I don’t do a lot of investment reading, so I can’t comment on whether it would be good to continually re-read those books.

There are some books that you can glean more from as you re-read them such as books on philosophy, economy, history, in the sense that you may be able to understand them on a new level or make different connections as you re-read. I’d be unlikely to read them each year, though, because it definitely would limit my ability to read new items (on the same or other topics). Perhaps I’d re-read when I felt I was getting rusty–or wanted to rethink the issue again.

I’ve definitely noticed that the more I write or just try to synthesize the ideas of two or more authors in my thinking, the more wish that I had the books I’d read on hand so as re-read certain passages or quote them even.

Then again, I tend to remember the general concept extremely well and ‘forget’ the details the author uses to support arguments, dates, names of studies–if I remembered these things or could always find them online, I wouldn’t find myself wishing I had the books as often. (I just did away with my whole library in our last move. I can’t say I’m completely used to not having books at my fingertips, but at least it forces me to look at other options–online sources and summaries, for example.)

“Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered”
This is one of the books that changed my way of thinking about work & the economy. I first read it in the 70’s.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060916303/?tag=oildepletio03-20

My copy is somewhere in the boxes in the garage. We moved 18 months ago & I am still down sizing my stuff. I am going through all of my books and purging most.

I find that certain books are totally worth a re-read, if not to refresh the my mind of the arguments or reinvigorate the spirit they awakened, then to simply experience the same enjoyment that I felt the first time around. Some topics that make my cut are literature on the efficiency of markets, encouragement toward lifestyle design and freedom, and assorted books that I have generally found interesting.

To expand on the last category, the book in the that category that I’m re-reading now is “Robbing Banks” (a history of bank robbery and the responses of banks to the threat of robbery – not a how-to guide!). Next up in the pile is a book on sketching.

Funny that you say that. I just decided the do the same thing last month. The reason is that my memory is short or overloaded with information, the more you read, the more you have to “forget” to free up the memory. The seond reason is, that I noticed that when I read the same book few years later, I understand it differently, and I see things I did not see before – perhaps because I read other books and learned new things over the years. So far my list to re-read contains:
Black Swan by Taleb, Irrational Exhuberrance by Shiller, and Man’s Search for Meaning by Frankl.
AJ

I am currently working thru the books that I have seen listed on your site. I would love to see your top 10 investment book list again to help me priortize my long list. Thanks

I don’t re-read books annually, but I do re-read books for various reasons.

I re-read _The Tightwad Gazette_ when I feel I need an inoculation against the consumer mindset, maybe every three or four years. I suspect _No Impact Man_ could serve a similar purpose.

I re-read some books when I miss the voice (_Snow Crash_, _Something Wicked This Way Comes_) or the characters (various Georgette Heyer novels, Palmer’s _Emergence_).

I re-read some books when I’m sick of mediocre books and just want to read something I already know is awesome (_Ender’s Game_, _Interface_) or fun (_Fox in Socks_, _Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons_) again.

And there’s _Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish_ when I decide I’m going to try to learn Spanish again.

And there are some books that help remind me what kind of person I want to be (_About a Boy_, _The Accidental Tourist_).

And some books are just comfortingly familiar books to which I’ve felt a connection (_Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_, _House of Stairs_, _This Star Shall Abide_).

Speaking of not going there…The book “How I found Freedom in an Unfree World” can be dangerous on existing relationships…warning!

My reading is not on an annual (or any other) cycle, but…

I regularly re-read Lao Tzu and Sun Tzu.

Have read these several times (at least in part): Hesse (Steppenwolf & Siddhartha), Hemingway (Old Man And The Sea), Hazlitt (Economics In One Lesson), Shiller (Irrational Exuberance, different editions), Taleb (Fooled By Randomness), Graham & Dodd (Security Analysis, 1940 edition), Orwell (Nineteen Eighty-Four).

I imagine some of you have read about the Anti- and Quantum Library concepts?

http://theinnovationist.com/2008/08/the-three-hierarchical-layers-of-books/

I don’t generally reread. For nonfiction books, I’ll often take notes so then I can refer to them to jog my memory. Hands down the best investment books I’ve read are “The Four Pillars of Investment” and “All about index funds”.

Also The Enchidrion by the stoic Epictetus. Free online.

Muscle by Sam Fussell – when I am taking something too far, this book always reminds me to step back and think about how my actions would appear to the objective outside observer

I’ve read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series 3 times (I think). Not much in the way of investment advice there, but the plethora of uses for a towel would fit in well with the ERE lifestyle.

I’m awfully glad you wrote this. I’ve felt a temporary residual difference at times depending on what book I’ve read. “Getting things done”, “Mastery”, “7 effective habits..”.. all books which I felt changed who I was temporarily.

I love the idea of forming a list of books to re-read annually, to see if you can craft “yourself” into a certain type of person.

“The Selfish Gene” is a must if you haven’t read it. If philosophy can ever have a scientific basis, I would think it boils down to this book. The implications help explain the collective and the individual which is a common theme here.

“Was there to be any end to the gradual improvement in the techniques and artifices used by the replicators to ensure their own continuation in the world? There would be plenty of time for improvement. What weird engines of self-preservation would the millennia bring forth? Four thousand million years on, what was to be the fate of the ancient replicators?

They did not die out, for they are past masters of the survival arts. But do not look for them floating loose in the sea; they gave up that cavalier freedom long ago. Now they swarm in huge colonies, safe inside gigantic lumbering robots, sealed off from the outside world, communicating with it by tortuous indirect routes, manipulating it by remote control.

They are in you and in me; they created us, body and mind; and their preservation is the ultimate rationale for our existence. They have come a long way, those replicators. Now they go by the name of genes, and we are their survival machines.”

Two books I re-read annually are
Snow Sense
-and-
Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain
thanks to a dear friend and mentor.

I began re-reading your book as soon as I finished it the first time and continue to read the site daily as it reinforces and sometimes sheds new light on the art/joke of capitalism. This may be an annual or bi-annual read.

Other books I re-read every 3-5 years include
Dombey and Son (I laugh out loud, I weep)
and
The Clan of the Cave Bear series (mastery of self sufficiency and application of practical knowledge)

Alain de Botton had a similar idea, Jacob, in his book “Religion for Atheists.” One of the strengths he found in religion is the regular reinforcement of important ideas. This takes place in religions in the form of sermons, rituals, and annual ceremonies. Whether you’re religious or not, you could add to this catalogue of important stories with your own regular reading list, just as you’ve described, to reinforce the stories you find important.

In one of his final books (“An Experiment in Criticism”) C. S. Lewis writes that the quality of a book should not be measured by whether it fits the traditional definition of “literary” or “high-brow.”

Instead, a quality book is one that induces a “passion to re-read,” even if that book is not from a traditional “literary”/classical genre (e.g., certain science fiction books).

Lewis recommends re-reading at least two prior books for every one new book.

My father, an avid ready still at 81, tends to re-read alot. His passion is books on history and historic figures. I worry that this intellectual comfort is a sign of some dementia. He tends to revert to talking about his readings and as the world moves on, he is losing revelance to everyday events. I may be paranoid.
Having been sufficiently burned in my investements and now out of any career, I do not like to read books on investing becuase honestly, I do not believe I have the risk profile any longer.
I found Christopher Hitchens recommended reading list on http://fogus.me/static/hitch/
I have given up television, a money saving excersize that was very easy, and committed to read all of Hitchens recommended reading list before I turn 60.
In the list I discovered Money: A suicide note by Martin Amis who was a great friend of Hitchens.
For those of us seeking inspriation and entertainment, I can recommend it.