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What books have you read more than once?
An interesting quote of the day from GoodReads has got me thinking.
“If you would tell me the heart of a man, tell me not what he reads, but what he rereads.” - François Mauriac
According to my best recollections at my GoodReads account I've read something like a thousand books. Among them I've read the following more than once:
- African Rifles and Cartridges, by John "Pondoro" Taylor
- The AK47 Story: Evolution of the Kalashnikov Weapons, by Edward Clinton Ezell
- American Hunting Rifles: Their Application in the Field for Practical Shooting, by Craig Boddington
- The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton [The first novel I ever owned]
- Anvil of Stars, by Greg Bear
- Beyond Fair Chase: The Ethic and Tradition of Hunting, by Jim Posewitz
- The Body, by Stephen King
- The Book of the Garand, by Julian S. Hatcher
- Combat Shotgun And Submachine Gun: A Special Weapons Analysis, by Chuck Taylor
- The Complete Book of Combat Handgunning, by Chuck Taylor
- The Complete Walker III, by Colin Fletcher
- Cooper on Handguns, by Jeff Cooper
- Dune, by Frank Herbert
- Dune Messiah, Frank Herbert
- Endymion, by Dan Simmons
- The Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
- The Fighting Rifle, by Chuck Taylor
- Fireworks, by Jeff Cooper
- The Forge of God, by Greg Bear
- Goodnight Moon*, by Margaret Wise Brown
- Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond
- Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
- The Illiad, by Homer (Fagle translation)
- Longbow: A Social and Military History, by Robert Hardy
- Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
- The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick
- The New Testament, by multiple authors
- The Odyssey, by Homer (Fagle translation)
- Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression, by Robert L. O'Connell
- On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Dave Grossman
- Plagues and Peoples, by William H. McNeill
- The Polar Express*, by Chris Van Allsberg
- Ringworld, by Larry Niven
- The Rise of Endymion, by Dan Simmons
- The Runaway Bunny*, by Margaret Wise Brown
- Safari Rifles: Doubles, Magazine Rifles, and Cartridges for African Hunting, by Craig Boddington
- Shots at Big Game, by Craig Boddington
- Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
- The Snowy Day*, by Ezra Jack Keats
- Stalking & Still-Hunting (The Ground Hunter's Bible), by G. Fred Asbell
- The Stand, by Stephen King
- Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
- Startide Rising, by David Brin
- Sundiver, by David Brin
- Where the Wild Things Are*, by Maurice Sendak
- Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief, by Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili and Vince Rause
* Okay, the books we read the kids may be a cheat, but these are among the better ones and we read them many, many times.
There are probably a couple others; I'll think on it.
How about you?
Interesting list. I'll have to try some of your re-reads. I'm pretty sure I've read the following more than once. (sorry, too lazy to do links until I find a really easy method)
ReplyDelete* The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
* Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein
* The Godwulf Manuscript, by Robert B. Parker
* Double Star, by Robert A. Heinlein
* Early Autumn, by Robert B. Parker
* Gateway, by Frederik Pohl
Multiple others by Robert B. Parker and Robert A. Heinlein.
Most books on my to-re-read list are there not because I think they're such great books but because I read them so long ago and recall enjoying them. I just don't recall much more than that and I want to enjoy them anew. It's also interesting to see if they hold up today. Gateway, for instance did not hold up well.
I'll continue with Parker's Spenser series as well as more of Heinlein. There are still a few of Heinlein's that I seem to have missed altogether. I'm constantly on the lookout for
Carson McCuller's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter in used bookstores. I read that in high school and that's really high on my re-read list. I really should expand to more non-fiction as I've got many interesting books in my library.