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The topic this week is: BOOKS I WANT TO READ AGAIN.
I could cheat and just tell you all the books from my classics list that I put on there in hopes of re-reading. But I'll try to range a little wider afield than that.
I know I've said it before, but as a kid (pictured above), I re-read all the time. As an adult, I only re-read if in two situations: if I'm reading a book aloud for a class and if a new book in a series I love has come out and I need to freshen up my memory of what happened before. This is how I've read The Thief half a dozen times.
When I re-read books I ALWAYS find more than I did on the first reading. Partly because I only read quality books repeatedly, and partly because I tend to speed through my reading when I want to find out what happens next. I also love getting really familiar with a book and a world in the way I am with my childhood favorites. I can look at a list of books I've given five stars to, and there will definitely be a few on even that list I have zero recollection of. But a book I've re-read stays in my mind and heart a lot longer.
So why don't I re-read? It's a question of time and attention. There are so many good books out there waiting for me. It kills me that I will never get to all the books on my TBR. Re-reading makes it even less likely I'll be able to put a dent in it. There's also sometimes a fear that a book I adored at a different stage in my life will now either fall flat or make me cringe with the problematic content (looking at you, A Horse and his Boy).
But these are the books I'd be tempted to re-read.
FANTASY: Worlds I'd like to get lost in again
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Graceling series by Kristin Cashore
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Shades of Magic series by V. E. Schwab
The City Watch books from the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
CLASSICS which I already re-read in my youth, but not since then
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein
BELOVED FAVORITES BY BELOVED AUTHORS Do I still love them?
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
He, She, and It by Marge Piercy
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
The River Why by David James Duncan
I remember being blown away by Good Omens when I first read it many years ago. I see a couple on your list I haven't read, and I think I might add them to my tbr, including Eight Cousins; The River Why; and He, She, and It.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy The Handmaid's Tale more every time I reread it. Have you read The Testaments yet?
ReplyDeleteMy post.
Same. I don't reread, because time is a precious commodity and there are way too many books I want to read. I also worry that a re-read could damage my precious memory of the book.
ReplyDeleteI don't really reread, but I have started listening to books I want to reread on audio. I fit them in on my walks so I can use my reading time for something new.
ReplyDeleteI am not a re-reader in general. I've only reread the Harry Potter books, the Little House on the Prairie books, and Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver.
ReplyDeleteI’ve read Shades of Magic a few times. I think I’ll love that series forever. I just bought myself Six of Crows, so I’ll get to that one eventually.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I do like revisiting a favorite fantasy world but yeah it's hard with all the newer stuff!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you! As a kid I reread CONSTANTLY, which is actually mostly due to the fact that there were such a finite number of books in the bookstore and library hah. But now, I really just don't have time. I reread THG every year, that is my one concession to rereading because like you said, it's so great to find new things, discover new little hints the author left, etc. Otherwise, I just can't, because of time mostly, but again like you said, sometimes I am definitely scared too!
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