Top Ten Books We're Dying to Reread (But We Keep Reading New Books Instead)

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This week is FREEEBIE WEEK! *jazz hands* We chose to talk about 10 books we are dying to reread but...keep putting off because NEW BOOKS WOO.

One of the perils of book blogging is that, thanks to constantly feeling obligated to keep up the flow of new reviews, it's almost impossible to squeeze in a reread when you have so many unread books on your shelf. Here are a few books that your favorite broke bloggers are dying to reread, but just haven't had a chance to yet!

Bridget's Picks

1. The Magicians - Lev Grossman. My husband, after a year-plus of me annoying him, has finally read the first book in this series. Naturally, it made me want to snatch the book out of his hands and read it again myself, but I didn't, because I'm a nice person.

2. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman. Shortly after reading this for the first time, I let a friend of mine borrow it...and I haven't seen it since. This actually isn't a bad thing, because that same friend doesn't still have it—she's passed it on to several others and I'm honestly not quite sure where it is at the moment, but everyone who has read it has loved it. But I do want it back!!

3. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn. I actually just got this one back from my mom, who made it about 3/4 of the way through before putting it down for a year and making me tell her the ending. In the meantime, I've read her other novels at least twice each. Gone Girl is sitting on my kitchen counter and it's calling my name, but so are all the other books I got for Christmas and my birthday and at BEA...

Jamie's Picks

 

4. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: This used to be one of my favorite books in high school and college and I haven't read it since! Curious to see how it holds up!!

5. On the Road by Jack Kerouac: Again, another high school/college fave book but I want to check it out again now that I'm 30 to see if I can say that it's still a fave.

6. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell: To be honest, I'd love to revisit both Fangirl and Eleanor & Park because I loved them both so much and I'm just craving a reread. They are just two favorites that deserve to be reread!

7. Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I reread If I Stay last year and this year hope to reread Where She Went because it's honestly one of my favorite books ever!

Lori's Picks

8. The Secret History by Donna Tartt:  I flew through this book when I first read it!  It was a great read, but now that I know what happens, I don't know if I can read it again.  So, not only would I like to read this one again, I want to forget what I know!

9. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller: I read this one my senior year of high school and LOVED it. I've been wanting to reread it ever since. May have to make time soon.

10. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: I was really trying to not include this one, but the truth of the matter is that I miss this book. It was my absolute favorite, but I haven't read it since high school.

Five Years--What a Difference

I know that at some point I should cease to be amazed by the changes in my reading life--insights, perceptions, reactions--but I can't help it.  The latest incident comes from re-reading a favorite that I read five years ago--Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

I started and stopped this book a number of times before finally pushing through to the end, which I vowed to do by my 21st birthday.  I succeeded in finishing a couple of days ahead of schedule.  I loved the book.  I became so totally engrossed by the ending that I felt what Anna K felt--I understood her desperation and her fear and all the emotions.  There were, to be sure, long speeches on government and politics that I glossed over.  But I finished the book.

Now, just before I turn 26 next week, I am re-reading Anna K.  I didn't do it on purpose.  I just felt that yearning to read something fabulous and Russian that would make me feel...everything.

So I picked up a copy, in a different translation (for Russian authors, I always favor the Pevear and Volohonsky translation) because that was all the local pseudo-bookstore had available and I just had to get my hot little hands on a copy immediately.  I've been interacting with the text, underlining, bracketing, writing questions/thoughts/reactions in the margins and marking things to come back to, which was something I did not do on the first go.  I think this was because I was too swept up in what Tolstoy was doing and also reading so furiously that I just could not stop.

The main thing is that I am also looking at things from different angles this time.  I got this idea from Amanda at Dead White Guys, who has written a few times about Anna K, but this mention of the book in a Top Ten Tuesday and this review of her re-read are my favorites.  The first link gave me the idea of re-reading the book and focusing on Levin, who is supposed to be a semi-autobiographical representation of Tolstoy.  The second reminded me of the grandeur of the book.

I have to say, I am thoroughly enjoying this re-reading.  I am getting sucked into the book in ways that I didn't the first time (does this happen to anyone else?  Maybe I should read everything twice!).  I find myself thinking of the characters and the plot and the words even after I have set aside my copy for the time being.  I would love to take off work and real life for the next week so I can just finish.  But maybe have to read in fits and starts is helping it soak in more than if I just indulged in my impulse to immerse myself.  Maybe coming up for breaks is helping me digest it better.

And in thinking about the overall book, I can see why Levin is in many more ways the hero and the point of the story.  Anna might be a cautionary tale; but Levin is the ultimate message.  At 20, I just sort of figured that the book was named after the character for a reason, so that was where I focused.  Not necessarily, my friends.

I am super excited to be reading this.  Granted, I always go into any reading experience whole hog and then it peters out (usually).  But I don't see that happening this time.  I am too intrigued by what I am noticing as I read and the characters that I notice and am thoroughly enjoying.  So fun!

Has anyone else ever tried re-reading a favorite from a different perspective?  How did that work for you?

The Luxury of Rereading

Well, better late than never!  It's been one of those really full of family time Easters, so I'm only just now settling down to write my post.  Pardon my tardiness.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about rereading...

It all started when a good Twitter friend wrote a blog post about a favorite book of mine and mentioned a concept that I had not seen during my multiple readings of this particular book.  I, naturally, wanted to respond to her thoughts, but decided I really needed to read the book again myself to see if I pick up on it.  That's not to say that I am reading to prove her wrong or anything; but I want to respond with a close memory of the book.
I recently reread The Great Gatsby for an event and realized how much I love that book.
I recently found out that The Good Earth--a book that I always think fondly of when I remember that I've read it--is actually part of a trilogy.  Of course, I need to start the trilogy from the very beginning!
I recently have been thinking a lot about John Steinbeck because of a project at work and really want to read his magnificent works--East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath.

It seems that I am surrounded by the impulse to reread books from my past the summer that I'm 25 (rather, the first summer that I'm 25, because I plan on "being" 25 for a few years).  Ooh, and now I'm thinking that maybe age has something to do with it...Ugh.  I'm too young to be that nostalgic.

Anyway!  I know that within the book community there is a pretty good sized debate about rereading books.  Some people are working to read allthebooks and life is too short for rereads.  Other people like to look back on books they remember fondly to see if things have changed as their lives have changed.

A favorite blogger of mine has posted about doing a Summer of Rereading.  I like this idea.  In Oklahoma it's usually this close to being too hot to think during the summer.  You don't want to have to tax yourself with something new, unfamiliar, and challenging!  You want to curl up at the pool and read something familiar.  Or curl up in the AC if you are so inclined.  You aren't as busy because there's no school and summer is a time for fun, not work and blah.  The days are longer so you have more time to read.  I don't know what it is about summer that makes it a good time to reexplore and reevaluate, but I am definitely going to do it this year.

If reading is a luxury, a chance to get away from the blah-ness of daily life, then rereading seems like the ultimate luxurious act of pleasure.  I already know what's going to happen in these books.  I already once felt favorably towards these books.  Yet I am reading them again for the absolute and utter sheer pleasure of reading them.   It sends shivers down my spine.  I have hundreds of unread books on my shelves, but I am going to spend three months reading books I've already read.  I love it.

I have several ideas of what I want to reread, but no definite list.  Summer feels like a good time to do it, but summer seems so far away!  There's that whole thirty days of April and a part of May that I have to live first.  I may go ahead and start summer early.

So, where do you fall on the topic of rereading?  For it?  Against it?  Why?

In Which Bridget Discusses Rereading, Despite Knowing (and Maybe Hating) the Ending

Have you ever been totally sucked in by a book (I'm talking completely enamored) and then gotten to the terrible/lame/cop-out ending and felt your love for that book deflate like a leaky balloon? Have you then thought to yourself, "Dang, I guess I can never read that book again"? Or are you maybe a strict non-rereader, because you feel that knowing the ending already defeats the purpose of reading a book? (I do know such people, but most are not very active readers.)

Either way, this post is for you.

I am a rereader through and through. On Monday night, trying to find inspiration for this week's Top Ten Tuesday (Top Ten Books I Read in 2012), I realized that barely 20 of the 49 books I've managed to get through this year are new reads. The rest are rereads, and obviously I've reread them despite knowing the ending. But the thing is, with all of these books, I like or at least appreciate the ending. 

I've run into a little trouble recently on one of my rereads. Stephen King's Pet Sematary is one of the novels I would mention if you asked me to list his "canon." I've read it a few times, but all were before I went to college. It took me about 3 full read-throughs to really be disturbed by the ending, and as such I put it down with no real intention to pick it up again.

But then I started a blog, and one of my blog projects is to read and review all of Stephen King's works.

I thought to myself, Alright, how bad can it be? It's just a book. You've read plenty of other horrifying, disturbing things before. What makes this different? And the thing is, I'm not sure exactly what does make it different; I just know that it is, and it is for that reason that I have been procrastinating finishing Pet Sematary for about a week and a half now, despite being a mere 30 pages, or maybe even less, from the ending.

Another book I'm not sure I'll be able to read again is another Stephen King novel, this one much more recent: 11/22/63. That book is more than 800 pages long but I powered through it in one weekend, desperate to know what happened, and what was my reward? COMPLETE AND TOTAL DEVASTATION. If you haven't read it but plan to, be prepared to sit and stare at the wall for a bit after finishing while your brain tries mightily to process ALL THE FEELINGS. As much as I loved the book, I don't know if I could have the same experience reading it again knowing what's going to happen at the end. (Not that I hate the ending, but man, did it wrench my heart.)

But on the other hand, there are some other books that I think I'll like and understand better now that I know the ending. Take The Casual Vacancy, for instance. It's one of the few books I've ever read that really made me think about it, despite my initial apathetic dislike towards it. I forced myself to finish and was glad that I did, because the more I thought about it, the more I got it. I think reading it through a second time, really understanding who's who and what's what, will give me a greater appreciation for it.

Now I want to hear from you. What books do you like to reread, despite knowing the ending, and what books have been ruined for you (rereading-wise) because you know the ending? That doesn't mean you had to dislike the book, just that knowing the ending makes you want to take a step back and say, "I've gotten everything I could from this book and don't need to read it again," OR, "That ending made me too sad/angry/upset/disturbed to read it again." For example, I love rereading Harry Potter and most Stephen King books, but a few books I won't reread (probably) are The Running Man, 11/22/63, and Pet Sematary (if I ever even finish it this time). How about you?

One of the most important questions for a reader..

 To reread or not to reread?

I touched on this question  on my (Jamie's) personal blog in my Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down feature but I really wanted to really discuss it further with all of you.

When I was a child I used to reread all my favorite books without restraint. I never thought, " There are too many books and too little time" or "I have to beat my "Books Read" count from last year." Those thoughts were never present in my mind. So I would settle down with The Giver, Little House on the Prairie or one of my favorite Sweet Valley High books for the 10th time and get lost in the story and reunite with my dear old friends in these books.

Now, here I am, at age 25 and I worry about how I'm going to read all the books I want to read and how I'm going to read 100 books in a year. I'm so focused on reading MORE that I rarely let myself reread those books I've deemed my favorites in fear that I'll miss out on all the other books in the world. Don't get me wrong, I love having that experience of reading a book I've never read before and discovering new favorites but I need to allow myself to reread all my old favorites or a book that really meant something to me without feeling guilty. I love seeing details I didn't catch the first time around in a book because I was too busy thinking about the plot. I really do believe rereading makes the life of a reader richer. I think I'm going to challenge myself to reread at least 2 books this year and NOT feel guilty about it despite the glaring pile of books that I've never read making their presence known in my room.
 

Anyone else struggle with this? Do you reread, and if so, how often would you say you reread? Is it just one or two favorites you reread or many books?