Top Ten Tuesday: Books I wish I could read again for the first time
Remember that feeling of closing a book and sighing because it was so perfect? The possibility of re-reading it is always there but that magical first time will be gone. Sigh. These are some of those books I I wish I could read again for the first time and just let their magic waft over me.
1. Going Bovine by Libba Bray
The book is funny and sad, zany and serious. I remember where I was and what I was doing when I listened to the last chapter on the audiobook sobbing. I have re-read it and I still loved the book but it wasn't the same as the first time.
2. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
I listened to the whole thing on audiobook (32 hours+) and was completely swept up in the sad story. I lived it for days/weeks (obviously at 32 hours of listening!) For some odd reason I never reviewed the book and now I wonder if I dare start over. What if I don't love it as much?
3. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
I have reread this book and I liked it the second time around but it didn't carry with it the punch I received from the first time around. It delighted me on so many levels.
4. The whole Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
I have such fond memories of reading these books with my daughters. It is part of their childhood and therefore very precious to me. I wish I could recapture that feeling but I know a second time around wouldn't render the same impact.
5. The One-In-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood
I want to read this book over again for the first time. I love it so much.
6. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
This book blew me away first time around. I want that experience again.
7. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
My husband and I experienced this audiobook together and quoted from it or weeks afterwards. It delighted us both. Would a reread recapture that? I think not, it needs to be reread for the first time. Ha!
8. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I loved it the first time, the second time, the third time but I would also love to experience it from a new perspective.
9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Wouldn't it be fun to find out the meaning behind '42' for the first time again?
10. The Little Prince by Antoine du Saint-Exupery
It delighted me as a child. It delighted me when I reread it as an adult. I want to try that childhood delight again.
-Anne
Amazing list. I just heard an interview with the author of Ready Player One on NPR a week or so ago that was really interesting. He was talking about how some of the Oasis ideas spurred the company Occulus to create aspects of the virtual reality products.
ReplyDeleteSo cool. Fiction creating reality.
DeleteI agree on HP and "The One in a Million Boy." I enjoyed "Ready Player One" but wasn't swept away by it. The same with "The Goldfinch."
ReplyDeleteDon't you wish you could read One in a Million Boy again for the first time? I'd love to. And I haven't even reread it yet.
DeleteI'm totally with you on the Harry Potter series! Those books are magic. :D
ReplyDeleteI would love to read Hitchhikers Guide again for the first time. That would be so much fun!
ReplyDeleteOh! One In a Million Boy was on my long list! What a great read!
ReplyDeleteGlad to know that someone else out there loves this book, too.
DeleteI agree with so many of your choices! Although only Harry Potter made my list too. I still need to read A confederacy of Dunces, so that one is waiting to be a first read for me!
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT!
<a href="https://elzareads.blogspot.com/2021/08/ten-books-we-so-desperately-wish-we.html'>Elza Reads</a>
Lucky you. You get to read Confederacy of Dunces for the first time. I recommend it in audiobooks.
DeleteI've read To Kill a Mockingbird and The Little Prince many, many times. I'd love to read The One-in-a-Million Boy and Going Bovine. Adding them to my list!
ReplyDeleteGoing Bovine does sound good!
ReplyDeleteMy post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-wish-i-could-read-again-for-the-first-time/
It is both funny and sad.
DeleteI have reread Harry Potter multiple times over the course of my life and whilst I enjoyed it every time, the magic definitely wasn't quite the same as the first time.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/08/24/top-ten-tuesday-330/
I was just thinking that HP #2 is ready for me to reread.
DeleteGreat list! I agree with you on To Kill a Mockingbird. It is one of the few books I have read multiple times, but to get the chance to read it again with new eyes would be good.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get the chance, I hope you stop over at my blog and take a read: https://readbakecreate.com/10-books-i-would-love-to-see-as-a-movie/
Hitchhiker's Guide I started once but never finished, just got sidetracked. I do plan on trying again and I'm hoping for that first time feeling! I love the idea. And I love your Top Ten graphic by the way!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I have been crusin' around the Internet looking for appropriate photos to enhance my heading.
DeleteTO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is my favorite book of all time. One of the reasons I love it is that I can re-read it again and again and still love it. I seriously feel like I get something more out of it every time I read it.
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT!
I have seen To Kill A Mockingbird on several lists...should I admit I have never read it?! My list is here: https://cindysbookcorner.blogspot.com/2021/08/top-ten-tuesday-reread-for-first-time.html
ReplyDeleteYou are lucky. You now get to read TKAM for the first time.
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ReplyDeleteWhat did you like most about The Little Prince?
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
It is such a sweet story of love and kindness.
DeleteThe One-in-a-Million Boy seems like a good one!
ReplyDeleteHere's my Top Ten Tuesday list.
I love One In a Million Boy and it was on my long list!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Ready Player One. I've had The Goldfinch on my TBR for a while now, but it does look like quite a bit commitment!
ReplyDeleteGreat list! I recently read The Goldfinch and it was like a living experience more than simply a book.
ReplyDelete