I know a lot of English major-y people who reread Hamlet every few years, or Dante's Inferno, or something equally as high-falutin'. They generally do this while sitting in a very public section of Borders, or in Starbucks, as, let's face it, if you're going to work your way through Dante, you want other people to acknowledge it, right?
The stuff I reread is not so highbrow. Some books just call to me, year after year, and I never tire of them. Is it the story? The voice? Do I recognize a little piece of myself in those pages? I don't know. What I do know is these books have become part of how I define myself. Here's a partial list:
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Shining Through by Susan Isaacs
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Boys and Girls Together by William Goldman
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
And in YA: Forever by Judy Blume, Sloppy Firsts by Meg McCafferty, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, and I've already read Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles twice, so I think it makes the list!
What about you guys? Have any go-to books?
Jane Eyre is my go to book. I've read it many times. I love it in every form. If I see an old version of it on TV I have to stop everything I'm doing to watch it.
ReplyDeleteLittle Women is the same.
I have a feeling The Time Travelers Wife is going to be one of those books for me too. I read it for the first time last summer and fell in love with it. Have not seen the movie though. I think it's too soon.
Little Women, Wuthering Heights, The Secret Garden - all favorites from girlhood.
ReplyDeleteThe Twilight Saga, Sookie Stackhouse series, Shiver. And, yes, I think The Time Traveler's Wife will become another.
Now that my oldest is solidly in Middle Grade fiction there are several books I want to revisit. I need to spend an entire afternoon in the bookstore. :-)
Sloppy Firsts is SO a go to book for me. I thought there were only three but I just found out there's freaking FIVE?! I need to get on that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King.
Pride and Prejudice and Beach Music. I'm actually not a big re-reader. I only do it when I'm really depressed because there's so many books I haven't read yet. There's nothing like getting lost in a new world.
ReplyDeleteWow, great choices, gals! I can't believe I didn't put The Time Traveler's Wife on my list! That is definitely a go-to book for me.
ReplyDelete