Thursday 10 December 2015

Reading

Lots of bloggers are posting blogs about books for Christmas, and about reading.   I do like books for Christmas but of course the choice of book is so personal isn't it, so I usually give a book token instead.   As far as my own is concerned, if anyone wishes to buy me a book I usually give them a list with one or two possibles on and tell them to confer with each other.

I always make sure my library books are back before the Christmas holiday begins as  I do tend to forget renewals and that can soon be expensive - in fact almost buy the book rather than loan it.

But my bookshelves are full of books I have read but cannot bear to part with so I can always find something to read.   This week I have been reading Evelyn Waugh's 'Brideshead Revisited' - one of my all time favourites.   I must have read it a dozen times over the years and yet, each time I read it I find something new, and that is why I keep going back to it again and again.   I have just finished it over my coffee this morning and I really think I have enjoyed it more this time than I ever have done before.   Have you read it?   Is it your kind of book?

20 comments:

Derek Faulkner said...

I've never read it, so can't comment, but do have a favourite book that I have read so many times over the last 68 years that I can almost recite it word for word - "The Wind in the Willows"

jinxxxygirl said...

Nope haven't read it... I think i've heard of it though.. it does sound familiar ... I'am on Book 3 of the Diana Gabaladon (sp?) Outlander series... and i have been caught hook line and sinker. I'm really enjoying it.. I could stay immersed in it all day however as you know we are working on the house still so if i'm to ever get the house done i have to keep my reading to a minimum...lol I like to receive books for presents as long as the gift giver makes the effort to see what i'm interested in or what might be on my reading list... not just any random book. Hugs! deb

jinxxxygirl said...

OH! And the book series i go back and read again and again???? About every 4-5 years i just HAVE to snuggle up with the Lord of the Rings.... Ofcourse starting with The Hobbit.... Hugs! deb

Wilma said...

I love to read and one of the hardest things to do in preparation to moving to Belize was to cull my book collection. I gave away roughly 1200 books and kept about 300, which are still in storage. Out of necessity, I now limit myself to kindle or other electronic books except for natural history books and guides. I don't have anything that I go back to reread with any frequency, but I do occasionally go back to Ursula K Le Guin.

meigancam01 said...
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Joanne Noragon said...

I have not read it and it's on my list for next.

Heather said...

I have never read it, but think it might well be something I would enjoy. We have a marvellous charity bookshop in our town so I'll go hunting.

Gwil W said...

Haven't read it. Looks like I might have to!

Currently reading Michel Houellebecq's "Submission" in an effort to gain a better understanding about what's going on in Paris.
Place has certainly changed a bit since the days of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein & Co.. People tell me there are parts you shouldn't go to in the daytime, never mind at night.

Bovey Belle said...

Reading it once was sufficient for me. I read several of Thomas Hardy's works again and again, primarily "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" and "The Mayor of Casterbridge". I've read "Gone With the Wind" three times and still love it. "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" a couple of times each, ditto "David Copperfield" (childhood and adult reads for the latter). My childrens' pony books I have read many times, including as an adult as they are lovely comforting reading if you are poorly. Phil Rickman's novels are ones I re-read every couple of years too.

jinxxygirl - Diana Gabaldon is another author whose books I have read a couple of times (3 or 4 for her first which was called Cross Stitch here in UK).

Rachel Phillips said...

I haven't read this book. I have read Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier many times and Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux about his travels in China several times and I know where the words sit on the page and exactly what is coming on the next page. Any travel book by Paul Theroux is a good read if you like travel books particularly involving trains.

donna baker said...

What an oddball I am Pat. I have never re-read a book. I rarely ever watch a movie a second time either. I loved the series Brideshead Revisited so I would probably enjoy the book. Good to know. The Kashmir Shawl arrived which I believe you recommended.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

I have a few re-readables sitting next to my bed. I also have a few un-reads, books I thought I was going to read but somehow never got around too. I'm afraid that "Brideshead" is in the latter pile. One day....

Coppa's girl said...

Read Brideshead in my teens - so many, many, years ago now, at a time when I read anything by Waugh, H.G.Wells and Daphne du Maurier. "Rebecca" is still an absolute favourite of mine and one of the few I have re-read time and again. I'm not a great one for re-reading, unless there isn't a new book to read, and this only happened before I had my Kindle.
Donna - if it's "The Kashmir Shawl" by Rosie Thomas, it's an excellent book - as are all of hers.
Am I the only one who just could not, and still cannot, "get into" Tolkien?

Derek Faulkner said...

Seeing some of those comments, another question rears it's head, am I old-fashioned by still sticking with real books and newspapers, rather than using one of those kindle things.

Unknown said...
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Mac n' Janet said...

It's been on my TBR list forever.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Coppas girl - I absolutely loved The Kashmir Shawl too.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Derek - I stick to real books too - haven't got a Kindle.

jinxxxygirl said...

Derek ... I stick to real books.... although haven't bought a newspaper in ages....

Coppa's girl said...

It's one of those things that is a personal preference, and I'm happy with either a Kindle or a real book. The Kindle, however, is very useful in that I never run out of something to read, and ideal for holidays when weight and space may be at a premium. I can browse at my leisure and have an enormous selection of books at my fingertips.