Fragile Bird Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I have been reading this little book by Japanese author Marie Kondo, the life-changing magic of tidying up, the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing.The central thesis of her book is to hold an article in your hands and ask yourself, does this give me joy. If it doesn't, throw it out. Clothing, books, papers (some must be kept, even without giving joy), knick-knacks, sentimental items, photos.The most common reason for not discarding a book is "I might read it again" Take a moment to count the number of favourite books that you have actually read more than once. How many are there? ...Let's face it. In the end you are going to read very few of your books again.pg. 89Of course, I could say every time I pick up a book it gives me a thrill of joy, but I'm not sure that's really true.I was reminded about her advice on discarding books this morning when I listened to an interview on Q about how technology and modern music services like Spotify have changed the music business, where you only pay for what you want to listen to, $0.99 a song more than likely, instead of $15.00 for a cd full of music you don't want to listen to. But music companies and artists can't live on that. Imagine, said the interviewee, if authors were only paid for the words we actually read. Think of all the unread books in your house.I did some easy decluttering a while ago, clothes that don't fit or are too shabby. Since I tend to pack-ratism, I must now do the hard stuff, including getting rid of more books. I really need to look hard at books I say I will re-read, and purge ruthlessly.Which books have you read more than 5 times? That sounds like a good place to start. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjornbert Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Just looking at my collection of books gives me joy. It reminds me of when I read them+ it's aesthetically pleasing. I really don't like this ultra pragmatic train of thoughts really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NestorMakhnosLovechild Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I honestly can't imagine reading a book more than five times. I think I've read Camus' The Stranger three times... tops. And The Great Gatsby maybe three times as well. But other than that... most books aren't worth reading once, let alone twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Couldn't one argue that the books one has ALREADY READ FIVE TIMES should be the ones that get thrown out rather than the unread ones? ;) I am not sure I read any book 5 times as an adult. Probably not. There might be a few children's or "adventure" books I read about 5 times as a kid and sometimes again as and adult. "The Neverending Story" might be one of them, "Treasure Island" another one. Maybe the Hobbit. LotR probably not quite (I am sure of 2-3 LotR readings, maybe 4). Of "Great Books" I read a bunch at least twice, e.g. "Odyssey", "Les Miserables", "Crime and Punishment" and "Brothers Karamazov", "The Magic Mountain" (and I probably will read them again some day). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 every year recommended: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/331807.How_to_Good_Bye_Depression Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily Valley Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Do people have unread books in their houses? That's crazy talk. Mine come in that way, but they don't stay in that condition for very long. More than 5 times? All of Octavia Butler's novels except Survivor and that's only because I don't have a copy of it. My school textbooks. They're nearly illegible now as they are soaked in my tears. Oryx and Crake and The Blind Assassin by Atwood More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon Probably everything by Heinlein The Foundation Trilogy This is tough. I'll need to look at my bookcase. Edit: I did recently throw out 4 boxes of books that I found myself reading for the third time. Don't even ask what they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I have over 500 unread books, I don't got time to reread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddler Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Hmm, books that I have read more than five times...off the top of my head: Belgariad and Mallorean by David eddings - I don't care what anyone says, I love these two series and have read them a ton (probably over 7 times since I first read them). It by Stephen King - This is one of my favorite books of all time. Read it at least once per year for the last decade or so Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan - Mainly the first 6 books. I started the series when 6 books were out and re read them all every time a new one came out Game of Thrones - I have read these at least five times, maybe more. Villians by Necessity by Eve Forward - I have since lost this book, but I have read it at least 6 or more times. For me going back and reading a book again, especially one that I have always loved like Eddings, is like visiting with old friends and family. Right now I only own the books that I tend to re read, which is mostly light easy to read books that are my all time favorites. A few years ago, due to space, I donated my huge book collection to the library. Now I just request what books I want to read from the library. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily Valley Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 every year recommended: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/331807.How_to_Good_Bye_Depression Can I borrow your copy of this? Curious how the author got 252 pages out of the premise. It sounds gripping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Lots of the 90s stuff I cut my teeth on as a teen, since the library selection here sucked and I didn't have income I read numerous times. Early Brooks, Eddings, Weiss and Hickman, the first four WoTs. Asprins first 9 myth books probaly got read the most. I read those til they fell apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3CityApache Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 More than five times? Easy: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller (I've probably read it at least 15 times, long parts knew by heart at the time), The World According to Garp by John Irving, The Witcher Series by Andrzej Sapkowski (excluding Storm Season of course), The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupery, Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, The Chronicles of Narnia by Clive Staples Lewis, and probably The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (I'm not sure it was more than 5 times, but somewhere around it). That's about it. But quite a lot of books I've read two or three times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddler Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Asprins first 9 myth books probaly got read the most. I read those til they fell apart. Yeah, the Mallorean books that I have are doing that. Each book can be broken down into 3-5 "chunks" of pages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Oh and the hobbit. Like a hundred times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I read Pawn of Prophecy and loved it, I'm currently looking for the other ones. As for multiple re-reads, the only books I felt I needed to read over were Shutter Island and Mystic River. I finished those and were like "WTF did I just read? I'm going to need to read that again." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Yeah, the Mallorean books that I have are doing that. Each book can be broken down into 3-5 "chunks" of pages. I've read the Malloreon a fair few times. I've got quite a lovely edition that comes in two volumes (books 1-3 in volume 1, book 4&5 in volume 2). It's pretty sturdy though so no damage really. Other stuff I've read more than five times: LotR/The Hobbit/Children of Hurin/The Silmarillion (I make a habit of reading these at least once per year) Some of the Narnia stories. tLtWatW, The Horse and His Boy and Prince Caspian. The first (and probably the second and third) Harry Potter book. Lewis Carroll's Alice books Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WrathOfTinyKittens Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Wheel of Time Flashman Robert Asprin's Myth books The first ten or so Recluse books The big Civil War history books I got as a kid The first four Malazan books The first three ASOIAF books Honestly I reread like a fiend, so my list will only grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l2 0 5 5 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Harry Potter (mainly PS, PoA, and GoF), and Game of Thrones - Storm of Swords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I don't reread as much these days because blogging kills that instinct. But Before that I would say...almost every book I owned? I would regularly read a whole trilogy then read it again right away to see what I missed. I have been rereading Pratchett books for 15 years and probably read Night Watch once a year since it was released. I would say that up to three years ago if I averaged 100 books read in a year about half would rereads. Which still left room for 50 new to me books. In fact I look forward to going back through my case and starting a massive reread of everything someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Anathem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Robert Asprin's Myth books Loved the first 4 or 5 of those especially. Read them multiple times myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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