Not including short story collections, poetry collections, anthologies, etc.
For me, I believe it’s Oroonoko by Aphra Behn because it was on the syllabus for three different classes that I took in college. Other than that, the most I’ve read a single book is twice, and that was Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon. I’ve read Dracula 1.5 times. Didn’t finish it the second time around.
Watership Down, by Richard Adams. I have lost count of how many times I have read it. The prose is beautiful and the stories build the rabbit world seamlessly onto our own. What haunted me as a child reader brings new melancholy through my older lens.
The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch, which I have read 5 times and will read again. I miss the characters when I haven’t read them in a while and the only way to visit with them is to read the books again.
I’ve read Watership Down the most too! Such a deep and beautiful book to reread.
So agree. I loved the enduring spirit of WD so entirely that I dreamed of thanking him in every way possible. Like a scaffolding of the heart
“a scaffolding of the heart” is such a lovely way to describe books like these
They make our hearts echo that valiance somehow
I remember reading Watership Down twice in a row when I was little, and loving it even more the second time around. Read it a few more times when I was older, and now recommend it to almost everyone I meet…I love the thought he put into the rabbits’ myths and language!
Watership Down here too. At least twenty times. I used to read it annually but hadn’t for quite a few years until quite recently. That felt like a new experience in that I really appreciated every word and even noticed a few new things. I’ll write more about it soon.
YES to Watership Down! Had to read it for English class and almost put it down for the sparknote shortcut. So happy I finished it. My first lit high. The first assigned book that felt like a beautiful journey and not homework.
Grateful for that English teacher that kept encouraging us all to wander outside the comfort zone and start the adventure but also knowing when it isn’t serving you.