Ah I always check out these postings. I've found some excellent reads thanks to my fellow book lovers on this site. Right now I have a few suggestions that I have just finished or am on the final pages of: The Potato Factory - Bryce Courtenay (been out a few years and just discovered in the library reject pile) House of Spirits and Whispers - Annie Wilder . This is the true story of a haunted house. Is it scary...no, but as I love old houses and things that go bump in the night I liked it for a change of pace. Alone in the classroom - Elizabeth Hay. Half way done and am liking it well enough but wonder about all the hype. Those are my offerings this time around. Budster

Oh, yes, I re-read all the time. The ones I re-read the most are Jane Austen's novels, the "Outlander" series by Diana Gabaldon, "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy (one of my favorite books ever), and "Far From the Madding Crowd" by Thomas Hardy. I've re-read "To Kill a Mockingbird," too, but only 3-4 times.:)

One reason I read is to help me engage and better understand the world around me. Well written, insightful fiction can help me understand the hearts of people; non-fiction, particularly history, helps me keep the present in perspective. I liked all the other reasons above also. Yours made me laugh, bigdogstwo. It reminds me of a friend's story about when she was little. She went into the bathroom, locked the door and emerged hours later when she finished her book: a place to read in peace. I read when I was folding towels when I was a child: one basket could take hours. Once I was reading while walking home from school and ran into a newly painted telephone pole. I came home with my new dress decorated with a large green splotch in the front! Not a good idea.

Carolyn, I read a couple some years ago. I must check and see if my library has reprints. I am reading my books slowly at present, there seems to be so many other things to do, like dropping off to sleep! My D gave me a small CD player for Xmas with handy top buttons. Just right for listening to recorded favourite books. I have been accumulating some in case of being confined to bed or having the eye operation for cataracts. I am doing a Scarlett O'Hara on that!