Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d like to Reread
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This is a meme I’ve been meaning to join for a while now but just haven’t. Today I finally decided to jump in…very late in the day on Tuesday. This week, we’re talking about books we’d like to reread. As I was considering this, some of the books I came up with were ones I didn’t particularly care for the first time I read them, but seem to be popular. While a book’s popularity obviously doesn’t mean that everyone has to like it, I find myself wondering if I just missed something the first time around. Perhaps wanting to reread something I didn’t like the first time around is a silly idea. Some of the books on this list are entire series, where I’ve already read the entire series but want to go back and read them again. Of course, I have a TBR pile of books I haven’t read that’s taller than I am, so I should really focus on those rather than rereads. But anyway. Here goes.
- The Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery.
My mom read all (or most?) of these books while I was growing up. I remember loving the fiery redhead and being able to watch her grow up. Since it’s been a number of years since I’ve had these books read to me, there’s obviously a lot of details I forget. I’d love to revisit these books and see if my feelings about them have changed now that I’m an adult.
- A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray.
You know how I was saying that there are some books I disliked the first time around but want to read again anyway? This is one of them. I really wanted to like this book because it seems like the sort of book I should like. I just remember having a hard time getting past the othering of the characters of color in the book.
- Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.
This is another book that I didn’t like the first time around. Yet, whenever I think about it, I want to think about it in a positive light because of the friendship between the main characters. I read some negative reviews of the book while reading it and I kind of wonder if I let those comments taint my perceptions of the book.
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
I know I had to read this for school at some point, but I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t remember anything about it. I mean, I know it’s about book burning, but that’s about it. Yeah, that’s completely embarrassing. I need to rectify that.
- The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling.
I just saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 for the second time yesterday and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed reading the books. I got into Harry Potter very late in the game. I didn’t start reading the books until after the final book was released. Thus, I didn’t have the wait time for the next book to be published that other fans had. The series has earned itself some criticism in certain communities and I think it’d be interesting to reread the books with those criticisms in mind.
- Graceling and Fire by Kristin Cashore.
I realize that these are companion books and not a series the same way that Harry Potter is, but I’m lumping them together because my reasons for wanting to reread them are related. I adored both books when I first read them, but every time I go back and try to describe them to someone else, I keep thinking about how much the title character of Fire reminds me of Katsa of Graceling. It makes me wonder how many of the details I’m forgetting and if I’d actually feel that way if I read them again.
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.
There are so many books that have some basis in Jane Eyre ranging from The Eyre Affair to Wide Sargasso Sea. I’m interested in reading some of these books and I think it might be interesting to start by rereading Jane Eyre and going from there.
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
I stupidly didn’t pick up on the Jane Eyre influence when I read this one the first time around. Now that I’m more aware of this, I’d like to give it a reread.
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
….just because I think this book is awesome.
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Like Fahrenheit 451, I know I read this for school, but remember embarrassingly little about it.
I first had to read Jane Eyre in 7th grade and couldn’t do it. I remember forcing myself to read the first few chapters, but everything after was just too much. My mom had read it and loved it however, and so many of my friends practically worship it. I’m a huge Jasper Fforde fan and The Erye Affair was what made me reconsider the book. Perhaps I should go back one of these days and see if it’s any different all these years later.
Oh gosh – in a lot of ways, I feel like I’m a completely different person than I was in 7th grade. My opinions of many things ranging from books to music to politics are radically different now. There’s a real possibility that if I went back and reread a book I’d read that long ago, my opinion would be drastically different. I don’t know if that’s true of everyone or just me.
Joss recently posted..The thing about the Bechdel Test
1, 2, 5, 6, 9 – all books I’ve read, loved and would definitely (at some point) consider re-reading in the future