Task #9: Read a book you’ve read before

[Henriette]

I will be re-reading The Hod of Small Things for this task. I lost my copy a few years ago and since my husband just gave me a new one (O guess he grew tired of me whining about it) it seems fit.

I do re-read every now and then. I have some favorite books that I keep returning to and one thing they have in common is that they offer something new every time.
I did re-read Little Women recently and found myself in horror - how could I ever have loved that one?!

[Vani]

I've just completed The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield for Task #3: Read a book about books and it left me feeling unsettled at the end. So for this task, I'll be rereading the book. Just a few chapters in and I'm already getting a different perspective on the tale.

[Davide]

For this task I’m re-reading The Name of the Rose: Including the Author's Postscript by Umberto Eco.
I read it about 23 years ago, and it has been my favorite book since. I never re-read it, so I think it's time to do that.
Have you read it?

[Elyse]

I've decided to re-read An Ember in the Ashes because I don't remember too much and want to read A Torch Against the Night!

[Yrinsyde]

Davide wrote: "For this task I’m re-reading The Name of the Rose: Including the Author's Postscript by Umberto Eco.
I read it about 23 years ago, and it has been my favorite book sinc..."

I've read it and it was required reading for my undergrad library course in 1st year. I've since re-read it. I love it! I love Eco's novels - my fav latest read was Baudolino. I might reread Fouculat's Pendulum but there are so many books I want to reread - I'm a rereader ... hehehehe

[Simant]

I am thinking to re-read I Too Had A Love Story for this prompt

[[deleted user]]

for this task, I read The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya

[Chinook]

I usually only reread in a reading slump and then I usually turn to Anne MacCaffrey novels. But as a kid and teen I reread all the time.

I'm contemplating rereading the Emily of New Moon series because that one I haven't reread in ages. Or I might listen to an audiobook of something so that it's a bit of a different experience - maybe American Gods because I never did read the sequel and it's coming out on TV.

[Kirsten]

I read The 39 Steps by John Buchan for this one.

I remember reading this years ago. This time I listened to the audiobook. It's nice to hear about national security threats from the pre-WW I era, a simpler time.

[Lucy]

I went back to my youth for this one and re-read the YA book The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike.

[Emily]

I re-read Little Women this March. I read it in the '90s before I saw Winona Ryder version, and bought a lovely Penguin Threads edition a few years ago and finally got around to reading that copy. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I did back when I was a kid. I found it incredibly preachy - I'm sure I did as a kid - and was more upset with "nice guy" Laurie this time around. And the fact that Jo marries and I assume leaves behind her writing career to run a school for boys - not girls as earlier chapters would encourage her to do.

[Laura]

I had already planned to reread One Million Lovely Letters: When Life is Looking Hopeless, One Inspirational Letter Can Change Your Life Forever because I read it last year as I was beginning my chronic illness journey and it touched me so much.

[Rachel]

I re-read Thirteen Reasons Why, with the intent of starting the Netflix series as soon as possible afterwards. Two episodes in so far.

[Yrinsyde]

I re-read Dick Francis' Shattered. I was looking at my bookcase thinking 'I want to read something fun!' so I picked up that one. I had completely forgotten the story so it was like new again.

[Cindy]

I listened to Death by Black Hole, which I read in print a couple years ago. I still found it good but not great. Neil Tyson Digeras is really knowledgeable, but he is also rather condescending toward anyone who disagrees with him. There were definitely parts I liked, then suddenly he's get all snarky and I would be jarred out of the book. I don't think I'll read this one again.

[Jaime]

My choice will be Reading Lolita in Tehran. I picked it up for a course I hated in college and didn't appreciate the context. A lot can change in a decade and I hope to read similar books after this one.

[Jessica]

I am going to try The Heart of Darkness again.

[Bonnie G.]

Jessica wrote: "I am going to try The Heart of Darkness again."

I have tried 3 times...I just cannot with that book! I even tried audio thinking it would help. Hope your results are better!

[Sarah]

I am still trying to decide what to use here, but I think I am going to switch up the reading format for my re-read. So, read a print copy for a book I listened to as an audiobook the first time, or listen to an audiobook for something I first read in print. Same book, slightly different reading experience. ☺

[Chinook]

I've been doing that as well - my book club chose Brave New World and American Gods, both of which I'd read already, so I listened to the audiobooks. I also added to them - I read Brave New World Revisited and will be reading Anansi Boys as soon as my hold is ready at the library.

But I also read Over Sea, Under Stone by susan Cooper simply because it was mentioned a few places and I loved that series as a child, so I couldn't resist a reread.

[Elyse]

Jessica wrote: "I am going to try The Heart of Darkness again."

I heard the audio narrated by Kenneth Branagh is good!

[Elyse]

Sarah wrote: "I am still trying to decide what to use here, but I think I am going to switch up the reading format for my re-read. So, read a print copy for a book I listened to as an audiobook the first time, o..."

That's a good idea!

[Jenny]

I just finished rereading Ready Player One. I had some serious life go down in the last couple weeks and it was the perfect escape.

[Rayne]

Bonnie wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Brooklyn wrote: "Am I the only one struggling with this task?

I'm not a huge re-reader. There are so many good books out there that I have yet to read, I don't ever feel compelled ..."


I still haven't found a book I'm really interested in re-reading. As soon as I pick something, I just get distracted by one I haven't read. Ugh!

[Edie]

Brooklyn wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Brooklyn wrote: "Am I the only one struggling with this task?

I'm not a huge re-reader. There are so many good books out there that I have yet to read, I don't ever ..."
I agree... so many books to read, so little time. It might be a cop out, but I am going to use a kid's book that I read and re-read to my granddaughter three times in the past two days.

[Bonnie G.]

Edie wrote: "Brooklyn wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Brooklyn wrote: "Am I the only one struggling with this task?

I'm not a huge re-reader. There are so many good books out there that I have yet to re..."

I just reread Slaughterhouse-Five and the timing was perfect. (I am actually using it for the frequently challenged or banned prompt, and I don't double dip, but it is also a reread.) I am not a big rereader, but this my 4th read of S5 in 30 years, and it always turns out to be worthwhile.

[Marie]

I re-read Lizard Music, one of my childhood favorites. And I ended up reading Singularity while I was at it.

This might be a good challenge for a book with a big twist at the end. But I couldn't think of any, and I had my childhood books on hand.

[Maya]

I'm so glad I decided to read Reading Lolita in Tehran again for this task - so many details and beautiful writing that I didn't remember!

[Kirsten]

I'm reading that right now, Maya. I'm loving it.

[Megan]

I used Ramona Quimby, Age 8 for this category. It fit one of the prompts in another challenge I'm working on this year (a book you loved as a child), so it was a two-for-one read :)

[Ptaylor]

I re-read A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans. It isn't great literature by any means, but there's so much humor as this former Christian evangelical tries to live strictly as the woman in Proverbs 31. It wasn't the book I'd considered for this challenge, but I just picked it up one day when I didn't feel like reading anything too deep. It was the perfect book for that day.

[Sunshine]

Krista wrote: "I had just told my husband at the beginning of this week that if this was a topic, I wanted to read Old Man's War again. Absolutely awesome book and I've not been disappointed with Joh..."

I read Old Man's War for my book about war task. It was awesome!

[Sunshine]

I am rereading The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. One of my favorite books of all time. Haven't had a chance to read in a few years as my "to read" list is ever growing and it is a little on the long side.

[Cristy]

Hadn't read The Fellowship of the Ring in a long while so that classic seemed a natural selection. The second, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was required reading in high school and I thought that it deserved a reread with adult eyes and brain.

[Rebecca]

I have very little interest in re-reading, but after reading Murder on the Orient Express last year for the first time, I decided to re-visit And Then There Were None, which we read as a class in middle school. I got the audiobook this time to make it a little different.

While I remember the general conceit and the final death (mostly from the B&W movie version we watched!), I had forgotten most of the details and the culprit. I don't have too many memories of the characters, but I think I understood the adult motivations for the crimes committed way better this time around. (I also had forgotten all the casual racism, sexism, and classism. That was uncomfortable!)

[Allyn]

Rebecca wrote: "I have very little interest in re-reading, but after reading Murder on the Orient Express last year for the first time, I decided to re-visit And Then There Were None, wh..."

Books of their time unfortunately, i've read quite a lot of books from the late 19th and early 20th century this year and whilst being great stories they're marred by the racism, sexism etc. A true shame.

[Amber]

Mansfield Park... my 2nd favorite Jane Austen

[quietprofanity]

I re-read my favorite book of all time, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It struck me as a lot different as an adult than as a teenager. (I reviewed it here.)

[Jennifer]

Insignia

[Karen]

I have reread all of Sherlock Holmes stories as well as reread The Hobbit

by Arthur Conan Doyle

by J.R.R. Tolkien

[Lynda]

I reread The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan. It's a little book that I just dearly love. It struck a chord with the writer in me due to its unique format. This isn't my first reread of it and won't be my last.

[Veronica]

I reread W.E.B Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk. I read it years ago and found I wanted to refresh my memory after reading Up from Slavery last year. Alas, Du Bois's words are still so very necessary. Full review here.

[Tammy]

Leslie Ann wrote: "An interesting variation of this challenge: Read a book you’ve read before for school and hated."

If I were to do this, one of the books I would read is Animal Farm. I am having trouble remembering all the books from high school, but I may try to come up with a list and pick one of the ones I didn't like. It seems like others have gone this route, as well.

[Arlene]

I'm re-reading Every Heart A Doorway. I just finished Down Among the Sticks And Bones (which I used as #15). I love Seanan McGuire.

[Tammy]

Ok, I finally did this! I fall in the "not a re-reader because there are too many other books to read" camp. I was considering the idea to re-read a book from middle or high school- either one that I liked or didn't like- but that didn't quite appeal to me. I ended up making a fairly long list of books I might want to read again, and one day I was in the mood for one of them. The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden was almost as good the second time around, and I'm glad I re-read it!

[Teresa]

I reread Doomsday Book and I still love it. It's about time traveling historians and the plague during the Middle Ages.

[Jessica]

I still haven't tried!

Bonnie wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I am going to try The Heart of Darkness again."

I have tried 3 times...I just cannot with that book! I even tried audio thinking it would help. Hope your results are better!"

[Bonnie G.]

Jessica wrote: "I still haven't tried!

Bonnie wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I am going to try The Heart of Darkness again."

I have tried 3 times...I just cannot with that book! I even tried audio thinking it would hel..."

LOL, I am staying far far away. I will stick to Apocalypse Now, a movie I respect and which is a modern retelling. There are plenty of great books for me to read.

[Melissa]

Katy wrote: "Going to reread A Wrinkle in Time for this one - I've been meaning to revisit it, and with the upcoming movie getting lots of buzz, seems like a good time."

I re-read this two years ago because it was on the curriculum for the grade 6 English class I was teaching. It was my favorite book from childhood, and the experience of reading it as an adult was - unsurprisingly - completely different, and not entirely positive. I don't want to influence your rereading of it too much, but I'm curious to know what you think. Do post a response when you finish!

[Ms. McGregor]

Is there any kind of rule that the books we use even have to be novels or long-form?

I so rarely re-read novels. However, I have a 3 year old, so there are definitely books I read over and over and over again, so I’m planning to just use Where the Wild Things Are. This takes longer to read than the book I read for the micro-press task!