What makes you read a book multiple times?

[Karlin]

This is a companion thread to the "what make's you give up on a book" discussion.

I have read most of Terry Pratchett's novels multiple times. I'm not sure that I can analyze why. There are other examples I can think of.

 

[CupofJoe]

If I like the story and or characters I'll re-read a story. Also if it brings me back to a time I want to remember.
I re-read the Belgariad books by Dave and Leigh Eddings, not because they are great literature, but because I like the characters and reading them takes me back to a time I like to remember. They were the perfect thing for me to read, when I needed a little help.

 

[Finchbearer]

It would be nostalgia for me too. Books I loved and still love from childhood such as The Hobbit, Treasure Island, The Secret Garden and Wind in the Willows.

Books from adulthood I’ve re-read are Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, My Brilliant Friend, The Winternight Trilogy, 1Q84, The Handmaid’s Tale and probably a few more I can’t think of.

Otherwise I’m not a huge re-reader because I’ll never get that high from when I first read the books again.

 

[Jackarandajam]

1. A good experience, AKA I fondly remember living there in my brain while I read it. This mostly has to do with mood, worldbuilding, and immersion (The hobbit/LOTR, the black company series)
2. It has alot to say that changes my perspective, and one read through isn't enough to catch it all. (Fight club, Dorian Gray, a handful of self-help, history, Theology, and books on writing)
3. It's a truly phenomenal story that unfolds in a way that really strikes me and/or it's very beautifully written (The Brothers Karamazov, Madame Bovary, of mice and men, alot of classic books and my favorite movies fall into this category).

Edit: these are in no order and often overlap. I would venture to say if a book fulfills one of them but fails at both the others, it probably won't get a second read though.

 

[pmmg]

Re-read one? I'm not sure I ever have. If I did, it was only to look up something I wanted to remember better from them. I have too many things to catch up on to go read one already in the read column.

If I was, I think it would be because I remembered something about it, and wanted to go back and deconstruct it a little to see why I thought it worked. But...like I've said many times already...I don't really read for entertainment. I read more for homework.

 

[Incanus]

I'm a very picky (and slow) reader, so I actually do more re-reading than first-reading. In the fantasy genre, I think I find about 1-2 writers I really like about every 10 years or so. That gives me around 15-20 total that I like. One reason I end up re-reading those books is to keep quality prose constantly in my mind. I want my works to have something similar. If I'm reading tripe all the time, I might slack off with my own prose (and I'd be bored to boot).

New books are a crap-shoot, and I rarely like them, so I turn to old reliable favs, and they don't disappoint. And there's always plenty that was forgotten from earlier reads (it's quite clear I do not have an eidetic memory).

 

[Jackarandajam]

I'm a very picky (and slow) reader, so I actually do more re-reading than first-reading. In the fantasy genre, I think I find about 1-2 writers I really like about every 10 years or so. That gives me around 15-20 total that I like. One reason I end up re-reading those books is to keep quality prose constantly in my mind. I want my works to have something similar. If I'm reading tripe all the time, I might slack off with my own prose (and I'd be bored to boot).

New books are a crap-shoot, and I rarely like them, so I turn to old reliable favs, and they don't disappoint. And there's always plenty that was forgotten from earlier reads (it's quite clear I do not have an eidetic memory).

100% agree with this. More often than not I end up rereading a favorite after reading a new book just to cleanse my palate.

Just did a quick check, I think the most recently published fantasy book that stood up to a reread and will probably get yet another in the coming years is The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch, published 2013.
So eleven years is my current minimum, and thus far the gap is widening. I've read lots of newer books, some of them pretty good, but not reread quality.

 

[TWErvin2]

Engaging plotline(s) and characters.

 

[Karlin]

1. A good experience, AKA I fondly remember living there in my brain while I read it. This mostly has to do with mood, worldbuilding, and immersion (The hobbit/LOTR, the black company series)
2. It has alot to say that changes my perspective, and one read through isn't enough to catch it all. (Fight club, Dorian Gray, a handful of self-help, history, Theology, and books on writing)
3. It's a truly phenomenal story that unfolds in a way that really strikes me and/or it's very beautifully written (The Brothers Karamazov, Madame Bovary, of mice and men, alot of classic books and my favorite movies fall into this category).

Edit: these are in no order and often overlap. I would venture to say if a book fulfills one of them but fails at both the others, it probably won't get a second read though.

Of Mice and Men is astounding.

 

[Incanus]

Of Mice and Men is astounding.

I second that. I think I've read 8 Steinbeck novels, including one collection of shorts. Most I haven't yet re-read, but I will...

One of them that really gets me--The Pearl. What a powerful piece that one is.