re-reading books

[Kasper]

I don't see why I would buy a book that wasn't worth of a re-read.

Meh, I buy books I've never read so I wouldn't know ahead of time if they'd be worthy of that kind of re-readable claim (not that I'd re-read them anyway). I'm a book-a-holic, I have more books than I will read, second hand book store are to me what candy stores are to cavity-ridden pre-pubescent sugar-holic school kids. I buy books in the hope that I'll discover something great.

 

[MacGuffin]

I don't really reread books. Certain parts, but not the entire thing.

 

[Atomic Fiend]

Same as Macguffy bear.

 

[wolfy]

Almost never, I reference non fiction stuff a lot. Most books get reused as coasters, table props or decorative symbols of my intellect.

 

[InsatiableCuriosity]

Meh, I buy books I've never read so I wouldn't know ahead of time if they'd be worthy of that kind of re-readable claim (not that I'd re-read them anyway). I'm a book-a-holic, I have more books than I will read, second hand book store are to me what candy stores are to cavity-ridden pre-pubescent sugar-holic school kids. I buy books in the hope that I'll discover something great.

Oh dear - are you sure you aren't my child in another life??? This is soooo me!

I have books that have overflowed from my house to my mother's house. At home I have 5 large bookcases full (some double depth) and about 15 large polytubs (with lids of course), full of books.

As far as rereading - I am embarrassed to say I have read the entire Green Gable series about every 7-10 years since I was 10yo.

I reread the Gibran's The Prophet regularly, am rereading Tom West's In the Mind's Eye yet again, and will reread several books in a series when a new volume comes out just so I am in the head-space/continuity of the series.

 

[Kasper]

I love you.

 

[Such Irony]

Generally no. I have so many books I want to read that if I reread a book, that just prevents me from reading one of the hundreds of books in my to-read pile.

An exception is if a movie is coming out from a book that I read and enjoyed, I'll reread the book, if I think I might want to see the movie so I can better understand what's going on in the movie.

I did that with the Harry Potter books. By the time the movie came out for a particular book, it would be a few years ago since I read it. So I'd read it again to refresh my memory.

 

[InsatiableCuriosity]

Aww gee thanks

 

[miss fortune]

I just voted so whatever would do something evil to me.

just try to make a serious thread after this... I'll fluff it quite seriously!!!

 

[coconut]

I read favorite literature again, I watch favorite movies again and again, and I never get tired of hearing the same music.

 

[Litvyak]

I did, as a child. Now that I have less time to read I'm more inclined to discover new stories instead of re-discovering old ones.

 

[Mole]

Warm Muzzle to Warm Ear

I read a book to find what is coming next.

And as any repetition will induce a trance, I re-read a book to induce a reading trance.

And having entered the reading trance, I want to go deeper and deeper. I think this is the trance equivalent of wanting to know what is coming next. Only the whole purpose of a trance is to put that part of the brain to sleep that knows what is coming next.

So re-reading a book is a slick betrayal of part of my brain so the other part can come to life.

Except I can only bear to re-read a book that is well written because as I go deeper into my reading trance I start to loose the sense of the meaning and start to feel the beauty of the words. I mean just repeat any word to yourself over and over and quite soon you loose the meaning of the word and start to hear the contours of the sound.

Of course the whole purpose of literacy is to create the individual, while the whole purpose of the internet is to create the tribe.

So to betray the book in the interests of the tribe I like to invite members to read aloud with me on the internet turn and turn about.

But as we betray the book, we are true to ourselves. We are leaving the literate and going back to the spoken word - an older more ancient culture told around the camp fire passed on from warm muzzle to warm ear for millennia.

And reading aloud on the internet creates a shared trance where sense doesn't matter so much as the sheer enjoyment of warm muzzle to warm ear.

However I have noticed the highly literate individual finds it hard to let go of sense, indeed they keep telling me over and over again, it is nonsense as they start to sense the beauty of the words. And they are right, beauty doesn't make sense, at least not to the literate individual.

But interestingly beauty enhances power - and there they are together, walking down the isle, a marriage made in heaven.

 

[Stevo]

I read Lord of the Rings at least once a year. Sometimes twice. I just get a craving every 8 months or so to read it again. It's also a great timekiller on beach vacations and such; one of the few books that consistently takes me more than a week to read.

 

[NPcomplete]

I read Lord of the Rings at least once a year. Sometimes twice. I just get a craving every 8 months or so to read it again. It's also a great timekiller on beach vacations and such; one of the few books that consistently takes me more than a week to read.

This but not once a year. I used to re-read the Harry Potter series every summer in high school but I haven't read it in a long time.

Now I find I can rarely re-read books. There're just so many books to read! I couldn't even re-read the fiction books for classes, let alone the non-fiction ones. In fact, the only books I can re-read these days are the Feynman ones.

Hopefully this will be enough to ward off the evil acts.

 

[Hate]

I'm a fan of highlighting in my books... I don't necessarily go back and re-read the entire book, but I go back to read all the stuff that I highlighted. I usually highlight the important parts of each chapter or quotes that jump out at me.

I have a pretty bad short-term memory so I highlight and re-read so that way I can retain the information better.

I also have a few books that I like to re-read in a skimming fashion because they are very complex books that I seem to gain some new insight from every time I read them.

 

[Randomnity]

There isn't really any point to owning books if you don't reread them, right?

I've read all my books at least 3 times and up to maybe 10 times or more. But I'd much much rather read a new book by an author I know is good. It's nice to have in-house options when I want to read though, since there are never any unread books in my house.

Reading is entertainment for me more than learning, though.

 

[Kasper]

There isn't really any point to owning books if you don't reread them, right?

If you only own books that are worth re-reading then it means you must have read them before you bought them, in which case the only books you can read would have to be borrowed from another person or a library.

Do people honestly not buy books that they haven't read before? Cause that doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[Jaguar]

I have no idea if that was intended to be funny, but it's funny as shit.

 

[Randomnity]

If you only own books that are worth re-reading then it means you must have read them before you bought them, in which case the only books you can read would have to be borrowed from another person or a library.

Do people honestly not buy books that they haven't read before? Cause that doesn't make any sense to me.

I was serious, I usually only buy books when I know I'll enjoy re-reading them (most of my books are from 5 or so authors whose work I almost universally like, or excellent books that I've read elsewhere) and even then I try to avoid it. My money is too vluable to me to waste it on books I'm not pretty sure I'll like. If I only want to read them once or if I'm trying out new authors I do go to the library. And I borrow (and lend, too) books from people whenever I can. Why wouldn't I?

And if I didn't like reading them enough to re-read them, I get rid of them. Why would you waste shelf space? seriously, I don't get it. But it's pretty uncommon that I don't enjoy a book I've bought, I guess I have a good idea of what I like, or I'm not picky.

 

[miss fortune]

I tend to buy books that I've either read elsewhere or that I know I'll like because of the author as well... wasting money on a book that I might not like isn't cool... that's why I've got a library card