rereads. Often the purchase of a new edition is the impetus also different translations.

I rarely read a book a second time. The exceptions that come to mind are Moby Dick, A Canticle for Liebowitz, Don Quixote, and Paradise Lost. Curiously, the only one I have in a Folio edition is Paradise Lost, though I would eagerly add A Canticle for Liebowitz if they ever published it. I'm sure I'll think of others, and there are plays I've read multiple times. I notice that there are no nonfiction books on my list.

Edited to add Pride and Prejudice.

>1 capiri:

I reread Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson annualy.

Same with a Christmas Carol.

I have read The Lord of the Rings probably a dozen times.

I really enjoy rereading novels. A reread is a very different experience, lacking as it does, at least for me, the lens of anticipation around plot and the unfamiliarity with the various elements of it all. I go deeper into the passages I enjoy and take pleasure in spending time again with characters I like. My personal take on this is depth over breadth, and rereads bring that experience. It reminds me of revisiting a favourite holiday place and exploring it in more detail and luxuriating in what you most enjoy.

My library spreadsheet says ...

0 reads: 25
1: 519
2: 221
3+: 31

>14 gmacaree: Wow, you just gave me a great idea to make a similar library spreadsheet, thanks!

I've read LOTR several times, Gormenghast trilogy many times.
And now that I have the FS editions I do intend to re-read:
American Gods
100 Years of Solitude
East of Eden
The Master and Margarita (I first read it in French)
but there are too many others waiting for a first read. I've started Midnight's Children many times but have never got past the part with the sheet with a hole in it.

The size of my TBR stack always induces some guilt when I do a re-read. And as others have said only a sliver of books warrant a re-read. The greater the time since I read it last the more it warrants a second look, and often that's rewarding because I'm not who I was then, my knowledge and tastes have changed, I notice new things, see more connections knowing where the book goes. But sometimes I also find out I can't recreate what I found so fascinating in it the first time around.

I read around 100-150 books a year currently. Of those, maybe 10% are re-reads (which is just 10-15/y). Buying a nice edition is often the catalyst, I just re-read The Road and True Grit from my latest order. I re-read Lord of the Rings last year and it was a completely different book from when I first read it around 15 years old.

Some books I have never truly "read", as in one cover to the other, but merely graze through repeatedly. The Bible is one I'm sure works that way for many. Divine Comedy works that way for me too.

>1 capiri: I find as I'm growing older I want to return to books I've read in the past. And that is usually how I pick the Folio Society books I buy--those are the books I have thought about and want to reread at some point. Although, I have to admit I hate to read them in the Folio format because I don't want to damage them which means I'll buy another copy of them.

That is how I ended up with:
Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy. I've read this series a couple of times and Hobb is a master at worldbuilding.
Working by Studs Terkel. I'm really hoping they do his book The Good War.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavelier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle

I should say I "intend" to reread because I'm drowning in TBR piles, library books, new books, and other distractions.

>17 A.Godhelm:
>8 ambyrglow:

I am impressed that you can read between 100 and 150 books a year! I wished I could find a way. I barely read more than 2 or 3 per month. I might not read that fast since I am not english native speaker, but still

>19 capiri: Might just be blessed with more free time, but alternating between books and audiobooks has also really helped. Passive transport time or waiting turns into listening time and it adds up fast. Audio is its own kettle of fish with some books being better or worse suited, and the narrator matters a great deal. But it's something to consider.

I do about a third of my reading in audio, yeah. I go for a lot of long walks while listening to books and also use them as accompaniment when I'm doing jigsaw puzzles.

I would reread more often, but limited time pushes me to books I have not read before. (For the most part I only have time to read on evenings and the weekends, so I average 3 - 3.5 books per month.) I'm more likely to reread if much time has passed since the previous reading.

The things I reread in 2021 include:

William Shakespeare, The Comedies (Easton Press)
Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy (Folio)
Georgette Heyer, The Foundling (trade paperback)
Catullus, Poems (Folio)
Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones (Easton Press)
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (trade paperback)
Leo Tolstoy, Short Stories (trade paperback)

In most of the above cases, I had read the book long ago, more than 20 years in some cases.

>20 A.Godhelm: I've never tried audiobooks, if you can recommend one with a good narrator I will give it a try. Usually I only read 1 book at a time but I think with audiobook I could try 2. One for commuting and walks, the other for in the evenings and weekends.

>23 capiri: "Good narrator" may end up being a bit subjective - I cannot stand some of the narrators every raves about. So there is that.

>23 capiri: if you can recommend one with a good narrator
Yeah this is always a tall order, it's a bit like art. Some people can't stand some narrators.
However, one of the best reviewed is George Guidall, and you can always sample the reads before you commit. He's got a gravely "grandpa reads to you" voice that works well for a lot of books. He's also read a ton of books so there's a chance there's something you're interested in there.
Richard Poe is another favourite of mine, he's done McCarthy and Steinbeck and again is of the gravely character. I suppose that's what I like.
Stacy Keach does a great read of Hemingway. But now you're really just getting a list of my own reading habits. Audible is Amazon which is a bit like a deal with the devil for book fans but their service has been the best and returns are easy if you hit a dud.

I second Richard Poe (Don Delillo’s “Underworld”!) and George Guidall.

Also good are Scott Brick and Martin Jarvis.

When borrowing or buying audiobooks always check that they are unabridged first.

I don't have favorite narrators, really--I've only hit one or two that I really disliked. I particularly like audiobooks for history and biography about cultures where I don't speak the language, because it means I get correct pronunciations hammered into my head. (I try to keep a paper copy on hand while I listen that I can refer to periodically to check maps and see how things are actually spelled, because otherwise I'm apt to end with solid pronunciation and no ability to recognize the names in print!)

>25 A.Godhelm: Guidall narrated Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote and it worked nicely for me.

>17 A.Godhelm: 'Some books I have never truly "read", as in one cover to the other, but merely graze through repeatedly. The Bible is one I'm sure works that way for many.'

Textually the Bible is really a diverse collection of loosely related texts (some very loosely), so grazing from the perspective of the canonical anthology can be basically the same as focused complete reading of individual books. (Of all the books I've revisited in nice editions, reading fine or quality press versions of individual Bible books has yielded some of the greatest improvements of my reading experience. It's really a much different experience.)

In a given year, I'll reread 5 or 6 books for fun, usually. And I also end up rereading 10 or so books via teaching.

Nothing will show you how well a book hold up like rereading it with an eye toward teaching it, btw. I've had books I loved get tiring fast and other have held up well that I wasn't sure would.

>29 abysswalker: "(Of all the books I've revisited in nice editions, reading fine or quality press versions of individual Bible books has yielded some of the greatest improvements of my reading experience. It's really a much different experience.)" Something like this?

https://www.arionpress.com/store/60-the-holy-bible

>31 LBShoreBook: I wish! Though if we are going big and money is no object, I will take the Doves Press edition, please and thank you.

Biblical-adjacent entries in my current collection:

The Book of Job, early Heritage Press
Koheleth: The Book of Ecclesiastes, Peter Bielenson
Ecclesiastes or the Preacher, Mosher
The Book of Tobit and the History of Susanna, Haymarket Press
The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Stamperia Valdonega for Collins
The Revelation of St. John the Divine, Elfriede Abbe
The Dead Sea Scrolls, LEC
The Four Gospels, LEC
The Living Talmud, LEC
Genesis, Thornwillow half-cloth
The Four Gospels, Peter Pauper

Somewhat Surprised there are currently no Folio Society entries on this sublist but that's what the catalog says.

I'm always rereading books I like. It seems a pity to deny myself the occasional opportunity to reread a literary masterpiece, or a book that particularly affected me for personal reasons when I first read it, just because there are so many other unread books still out there. It's a bit like saying there's so much music I've never heard - so, as I listened to Beethoven's Ninth when I was seventeen, I don't need to waste time hearing it again. A good book is like good music and feeds our soul.

>33 boldface: Agreed.

There are many books in my library that I have read 3-4 times (Brontes, Dickens, Dostoevsky). Currently, though, I have to admit that I’m very focused on my very much overgrown TBR pile!

Not very often at all - although I aim to do more re-reading.

Books I've returned to, and that I will again, include:

- One Hundred Years of Solitude
- The Grapes of Wrath
- Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
- A Wizard of Earthsea
- Fahrenheit 451 (I felt this was ageing a little bit last time I read...but still awesome)
- Bliss
- Cloudstreet
- Pride and Prejudice
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Brideshead Revisited
- Hitchhiker's

>1 capiri: I am firmly with this fella:
“Besides, rereading, not reading, is what counts.” - Jorge Luis Borges

I must spend at least half of my time re-reading, and much of my reason for reading new books is to add to my catalogue of favorite re-readables.

Of course Folio editions add another level of pleasure to this as well. I get ridiculously excited when Folio publishes a book in that catalogue. I could hardly contain my joy when they recently printed Nan Shepard's The Living Mountain.

I focus my re-reading on a lot of short stories, so Italo Calvino and Borges are favorites, I've got an almost destroyed copy of Darkwater - an Anthology of Fantastic Literature which has so many great writers. Poetry also works well, and my choice of re-reads seems to veer either towards poetical prose or a mind smashingly good idea in a short form.

There's a whole load of reference or essay stuff I re-read as well, basically books on books. Things like Writer's Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands, or all of Alberto Manguel's output about reading.

Other much re-read folios are Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker - that's a real event bringing that massive tomb down, love it! I also keep a ready supply of slimer re-readable paperbacks to take where-ever I go, so if I have a couple of minutes I can spend it well.

I pray for more Folios of Colin Thubron or Calvino or if ever they do Blood Meridian, that would be a happy, happy day.

Really interesting to read everyone else's views on this too, what a great topic.

Lately, my goal has been only to buy the Folio editions of a book if I will re-read it. Typically I’ll pick up a paperback copy when I see the new collections before putting in an order.

This past year I’ve sold or given away quite a few books that I’m sure I won’t revisit. I’m actually getting a strange feeling of accomplishment from seeing my collection get smaller and more specific to my tastes.

I finished Ulysses for the first time last year. While I’m not jumping right back into a re-read, it’s one I feel I’ll enjoy again someday. Especially now that the pressure to finish it is gone.

Here are some of my favorite re-reads:
- Middlemarch
- East of Eden
- The Remains of the Day
- War and Peace
- Catch-22
- Crime and Punishment
- The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy
- Moby Dick
- Ulysses
- The Old Man and the Sea (c’mon Folio!)
- Hemingway’s Short Stories
- The Illustrated Man
- Rendezvous with Rama
- Remembrance of Earth’s Past Trilogy by Cixin Liu

I’m just starting into Mario Vargas Llosa’s catalogue. Hopefully I’ll find some new favorites among his books.

I have a steady rotation of favourites that I tend to read and re-read a lot. Tolkien and Heinlein crop up a lot. Pratchett is just comfort reading for me. To a lesser degree, a lot of the classics like 1984, a lot of the Jules Verne novels, The Lost World and so on.

Most of the time it's probably about 50/50 new books and re-reading old favourites.

Over the last 5 full calendar years, I've read 30 rereads out of a total of 396 books, ie just over 7.5%. Most of those have been either FS editions, or other such as Everyman (which I quite often prefer for readability).

I can't think of any FS books that I've bought to reread where I haven't actually done so, but I do sometimes buy an FS edition of a book which I've really enjoyed, but have no immediate intention of rereading - just want a nice copy for the shelves/possible future rereading/reference - I regard my shelves as a library, not a TBR set.

However, I've not read quite a few of the volumes where I've bought an unread book of a 'favourite' author; I still intend to! It is very rare for me to buy a new FS book where I haven't previously read the book or author and really enjoyed them.

I have, however, quite often bought books on the secondary market where I know neither book nor author, but am flying a kite! They are almost always cheaper earlier edtions though - far more interesting than the current range, which are now way too expensive to warrant experimenting with - one reason for why I now buy so few new books.

>39 Willoyd:
You read more than I, but otherwise our habits are similar. Over a lifetime I have collected just about all the classics I care to read and own, mostly in Folio Society or Easton Press editions. I don’t often reread one, but when I do it is almost always in a less expensive edition. For example, I have recently reread the complete fiction of Poe, choosing this time to read the Library of America edition because it is easier to hold and to take with me to read over breakfast or lunch.

I’ve discovered many excellent authors I’ve not known before, many of them international, through the wonderful paperbacks published by the New York Review of Books. And I’ve never had the urge to pay a premium for exotic paper or obsolete printing methods like letterpress.

>40 jroger1: "obsolete printing methods like letterpress"

Shots fired!

>41 abysswalker:
I thought that might catch someone’s attention. I wouldn’t dare say it in the Fine Press forum. :-)

>39 Willoyd: I also read considerably less than you (probably about 60% of your rate), but I thought your exercise in determining the re-read percentage of your reading was an interesting one. I was surprised that my rereading rate was 19%, higher than I expected. But it might be due to the fact that I often have not read a given reread in decades, so that it almost feels like a new book. (With fairly rare exceptions, I only reread classics.)

>40 jroger1: Intriguing. When I reread a book, it's often precisely because I have acquired a fine edition of it. Then again, I'm pretty sure I own fewer fine books than you, and so each new acquisition is an occasion. (Letterpress is a draw, for me.)

>43 Eumnestes: (With fairly rare exceptions, I only reread classics.)
Me too!

Do I attack the TBR pile? Or do I curl up with an old favourite which I know will bring me pleasure? I have no hard and fast rules on that.

Certain books or authors are pretty much guaranteed to take me to my happy place no matter how many times I have read them (LoTR; Discworld; Illuminatus!; P.G. Wodehouse). But I also want to know what's going on outside of that bubble.

The same with music. If I need to feel joy in being alive, Messiaen's Turangalila (or L'Ascension or Apparition de l'eglise eternelle will do that for me every time but I would feel a little twinge of guilt that I'm missing out on what current composers are up to (Anna Thorvaldsdottir, say).

Go where the feeling takes you :-)