Looks like there are many Senior Planet members who, like me, are hooked on the pleasures of re-reading favorite books.
Since age 9, i’ve loved and at least 7 times have reread Jane Eyre
-C
These are the books we go to time after time, to re-experience the pleasure of a finely-turned phrase, or gain new insight into a character, situation, or author, or simply to savor the familiarity of a moving or funny or compelling tale.
Pride and Prejudice for style of writing and a snicker on the side.
-Anita
Sometimes we read to change our emotional state, too.
Unbroken. So inspirational!
-Elaine
Some members liked the classics, and others more modern works by Ray Bradbury or Alice Walker; two members said The Shack topped their lists. For me, I’d take to a desert island four books: The Periodic Table by Primo Levi, The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder, Tepper Isn’t Going Out by Calvin Trillin and the Bible.
If you love re-reading as much as reading, check out this essay on re-reading, here, and then take a spin through the comments. You might get some ideas for the next books you could read, and reread, throughout the rest of the year and into 2021.
We’ll leave this comments open for a while so you can share your favorites, too. Who knows, you might introduce a new fan to your fave read. Let us know in the comments.
Photo by GRÆS Magazine on Unsplash
Virge Randall is Senior Planet’s Managing Editor. She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers; her blog “Don’t Get Me Started” puts a quirky new spin on Old School New York City. Send your suggestions for Open Threads to her at editor@seniorplanet.org.
COMMENTS
29 responses to “Open Thread Update: The Best Book(s) You Ever Read?”
wow!nice to get this info
my favorite reread-anything DR SEUSS!!
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I learned not to fear death; I felt such peace at the end of the book. The read to the end is jarring but I was drawn to reading the book more than once.
A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer
Historical medical novel. A who done it. Re-read it because the characters seem real.
Have 30 Ann Rule books. Say enough?
I enjoyed “Roughing It” by Mark Twain.
John Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’ had a huge impact on me as a young adult
I read Dracula every year around Halloween. It’s a very fun read .
“1984”
The country where a charlatan is worshipped as “Angel, Saint, Messiah, God,” where the elections are stolen at the historical center of national democracy, where war is peace, Hollywood pre-school dropouts are gurus, and the possibly most corrupt media in the world are celebrated as “journalism,” the ladies read of course about other oh, ah ladies. As ordered. Why would anyone read history when the concept itself is prohibited and thus unknown?
In a way, I’d like to live long enough to see the ladies in the real 1984 which is, of course, coming.
dr anna
I love the intricacy of the plot, and excellent writing in The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas.
I read Dumas when I was around 12 and I was derailed for a long period of time. It took decades for me to recover from the idiocy of francophilia and oh, ah culture and become wise.
“Raising world-changers in a changing world: How one family discovered the beauty of sacrifice and the joy of giving” by Kristin Welch
Unbroken. So inspirational!
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
His prose is lovely, and the events are heartwarming, in this coming of age story for all ages.
I first read it in the early 1970’s, and every few years I re-read Doris Lessing’s Four-Gated City to see how much I and the world have changed. She is my favorite author because her range of subject and style is endless.
I have read Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell several times.
The Shack – William P Young
The Shack was also one of my favorites. I would read it again.
Me, too. Loved the Shack. Used it in my grief classes.
I have enjoyed reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It’s timeless to me and so well written. The movie is also a keeper.
Hi just wondering if you attended P.S. 221. If yes, it’s Yvette Norde’ . If it’s you or not please let me know. My married name is Edwards.
Pride and Prejudice for style of writing and a snicker on the side.
Every year I read The Bridges of Madison County and its epilogue A Thousand Country Roads by the late Robert James Waller. Probably because I’m a hopeless romantic!
I love the movie and I have never read the book. I know plan to buy both books. Thank you for your comment. My favorite book is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
The Help is my favorite book because I invited a group of women together to have a discussion about it. In the group of women, there was an author and a woman, Margaret, who was raised during the reign of Chairman Mao in China. The result of the discussion and the connection between the two women resulted in a book called Really Enough, which is the story of Margaret’s life in China during that very difficult time in history. I highly recommend Really Enough, an award-winning book. http://reallyenough.com/
C: Since age 9, i’ve loved and at least 7 times have reread “Jane Eyre”.
I read _The Great Book of Amber_ by Roger Zelazny every year.
Harvey
My husband introduced me to the 9 Princes of Amber. I had never read anything like it before! My husband is gone but I still have the book, 2 copies, actually…his and mine!
I would read again and again Powernomics by Claude Anderson, Ed.D
The Cromwell Trilogy by Hillart Mantel,
Handmaids Tale with The Testaments
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