Some books are completed and you know you'll never read them again. They may have been excellent, but you'll not be returning. Some are subject to frequent visits. I used to read A Confederacy of Dunces and The Wind in the Willows every year but have slacked off. Here are a few of the current titles on my re-read list. Please add your own.
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
- The Secret of Santa Vittoria by Robert Crichton
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
- The Warden by Anthony Trollope
- Churchill by Lord Moran
- A Small Town in Germany by John LeCarré
- A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe
- Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
- Lincoln by Gore Vidal
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- Restoration by Rose Tremain
- Modern Times by Paul Johnson
- Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
- Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem
- The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood
- The Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend
- Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
- Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller
- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
- Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
I reread portions of Paul Johnson's books almost weekly. Watership Down gets better as I get older. Jim Harrison's short stories are great rereads as are Fannery O'Connor's.
ReplyDeleteGreat list. Thanks, Michael.
I can't imagine you haven't read Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels, so they should be in the re-read pile. If not, add them to the must-read. Same for the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey–Maturin novels. And I'll add this to your must-read list, because he's less well-known: Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir series.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
Kurt,
ReplyDeleteI have never read Watership Down but will remedy that. That's a great idea re Paul Johnson.
Larry,
I've never read any books by Michael Connelly. My wife is a fan and I'll get into her books. As for the Aubrey-Maturin and the Berlin Noir books, I have read them and should have put them on my re-read list.
Michael