Re:Re-Reading

paranoid marvin

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I own a couple of hundred or sobooks. Not a massive collection by any stretch of the imagination. Whereas in the past I always borrowed from the library , I tend now to buy due to the reasonable cost of books from webstores like Play.

What I've realised however is that I have hardly re-read any of them. With the odd exception of my all time favourites The Hobbit and LOTR , the number of books I have read on more than one occasion is only a fraction of those I own. As far as reading twice through, (again excluding JRR Tolkein) -probably only two or three (HHGTTG , 1984 and Red Storm Rising are 3 that spring to mind).I tend to read them once every few years when I have 'forgotten' much of the content)

It seems to me that there are far too many new novels being released , and so many classics I haven't yet read to spend my reading time going over stories I am already familiar with.

Why do I keep the books I have bought? Well tbh some I pass on to friends or charity shops - but it's comforting to know that I've got plenty of enjoyable novels to hand - just in case. I do the same with DVDs and videogames - keep ones I enjoyed , but rarely (if ever) re-watch them.

Am I alone on this ? Do the rest of you guys repeatedly read your favourte
stories , or do you move onto new ones? Do you keep your old novels and if so why?
 
Re: Re-Reading

Don't worry you're not alone. I have a similar number of books and as yet i have not given any away even though i could probably pick out 30-40 books i know i will never read again. I have re-read some of my favorites but currenty i've got about 20 books that i have'nt got round to yet and i'm still buying approx.3-4 per month (i read 1-2 a month generally). I've stopped butying dvd's a few years ago as i found that i never re watch them. Theres a few classic dvd's that i will rewatch, but as yet i've not found the time to even consider when to watch one.

Basically i blame everyone on the Chrons for recommending great books that then force me to buy them. (i'm not a member of a library as i like to own books, not borrow)
 
Re: Re-Reading

I'm a book collector with more books than I know what to do with. I very rarely get rid of any of my books. My spare room (now book room) is maxed out. I'm currently putting bookshelves between the studs in the garage, in essence insulating my garage with books. I have my sf magazine collection on thin strips of plywood screwed beneath the 2X6 stringers spanning the width of the garage. I know it's crazy but I can't help it. I'm sick. And I need more space.
 
Re: Re-Reading

Well,I have quite a lot of books now,but any that I read that either I don't like or are just not exceptional go on Bookmooch so someone else can have the chance of reading them. Of course there's some I won't part with,mainly the growing number of Arthur C Clarke books I have! But even so with all the books I now have its anyone's guess when,or if,I'll ever get to read them all once,never mind twice!
 
Re: Re-Reading

I currently have about 450 or so books. I keep the ones I know I will reread someday and sell the rest. About 100 or so of those books compromise my to be read pile, so I guess Im working on 350 or so in the general collection. I sell a lot of books, and its getting so I cant walk into any of the used book stores in Sacramento without seeing the SF bookcase taken up by 1/2 of books I read recently. I used to be a hoarder, but I broke myself of the habit when I got married and started having kids. There just is no room any more (too many Transformers, I guess).

I do have all my old magazines in the garage. I have an obscene number of those things also, but I'm thinking of selling them or donating them to a SF library somewhere.
 
Re: Re-Reading

I am trying to do more re-reads...I have all of the Feist books and am now on the third one of 28 or what ever he has...I did re-read the first Eddings series last year and plan on doing a lot more in the near future.

There are quite a few books I own that I will never re-read and intend on trading them at a used book store.

I do agree that there are so many good books coming out all the time that it is hard to find time to revisit the ones you have but the new ones will always be there when you are ready for them.
 
Re: Re-Reading

I seldom re-read, except for David Webber's Honor Harrington series which I've re-read about 4 times. I disagree with the idea of too many new books coming out. At least of the sort I enjoy reading -- space opera -- I doubt there are two good books a month at the Barnes and Nobles I get to once a quarter or so.
 
Re: Re-Reading

You might find this thread interesting. I'm pretty sure there's another, too, because I didn't post in that one and I'm pretty sure I've posted on this topic before.

Edit: Found it.

Anyway, nope, you're not alone, as others have said. I wouldn't be able to re-read even a fraction of the books I keep before I die even if I never read another new thing. However, I will re-read at least one book in that time (in theory) and I don't know which one it'll be. So, if I think I'd re-read a book if I were immortal, I keep it. If I really didn't like it, I get rid of it. But, even so, it's adding up - I'm not up to the heroic extent of dask, but I'm definitely running out of space, myself.

In terms of the re-reads, I have a bad memory and a love of some books. Between those, I re-read things on occasion when I've forgotten them sufficiently or have come to "miss" them sufficiently. Also, some books are, of course, fit for study. How the author manages certain things; how things seem different now that you know (if only vaguely) what's going to happen and you can concentrate on other aspects. And, of course, back on the "keeping", there's simply reference - what was that line? Who was that character? The reference aspect is why I keep a lot of non-fiction I know I'm never going to actually re-read.

But, yeah, there's so much to read and the TBR pile is already so huge that the re-reading is a tiny and (at least lately) shrinking proportion overall.
 
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Re: Re-Reading

There are some fantasy series that are so dense with detailed information that a reread is almost a necessity. I've reread LotR (+ Hobbit and Silmarillion) multiple times. I'm now rereading the Malazan books - I'm amazed at all the things I missed the first time. I actually think some books are better the second time around, once you have the jist of the story, you are not focusing on the forrest as much as the trees.
Another reason that I like rereads is my retention seems poorer now that I'm older. Sometimes I've forgotten so much it's like reading it for the first time. :)
 
Re: Re-Reading

Yea thats like Consider Phlebas. When I read it,it was so dense,so much going on and there are bits that may not be 100% clear. But when you re read it,knowing how it ends, those passages then make sense!
Also people may be discussing a subject on here and it features in one of my books so that might prompt me to re read it. A good example is a discussion going on about getting into space and one method mentioned was the Space Elevator,which is used in a book I have by Clarke,so that may prompt me to read it again. Actually yea,it has been a while since I read Fountains of Paradise!
 
Re: Re-Reading

I'll say welcome to the club which counts most of here as members. I've several thousand books. I think the walls of my home stay up because the bookshelves support them. ;)

There's several hundred books on the to-be-read pile which is more than one pile really. There's two small piles on the bed and the rest of the books are scattered throughout the house.

I still buy books and get given books. I occasionally give away books to friends and libraries though I have sometimes ended up buying replacement copies.

Many of the books are read and re-read and re-re-read but the new books are also read alongside. However it must be admitted that the rate of buying and acquiring far outpaces the rate of reading.
:eek:
 
Re: Re-Reading

I have 200 books tops but i didnt start collecting to read for real more than 3 years ago.
I have given away many books I have read on bookmooch,second hand stores.

R-reading is pointless to me right now, there are many books of favs and many other books,authors I want to try. I go reading books like from an order of my favourite genres,types of books.

I also buy new books every month, i haven't even gone more two months without new books, i always have new library books at home. I'm driven by the fact that i didnt read books for real as a hobby,avidly the first 24 fours of my life.

As a kid I didn't even go to school cause of civil war,refugee stuff. Books didnt exist to me.

Books reading wise I'm like a 10 year kid, too many books,authors is too new to me to re-read even the greatest of books. Several books I have thought i would love to read this the second i finished but 5 minutes later my mind is made up to try another new author or get new books of another fav author.
 
Re: Re-Reading

I enjoy revisiting books I liked. I'm not avid about my library, I just recently did a clean out before moving, so I tend to hang onto the books that I like. And I tend try to be a bit fussy about my reading so I don't buy any old book. Revisiting a book can be quite relaxing, particularly if you are in between new books. As suggested, it's also a great way to understand a dense book. I just re-read Banks' The Algebraist after a two year hiatus and could visualise the setting and characters much better and not get lost in the background story.
 
Re: Re-Reading

I just love owning books. Though it is a bit of a worry how many books I have considering I'm only 21. I lend books out a lot as well, and I do reread favourites every few years or so.
 
Re: Re-Reading

When I lived at my old address I had twice as many books as I do now. I had a long shelf full of SF and on the other side of the room a shelf unit full of nature books. When I moved I had to leave most of them behind, eventually my brother selling them for me.
I kept a few tho,mainly the Clarke first editions I'd collected,and my David Attenborough and Gerald Durrell books,most of which are first editions.
 
Re: Re-Reading

I need a bigger place for a big bookshelf when i move out to a new,my own place. I only keeps books i really like and plan to reread. Simply fun,good books that i dont plan to reread i give away and get new books changed for them.
 
Re: Re-Reading

books are like holidays

reading a new book is like going somewhere you've never been. you may enjoy it and be entertained or you may find you hate it or were bored or the weather was lousy.

re-reading a book is like going somewhere you've been before. you know the major tourist attractions, but now have time to visit those out of the way places you missed on your first visit.
maybe it's a place you didn't like the first time, but this time the weather is beautiful and you get to see why others enjoy holidaying there
 
Re: Re-Reading

I have about 600 books and I've re-read most of them. Some I doubt I will re-read and those are divided into two categories: 1) donations to my local library, and 2) stay on my shelves because I simply like knowing they're there.

I'll admit, there are times that simply seeing my shelves of books makes me feel at peace and content.

I usually buy between two and 10 books a month (depending on the state of my budget) and I don't see that changing. I've resorted to buying baskets to store the overflow that my bookshelves can't handle. :)
 

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