Books That Need To Be Reread

So I'm reading this book on samurai legends. It's full of stories of, funnily enough, samurai throughout the ages. They're taken from the original sources and translated, because amazingly I cannot read nor understand ancient Japanese script.

I've just reached a section taken from The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, something that I've already read at least five times by my count. So, am I going to skip this section? Well, the title of this post gives a hint on that. Of course not!

The Book of Five Rings is a classic, especially for anyone interested in the Eastern sword arts, which I am. (I have mentioned that I'm currently studying kendo and have studied Ono Ha Itto-Ryu in the past, haven't I?) Rereading it every few years is a good idea. It refreshes the text's information in my mind, and since I keep changing as I age, I may find a new truth in it. The same goes for The Art of War by Sun Tzu, another text I've been known to reread.

Now before you go thinking that ancient Asian military texts are the only thing I reread, I do the same with plenty of fiction as well. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card gets reread every few years, same with most of the Honnor Harrington series by David Weber, mostly because it helps me remember where the thread of the story's going and because they're just damn fun books. I used to reread the Wheel of Time books, until they reached a point I felt they were never going to end before Robert Jordan died. Unfortunately he did pass before finishing them, but I have been hearing good things about what Brandon Sanderson is doing to finish the series, so once it's all done I think I'll read them all, from start to finish, just to say I have.

So I hand this off to you, those who are reading my words. What books/series to you reread every few years, and why?

About Freaking Time!

Big news if you're a Song of Ice and Fire fan. The next novel in the series, A Dance with Dragons, is set to drop on shelves this July.

Man am I looking forward to this! It's only been six years since the last book of the series came out. I can understand needing some time between books to get things sorted out, but six freaking years is a long time. I hope with the HBO series coming out and it devoting a season to each book will push Mr. Martin to finish the last two in the series a little bit faster. You know, so there's only a space of say three years between each.

I kid, I kid. The writer half of me understands how hard it can be to get things flowing,  but the fanboy part of me is snarling and saying "more words now!"

Either way, I'm getting a copy in my grubby little hands as soon as possible.