Do some publishers have any idea?

[barryem]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

That's pretty much true for me as well. The one series that I would like to have that I could reread every few years is the James Herriot Yorkshire vet books; All Creatures Great and Small, etc. The one single book that I have kept and reread every few years is Farley Mowat's Grey Seas Under; best read during stormy weather.

I've re-read a lot of books. There are maybe 2 or 3 dozen books I read every 5 years or so. I never kept any, though. I'd give them away and find another copy when I was ready to read it again. I shopped a lot in used book stores, which made that inexpensive.

There were a few books I couldn't find later so my plan wasn't perfect. But it worked well enough and my life wasn't really stable enough in the early days to hang on to something for 5 years.

I am finding some of those books again now that I'm reading Kindle books. Although there are still some that I can't find.

Barry

[Deskisamess]

Rereading a favorite book is like visiting an old friend. It's the same, but there is always something new to find out or see. Adding new books to the list of those I like to reread is fun also.

I read The Good Earth every couple of years. Same with The Accidental Tourist, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and To Kill a Mockingbird. We have a vacation coming up in July, I may read Memoirs of a Geisha again, or something by Amy Tan that I've read before.

I think Endurance will be on my reread list also, it was such an exciting read.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Rereading a favorite book is like visiting an old friend. It's the same, but there is always something new to find out or see. Adding new books to the list of those I like to reread is fun also.

And sometimes, it can surprise me how my tastes have changed over the years. Sometimes, I've found it enjoyable to visit that old friend, other times I have found myself marvelling at the difference between what I remembered the book as being and what I found in it this time around.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DNSB

And sometimes, it can surprise me how my tastes have changed over the years. Sometimes, I've found it enjoyable to visit that old friend, other times I have found myself marvelling at the difference between what I remembered the book as being and what I found in it this time around.

That's for sure. There are a number of books that I read as a teenager that no longer appeal to me. Also, some books don't age well, especially books that have a lot of current cultural references or slang.

But still, I'm someone who re-reads a lot.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by DNSB

And sometimes, it can surprise me how my tastes have changed over the years. Sometimes, I've found it enjoyable to visit that old friend, other times I have found myself marvelling at the difference between what I remembered the book as being and what I found in it this time around.

Have you been able to quantify/describe how your tastes have changed?

Some time in my late teens or 20s I stopped being interested in books that had a plot but didn't make me sympathize with or care about the characters or main character. At the time I didn't understand what had happened but I'd transitioned from reading science fiction to fantasy and didn't realize why but no longer found science fiction engaging. Fantasy books are more likely to have good engaging characters while science fiction books are more likely to be about an idea. I'd also tried reading some mystery books after this change had occurred and always found them lacking interest. Mystery writers who do good character development are rare.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Rereading a favorite book is like visiting an old friend. It's the same, but there is always something new to find out or see. Adding new books to the list of those I like to reread is fun also.

I read The Good Earth every couple of years. Same with The Accidental Tourist, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and To Kill a Mockingbird. We have a vacation coming up in July, I may read Memoirs of a Geisha again, or something by Amy Tan that I've read before.

"The Good Earth" is one I've reread every few years since I first read it. I've also read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" quite a few times over the years.

I've read most of Amy Tan's books but only once. I recently bought a few of my favorites to read again. I'm not sure I'll read "Memoirs of a Geisha" again but I might. I do have it.

Some others that I reread a lot are Mika Waltari's "The Egyptian" and James Clavell's "Shogun" and "TaiPan". And let's not forget Grace Metalous "Peyton Place". I got in trouble for having that in my hip pocket during high school. I always had a book in my hip pocket and no-one cared till they saw that one. It was considered shocking in it's day but what nobody seemed to notice was that it was a truly beautiful novel. She was a very talented writer.

A few years ago I decided to read some of the early Pulitzer winning novels that I hadn't read before. I've always liked Edna Ferber's books and I was surprised to hear she was among the first few Pulitzer winners. I thought she was good but not that good. So I read "So Big", the one that did it for her and wow! That's one I'll be reading again and again. Yes I'm 78 but I plan to live till I've read all my books so I have plenty of time. Especially since I'm buying them faster than I can read them.

Barry

[barryem]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Have you been able to quantify/describe how your tastes have changed?.

I have, to some extent. As I've gotten older I find myself bored by action scenes. I want drama. I want novels about people. That last part has always been true but I enjoyed action as well. Now I avoid books that might have too much action.

I also have no interest whatever in books about extraordinary people. I find myself more and more wanting books about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations. I think I learned this about myself while reading books by Nevil Shute, who, by the way, is one I forgot to mention as someone I read and reread and have for years. His "A Town Like Alice" and "The Pied Piper" and most especially "Trustee from the Toolroom" are among my favorite books.

Barry

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by barryem

"The Good Earth" is one I've reread every few years since I first read it.

I think that another of my favorites, The Awakening Land trilogy, has similarities.

Originally Posted by barryem

So I read "So Big", the one that did it for her and wow!

I have to get to that. It is U.S. public domain this coming January, but not in Europe's public domain, or Australia's, until 2039.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Have you been able to quantify/describe how your tastes have changed?

For me, I find myself looking more for character building and less for mindless action. When I read science fiction which is still my favourite genre, I still want the sense of wonder but I now want characters that are more 3 dimensional. For fantasy, I still want consistency--if you are going to use magic, make it consistent--but I also want characters that I can care about. A great plot and cardboard cutout characters is cold pancakes and no honey.

I find that many of the books I enjoyed when younger now fit a Mark Twain quote: "The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to fail.
The trouble with most fiction is that you want them all to land in hell, together, as quickly as possible."

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Dern, I'd definitely snap all of it up at that price.

You’re in luck, $3.99 for three of them.

https://www.amazon.com/Three-James-H...kbubemail13-20

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by barryem

"The Good Earth" is one I've reread every few years since I first read it. I've also read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" quite a few times over the years.

I've read most of Amy Tan's books but only once. I recently bought a few of my favorites to read again. I'm not sure I'll read "Memoirs of a Geisha" again but I might. I do have it.

Some others that I reread a lot are Mika Waltari's "The Egyptian" and James Clavell's "Shogun" and "TaiPan". And let's not forget Grace Metalous "Peyton Place". I got in trouble for having that in my hip pocket during high school. I always had a book in my hip pocket and no-one cared till they saw that one. It was considered shocking in it's day but what nobody seemed to notice was that it was a truly beautiful novel. She was a very talented writer.

A few years ago I decided to read some of the early Pulitzer winning novels that I hadn't read before. I've always liked Edna Ferber's books and I was surprised to hear she was among the first few Pulitzer winners. I thought she was good but not that good. So I read "So Big", the one that did it for her and wow! That's one I'll be reading again and again. Yes I'm 78 but I plan to live till I've read all my books so I have plenty of time. Especially since I'm buying them faster than I can read them.

Barry

You have good taste in reading.

Edna Ferber has been on my to-read list for a long while. I think I have Showboat and Giant, purchased shortly after I saw the film for the first time. I just haven't read her yet.

I read and enjoyed Peyton Place and picked up the sequel, though I've heard mixed things about it. Have you ever read it?

[shalym]

Originally Posted by GlennD

You’re in luck, $3.99 for three of them.

https://www.amazon.com/Three-James-H...kbubemail13-20

I would stay away from these, based on the reviews.

This is just one of many complaints:

I love these books and have read them all several times so I was excited to finally see them as ebooks. But where are the rest of the stories? I didn't want the "Cliff Notes" version and what is there isn't very well edited. I give these stories 5 stars, the ebook gets 3, very disappointed.

Shari

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by shalym

I would stay away from these, based on the reviews.

This is just one of many complaints:


Shari

That complaint is from 2016. I bought this omnibus in January the last time it was on sale. I've flipped through a couple of chapters in each of the included books. They are complete, not "Cliff Notes" versions, and if there are OCR type errors they were not apparent to me in a quick flip through of a few dozen pages. Perhaps this book has been updated since the complaints - I see a few more recent reviews that don't include comments about the errors.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

You have good taste in reading.

Edna Ferber has been on my to-read list for a long while. I think I have Showboat and Giant, purchased shortly after I saw the film for the first time. I just haven't read her yet.

I read and enjoyed Peyton Place and picked up the sequel, though I've heard mixed things about it. Have you ever read it?

I did read "Return to Peyton Place" and as I recall from so long ago, it was excellent, although I don't think it was nearly as good as the first book. That's usually true of sequels. I read "Peyton Place" again about every 4 or 5 years. I've never reread the sequel, although now that you have me thinking about it maybe I should.

I read "Giant" when it first appeared in paperback. I read it again when I heard the movie was coming so I'd be ready for the movie. In between I read "Ice Palace" and one other, which I can't recall now.

I just read "Showboat" for the first time a few months ago. I've watched both versions of that movie over and over. It's one of my favorites. Both are. I knew it was from one of her books but till Bookbub notified me it was on sale I don't think I realized I hadn't read it. It was also very good. Very different from the movie. Not at all what I expected.

She was a good writer. But "So Big" was something else. It was as if a really good writer walked through some magic dust. Maybe Tinker Bell got to her. I'm sorry I waited so long to read it but maybe I was saving it for desert.

Barry

[barryem]

I've never read the Herriot books and probably won't but I was curious about this so I looked on Amazon and found that each of the books individually is over 450 pages long but the omnibus is only 470 pages. I won't pretend to know what this means but it if I was thinking of reading them that would make me want to study the situation before buying the omnibus.

Barry