What One Book, More Than Any Other? (Part 1)

I asked friends and acquaintances these questions:

What book have you read more times than any other?
How many times have you read it?
When was the first time you read it?
What keeps you coming back to that one book?
And any other relevant stories you’d like to tell about that one best beloved book.

The first batch of answers is behind the cut.  It’s a question I plan to keep asking. (Will post answers when I get another batch of 10+)  Thanks to all who have answered so far.  And- if you think of another bookish question for me to start bouncing around, let me know.

“for the first 8-ish years of my life, it was probably Charlotte’s Web and Mary Poppins. ages 8-15ish was probably Little Women.  and the last 15 years it’s probably something by Eddings or Lackey.  but i can’t really tell you which one I’ve actually read the most.”  – Abbie W.

“Probably an LM Montgomery book. Kilmeny of the Orchard appealed to my deeply romantic sensibilities when I was about 10. It’s a bummer rereading a lot of L.M. Montgomery books, actually, because they are kind of simplistic.  And don’t get me wrong, I still love them.  They appeal to that part of me that wants life to be that simple. It’s just harder to suspend the disbelief when I’m older and unavoidably wiser.  – Beth F.

“The small book of ‘The Night Before Christmas.’  Read it at least once a year every year of my life.”- Sean C.

“‘The Wolves of Willoughby Chase,’ by Joan Aiken. Picked it up when I was 7 and re-read it at least once a year.  My cats, Simon and Sophie are named for characters from the sequel.” – Erika K.

“I rarely read a book more than once. But between the ages of 11-15 I probably read EB White’s Charlotte’s Web about 9 times. As an adult I’ve read Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follet), Watership Down (Richard Adams) and Cry to Heaven (Anne Rice) about 3 times each.”- Ed M.

“The Ramona Quimby books.”- Paul F.

“The Hobbit.  I’ve read it probably close to 20 times, but I’ve lost count.  The first time I read it, I was 9 or 10. I didn’t like reading as a kid as it didn’t come easily to me.  I still struggle with reading at times.  I might have identified with Bilbo, and wanted to be him too, but wasn’t self aware enough to know it at the time.  I would always read it in a green leather bound edition with gilt runes around the edge of the cover.  It had several plates of different scenes scattered within.  Some were glossy, others little more than sketches.” -Ethan T.

“”Probably “The Thirteen Clocks” by James Thurber.  Which reminds me, my husband-to-be still hasn’t read it… must fix that!”- Christine R.

“Play it as it Lays by Joan Didion.  For me, it’s a palate cleanser, like Hemingway. Totally spare, elegant, devastating. I’ve probably read it 4 times.”  – Julia D.

“Does it make me a bad person, that i read a lot, but can’t stomach the idea of re-reading a book?  I have books i absolutely love… but even having tried… can’t find the drive to re-read any of them.”  Mark S.

“‘This Is Not A Novel’ by David Markson.  I must’ve read it about 20 times.  First time, I think, was the summer of 2001.  It was unlike any book I’d ever read. I hadn’t even heard of experimental fiction before, and it changed the way I thought books should and could be.  I found it used in Powell’s in the course of a road trip, and it was like magic. Finding that one book out of however many millions Powell’s must have had in the store…it felt like fate, but it was probably just the science of a catchy title and unusual cover art.”  -TJ D.

“I’ve read “The Great Gatsby” a dozen times. I read it first in college and every few years since then. It remains for me the best American novel ever — funny, perceptive and beautifully written. The last line — ” So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” — has more relevance for me the more I age.” -Jim W. (My dad!)

“Hmm.  i can still recite from memory large portions of Yertle the Turtle; so maybe that one, but I haven’t picked it up in years.  i have re-read all the Harry Potter books umpteen times.  along with a few other fantasy/scifi series.  on the less fluffy side, i have read a ton of Shakespeare plays over and over and over, “Wise Blood” by Flannery O’Connor, Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe, or my raggedy copy of Idylls of the King.”- Amy P.

“hmm… probably a toss-up now between one of the books in the Belgariad or Mallorean series’, or “Sunshine” by Robin McKinley. “Sunshine” may be my favorite book of all time.”- Sharon P.

“That’s a tough one. Rereading books (of varying quality!) is like eating comfort food. (Sorry, Mark) Stranger in a Strange Land. Steppenwolf (god help me) – I’m a sucker for transitions, and Hesse’s at his best in that book. A Thurber Carnival – “A Ride With Olympy” never gets old, and all of My Life And Hard Times is wonderful, especially.”  – Walter L.

“Almost of Anne Lamott’s books… and of course, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” by Judith Viorst.”  Clarke R.