Having lunch in the Financial District (at a great buffet where, if you guess how much the food weighs, it's free)
Reading The First Assistant, by Clare Naylor.
Her favorite book--The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. She's read it over twenty times, has the movie, has been to the Broadway show. What's special about it? The whole thing.
If she were to write her own book, it'd be a romance, boy meets girl, set in New York where she's from. She just moved here, to San Francisco, in July. San Francisco, she said, is sort of like New York….but not really.
Recently she read Clinton's and Obama's books, which she enjoyed. Which candidate does she like best? She hasn't decided.
Have you read anything twenty times?
13 Comments:
I've read the book Christy by Catherine Marshall every two years for the last 35 years. Not quite twenty times. And I know that I've read A Tale of Two Cities at least 10 times.
i don't know about 20, but books i've read...5-10 times are: the bible, and two star trek books (metamorphasis, vendetta). and i read those about 15 years ago, back when i was a bible-and-trek reader. :-p
there are so many interesting books out there, it's *really* hard to imagine reading a single book 20 times. i have a hard time keeping up with my to-read list as it is.
I read a few books up to 8 times, but round about then, I get so that I'm not finding anything new, and the old parts that I loved just seem old, not beloved.
I think my memory is a little bit too good, sometimes; if I gave myself 5 years between, then I could maybe return to the book without being bored.
Dick Francis mysteries got about 10 readings; then I realized it was time to give them away. W/ mysteries, they have to have good character development or pretty intricate plotting to be worth several reads.
I've just discovered Terry Pratchett, and I *have* to read his at least 3 times, just to get all the good stuff out of them, because they're so richly layered.
(also, sometimes I read fast, and then I know I miss stuff, so revisiting the book means I can spot the other stuff on the 2nd or 3rd time)
And my DD and I have read the Harry Potter books about 4 times. Her books by Tamora Pierce have gotten some repeats.
Probably most of comic books. And also a book I used to carry EVERYWHERE with me when I was little, "The gift of curiosity" - it was about Louis Pasteur, but twisted in a way to teach kids good things on being curious.
I've read "Watership Down" by Richard Adams about ten/fifteen times. It's one of those books that you find something new each time you read it. Because we didn't have a working library in my hometown for a few years when I was a kid, I read a lot of the books we had around the house over and over. As I get older, I find that I prefer to read new things, and only revisit the books that mean a lot to me.
You've gptten my interest with The Gift of Curiosity. I will have to check it out. Thanks.
Every five years or so I read The Ladies of the Club...just to take me through whatever phase of life I'm going through.
There are parts of books I can read over and over because they make me laugh or cry, not the whole book, but the parts ring so true, it's good to reread them and remind me of whatever I need reminding of.
I've read X-Men Issue 120 & 121 vs Alpha Flight By John Byrne what seems like 20 times. Okay so it's a comic book, but it's a classic!
Maybe not twenty, but I've read both Little Women and Pride and Prejudice at least ten times. I'm always at different phases in my life when I read it, so everytime I do -- I see something different in it ...
I read Little Women over 100 times when I was in elementary school. I loved that book. Still do actually.
Not 20 times but many times...Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. There was a time I would read it once a year, sometimes twice, but then stopped that tradition for some reason. May start it up again this year.
i have read A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, about 8 times now, it was one of the 1st books I read in English (Spanish is my 1st language) and I was so thrilled to understand everything!! also is such a great book but also funny that every time I feel a little down or overwhelmed, I just re-read some of Ignatius Reilly adventures at the French Quarter, and all seems better :) also reading your blog is pretty uplifting and amazing! :D
I read the Clare Naylor book a while ago. It was cute. I've never read anything twenty times, but I've read Pride and Prejudice more times than I can count.
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