2 on Reading

I have two reading-related items for you.

First, Conde Nast published this list of the 69 Greatest Fiction Travel Books. Since I enjoy travel memoirs, I thought I might find some good reads on this list. Strangely, I've only read 2 of the recommended books. I did spot a few more that I think I'd enjoy. I noticed that Michael Ondaatje nominated quite a few of the books. I would add one or two of his books to this list, too.

Second, last week's Booking through Thursday asks about pet names and whether the names were inspired by reading. Both of my pets' names were. My cats are Dewey and Gandolf*. If there's another round of pet naming, and if my children don't trump my naming rights, I might use the names of prominent mathematicians: Ada, Turing, Galois.

* Yes, I know it's supposed to be spelled Gandalf, but I pronounce it "Gandolf" and so use that spelling.

Five on Friday

Things that made me smile this week.

1. Watching the girls really enjoy being at a Nationals game.

2. The new baby on the block. (She's a cutie!)

3. Cucumbers (finally) from our garden. The girls ate them before I could get a photo.

4. Learning that a college friend had a brand new baby girl. (Another cutie!)

5. Reading Catching Fire in two nights.

Alphabet of Books

Both Anna and Donna completed this last month. When I saw this, I was inspired to do it as a list of young adult books* that I have in my collection. I didn’t repeat authors, which made this more of a challenge. I think I changed my entries for D, E, F, & W each four times before I settled on the final list. Z was the hardest. (I almost used a picture book called The Zoo.)

ABC Book Meme
For this meme, you list a favorite book that starts with each letter of the alphabet. If you don’t have a book for a letter (such as Z or X) then you can substitute a favorite book that simply has that letter in the title (ex. The Lost City of Z or Hot Six by Janet Evanovich). However, you can only do this a maximum of 3 times. (Z, X, and Q. But not Z, X, Q, and V.) Books can be of any genre from fiction to non-fiction to poetry to textbooks.

A. The Adventures of Nicholas: A Christmas Tale (Helen Siiteri)
B. The Blue Sword (Robin McKinley)
C. A Cricket in Times Square (George Selden)
D. The Devil’s Arithmetic (Jane Yolen)
E. The Egypt Game (Zilpha Keatley Snyder)
F. Farmer Boy (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
G. The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman)
H. Homecoming (Cynthia Voight)
I. The Ireta Adventure (Anne McCaffrey)
J. Jacob Have I Loved (Katherine Paterson)
K. The Keeping Days (Norma Johnston)
L. The Lotus Cup (Jane Curry)
M. Making Up Mega Boy (Virginia Walter)
N. Number the Stars (Lois Lowry)
O. Out of Phaze (Piers Anthony)
P. The Pushcart Wars (Jean Merrill)
Q. The Queen of Sorcery (David Eddings)
R. Rose in Bloom (Louisa May Alcott)
S. Sarah, Plain and Tall (Patricia MacLachlan)
T. Talking to Dragons (Patricia Wrede)
U. Up a Road Slowly (Irene Hunt)
V. Very Far Away from Anywhere Else (Ursula K. LeGuin)
W. The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 (Christopher Paul Curtis)
X. Foxtrotius Maximus (Bill Amend)
Y. The Young Unicorns (Madeleine L’Engle)
Z. Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth (E. L. Konigsburg)

* My definition of “young adult” is very broad. Some of these are appropriate for 8 year olds; some are more appropriate for 18 year olds.

Meme of Reading Questions - Part 4

Here's the final segment.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
None most of the time. When I do go, I usually end up with 6-10.

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Once in a while.

38. Favorite fictional character?
Growing up, I wanted to be like Meg Murry or Vicky Austin.

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Not sure.

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Romances

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
3-4 days - right after I had the girls.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Dandelion Wine.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
My daughters. My cats. My husband.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
The Lord of the Rings (see my last post)

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
The Golden Compass. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Both of these focused on one or two aspects of the books, leaving out much of the material that made the books interesting to read.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Not counting textbooks, probably $200.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
I'll skim a chapter or so if the back cover material isn't sufficient or I want to evaluate the writing style before I read it.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Annoyance. Displeasure. Grossness (e.g., foot binding in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan)

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes. I'm a librarian.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
If I think I might read them again, I keep them.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
The Stieg Larson books, because I'm afraid I'll find them disappointing after all the hype.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
1,000 Acres by Jane Smiley

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
A couple of the selections from my book club: Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance by Ian Buruma and Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner by Andrea Smith

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Kiss and Tango by Marina Palmer. (A book club selection)

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
I don't think of anything I read as a guilty pleasure, so anything I read that I enjoy fits this category.

Meme of Reading Questions - Part 3

Here's the next part. I can't believe it's taken me nearly 2 weeks to get back to this. Sigh...

22. Favorite genre?
Fantasy

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Historical political/military fiction. You know, like the Sharpe series or the Marcus Falco series. My DH reads these, but I just can't get into them.

24. Favorite biography?
Hmmmm. I don't usually read biographies, so I'm having a hard time with this. Does "Frosty: A Raccoon to Remember" count?

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Yes.

26. Favorite cookbook?
My go-to cookbook is the standard Betty Crocker one. My favorite special cookbook is Sophie Grigson's Travel A La Carte (from Great Britain).

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
I don't really do inspirational.

28. Favorite reading snack?
Chocolate. Pretzels. Whatever.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
I don't read a lot of books that are standard fare for book clubs. I find them ... overhyped and not really my style. I've been avoiding the Stieg Larson books for this reason.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
I don't usually read the critics.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I have no problem with it.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
The Lord of the Rings. Silly, I know, since I read a lot of fantasy, but I read The Hobbit in 7th grade and didn't enjoy it. For the longest time, I avoided LOTR, but finally dug into it shortly before the movies were released. I still didn't enjoy reading Tolkien, but I'm glad I slogged through LOTR before I saw the movies. I *love* the movies, because Peter Jackson masterfully eliminated most of the crap I disliked in the books.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Any of those long Russian novels.

35. Favorite Poet?
Robert Frost.

Meme of Reading Questions - Part 2

Here's part 2.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Not very often any more. What's the point?

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Mostly I read genre fiction (fantasy, mystery, romance), travel memoirs, and parenting books. I tend not to read Literature.

13. Can you read on the bus or train?
I can. I find it easier (as in, less likely to make me sick) if I am riding forwards. Reading on metro makes the time pass by so much more quickly. I can also stitch while riding public transportation.

14. Favorite place to read?
Outside on a pleasant day.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I will, but I'm very careful about to whom I lend books. My BIL doesn't return books, so I will only "lend" him books now if I don't care if I get them back. I will only lend books I plan to keep to my friends who will treat them with care.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Rarely with fiction. Yes with textbooks or self-help books, especially if there's something I want to reference again. Never with books that aren't mine.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Rarely with fiction. Yes with textbooks or self-help books, especially if there's something I want to reference again. Never with books that aren't mine.

18. Not even with text books?
See #17.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English. It's really the only language I can read in.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
I wish I had stuck with French or Portuguese long enough to read comfortable in one of them. Otherwise, maybe Greek, since I like to travel to Greece so much.

20. What makes you love a book?
Humor. Snappy writing. A strong plot.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
I usually recommend books when I think the person will enjoy it. I also have three very specific books I recommend to women when I find out that they are expecting twins, because these books have been so helpful to me. Two are twin-specific, and one's a general human development book.

Meme of Reading Questions - Part 1

I got this from , who got it from Lorette‘s blog. I'm going to break it into several posts, since I haven't been posting much lately.

1. Favorite childhood book?
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle was the first one that popped into my head.

2. What are you reading right now?
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson series)

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
None

4. Bad book habit?
I buy books instead of checking them out from the library, and when I do check them out, I'm inevitably late in returning them.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
Nothing

6. Do you have an e-reader?
No

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
One at a time. If I have several going, it's either because I'm not liking what I'm reading in one of them (fiction) or that I'm slogging through some non-fiction/self-help type book.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
No

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
No idea. I've stopped wasting my time on fiction that I don't enjoy.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
I've been re-reading a lot of old favorites since we finally pulled all of our stuff out of storage. I just finished the Belgariad series by David Eddings. On the new-to-me front, the one that sticks out so far is I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani. It was a very funny book.

Useful Books

Last week's Booking through Thursday asked, "What’s the most useful book you’ve ever read? And, why?"

The first book that jumped to mind is When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads, Revised Edition: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy by Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein. This book was definitely the turning point for me while carrying my twins. It had great information about what was going on without being scary and provided much-needed diet and nutrition information. My neighbor who's a doula lent it to me, and I read it in a weekend from front to back. I recommend it to anyone I know who's expecting twins or more. They can be a bit strict about bedrest, but that's the only thing with which I remember disagreeing (and so did my doctor).

Book Quiz II

Another book quiz. While this is one of my favorite books, I'm not sure how I feel about what it says about me, according to the quiz.

You're The Count of Monte Cristo!
by Alexandre Dumas

Though many are unsure of your identity, no one can deny that you show them a good time. You're a joker, a smoker, and a midnight ..., but you might want to hurt someone from time to time. While your life is hopelessly intricate and filled with tremendous intrigue, it seems that you see it all as a game. Not that you don't want to see justice done and people spared, but you ultimately think it's all about the adventure along the way. While you've always wanted a Mercedes, it's pretty clear that you'll never really own one.

Take the Book Quiz II at the Blue Pyramid.

Reading List

My local alumnae reading group has posted its reading list for the next year. I'm excited about many of the titles on the list, but given my daily life, it's unlikely that I'll be able to participate with the group much this year. I'm just hoping that I will get to read some of these eventually.

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett - October
My Life in France by Julia Child - November
Olive Kittredge by Elizabeth Strout - December
Infidel by Ayann Hirsi Ali - January
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan - February
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery - March
I Do Not Come to You By Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani - April
The Help by Kathryn Stockett - May
West with the Night by Beryl Markham - June
The Snakehead by Patrick Radden Keefe - July
Leaving India: My Family's Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents by Minal Hajratwala - August
A Pearl in the Storm by Tori Murden McClure - September

There were a couple of other books they considered but didn't choose that I'm also interested in. They are:

Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz
My Body, Their Baby by Laurie Miller
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Have any of you read any of these? What did you think?

Superlatives

For the past few weeks, Booking Through Thursday has asked about serious, best, and worst recent reads.


Serious: The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. The babes (who are now a year old, btw) don't go to sleep or stay asleep very well. We need all the help we can get.


Best: Since I'm not reading much these days, I'd have to say the fluff novels I read while flying to and from a conference in Texas last week. I read one going and another one coming back - it was sheer luxury. I also was able to do some Sudoku puzzles and cross stitch*, both while flying and at the conference. More joy.


Worst: the document I had to comment on for work this week. It was just dreadful. I sent in 14 comments on a 6-page document. Poke my eyes out with a pencil, will you?


*Pictures soon.

Funny and Not Funny Books

This week's Booking Through Thursday asks, "What is the funniest book you've read recently?" While I haven't been reading much at all recently, this is a great way to finish telling you about my 15 sticky books.

I'm one of those people who adores romantic comedy movies. I've seen quite a few and have a high tolerance for the bad ones (unless they star Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, in which case, I run the other way). I also like romantic comedy books. It's sometimes hard to find romance and humor in the same book, so I find it to be a treat when I do.

I'd mentioned previously my fondest for Elizabeth Peters. Many prefer her Amelia books, but give me the ones featuring Jacqueline Kirby any day. I also mentioned that Sharyn McCrumb's Bimbos of the Death Sun is delightful.

Therefore, when I stumbled across Jennifer Crusie's Crazy for You several years ago, I felt like I'd hit the jackpot. A new-to-me writer who's novels made me laugh -Yea! And from Crusie, I somehow found Rachel Gibson, another goldmine of funny books.

Shortly before I found Crusie, though, I'd also rediscovered a fondness of mine - travel memoirs. I think I've said before that I don't read much non-fiction, at least, not unless I have to. Reading on my own time is for pleasure and escape. Most of the time, that means fiction, but travel memoirs also fit the bill. The first such book I read in my new "era" was Under the Tuscan Sun. It is also a funny book, but I appreciated it for taking me to Italy. Also, we were in the starting phases of renovating our 100 year old rowhouse, and her descriptions of working with contractors and trying to accomplish repairs resonated deeply with me.

That leaves me with the last book from my list of 15 - the exact opposite of funny. I read 1,000 Acres my first year in graduate school. A close friend of mine recommended it. It was completely depressing and awful. Well-written, but awful. It's a book that I truly wish that I could forget that I read, but I'm afraid will stick with me. I've since learned that my friend prefers novels that deal with issues and social ills and have stopped taking recommendations from her. If her book club has read it, I tend to steer clear of it.

I can't leave you on that depressing note, so I'll mention one of my favorite sad-funny children's books. While dealing with a serious time in our history and some awful events, the family dynamics in this book will have your sides in stitches. I highly recommend The Watsons Go to Birminham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Preferences

Ok, so this is last week's question, but I find it more interesting than this week's question.

Which do you prefer? (Quick answers–we’ll do more detail at some later date)

Reading something frivolous? Or something serious? Frivolous
Paperbacks? Or hardcovers? Paperbacks
Fiction? Or Nonfiction? Fiction
Poetry? Or Prose? Prose
Biographies? Or Autobiographies? Autobiographies, preferably Travel Memoirs
History? Or Historical Fiction? Historical Fiction, if we have to do history at all (I know - sad for an archivist, huh?)
Series? Or Stand-alones? Either
Classics? Or best-sellers? Best-sellers
Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose? Not fruity
Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? Plots
Long books? Or Short? Both have their place; well-written and well-editted are more important
Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated? Illustrated non-fiction; non-illustrated fiction
Borrowed? Or Owned? Owned (You never know if you'll be able to find it again if you don't own it.)
New? Or Used? Not beat up.

Back to Books: College

I mentioned at the end of my last post on this topic that I had gone abroad as an exchange student. In fact, I went to Brazil and lived in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. When I came back for my senior year in high school, one of my big factors in considering colleges was whether the college offered Portuguese classes. When you're facing a large moving box full of college brochures, using Portuguese as a weeding criteria is actually very effective. I also wanted to go more than 100 miles from home.

In all three of the Portuguese literature classes I took in college, we were required to read Gabriela, Cravo e Canela by Jorge Amado. Amado is a prolific and varied writer. He's sort of a combination of Mark Twain, Louis L'Amour, and John Steinbeck. Gabriela is considered his seminal work, although I enjoyed The Violent Land more.

Another notable book from college was Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. This is the first book I ever purposefully did not finish. I just couldn't do it. I think I forced my way through until I was less than 50 pages from the end, and then I just gave up, sort of. Somewhere in storage, I still have the book, with the bookmark still in it. Maybe now that some time has past, when I retrieve it from storage, I'll re-read it and either finish it or give it 50 pp. and let it go. I've gotten better about the latter now that I'm older.

College also meant meeting people who shared my taste in reading. Several of my friends suggested books to me. It was like opening up whole new worlds, and I loved it. The challenge was not getting too distracted from my school work. Robin McKinley and Barbara Michaels (Elizabeth Peters) are two of the new authors I met through friends.

Fantasy and Science Fiction Writer's Day

Last week's Booking through Thursday question was: Sharon Lee has declared June 23rd Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers Day. What might you do on the 23rd to celebrate? Do you even read fantasy/sci-fi? Why? Why not?

I *love* to read fantasy novels. This is my "go-to" genre when I'm looking for something to read. I think it started with a love of fairy tales. I read some science fiction, but not the really hard core stuff. It's all about the quest for me: quest for identity, quest for knowledge, quest for gold, quest for true love.

Since the day is a celebration of writers, here's a list of some of my favorites. They're listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Lois McMaster Bujold
David Eddings
Madeleine L'Engle
Ann McCaffrey
Robin McKinley
Elizabeth Moon
Robert Silverberg

I couldn't decide whether to include C.S. Lewis, Philip Pullman, and J.K. Rowling to the list. I'm too new to Pullman and Rowling to know if I'll love their books over time, but I suspect I will. I haven't read the Narnia novels over and over again the way I have the works of the other authors listed.

An honorable mention needs to go to Sharyn McCrumb for writing one of the funniest books I've ever read - a murder mystery set at a sci-fi convention. If you've ever been part of Fandom and haven't read Bimbos of the Death Sun, go now and find a copy.

Sadly, this post will probably be the extent of my celebration of the day.

11th Grade Books

Ah, the 11th grade. It was one of those years. I started school having had a complete makeover, and no one really noticed. It was also the year I landed in Miss K's English class. I can't say it was a completely miserable year, but it also wasn't very fun. Miss K was also the advisor for two of the afterschool clubs I belonged to. I couldn't escape her. I remember getting into a nasty fight with her about some activity (not course-related) during the year. I'm not one who gets into nasty fights, but she just rubbed me the wrong way.

11th grade was the year we moved further away from the course compendium volume and into more full length books for class. We read 8 or 10 that year. We read Alive. We read the Merchant of Venice. We read a bunch of books. We even were allowed to chose, as a class, one of the readings. That's how we ended up with Rebecca, and not Lord of the Flies. We were the first class in many years to read Rebecca, because our class was 1o girls and 2 boys (my entire h.s. class was only 100 students). After reading Alive, we weren't going to touch Lord of the Flies.

I read Rebecca straight through in two days. Why? Because I wanted to know the second Mrs. DeWinter's first name. In case you're wondering, it's not mentioned anywhere. I was *horrified* that she wasn't named. Even then, I knew that names were important. She had no identity except as an attachment to some other person. Looking back, I can see how reading Rebecca was my inaugural feminist moment. I still cringe, although less visibly now, when somebody calls me "Mrs."

To Kill a Mockingbird - one of the great masterpieces of American literature. A powerful book. An amazing movie. I'm always stunned when I discover friends who haven't read it. I've given it as a gift on more than one occasion. Despite all that, part of the reason it will always stick goes back to Miss K. You see, she got her revenge on us upstart teenagers. After we read the book, she showed us the videotape in class. There we were, on a Friday, watching the 2nd or 3rd installment, when she stops the tape a few minutes before the bell's to ring. And about 3 seconds before we get to see Boo Radley behind the bedroom door. Argh!!!!

The end of 11th grade was a different type of turning point for me. I spent the summer abroad as an exchange student and learned that I could escape the labels and the roles into which I'd been cast in the 4th grade and become someone I wanted to be. Senior year was bearable because I knew I'd be going away again soon.

Books I Read in 7th Grade

If 4th grade was the year I became a reader, then 7th grade is the year I began to devour books. It's the year that I branched out from reading children's chapter books to reading more young adult and adult novels. I don't think that there was any one event that triggered this, although I can think of several contributing factors.

7th grade is the first year that I really remember having specific assigned readings that were books. The Hobbit was one of them. One of the others was And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I read Ice Castles for a book report. (There, I just dated myself!) I didn't really enjoy the assigned readings, and truly did not get into The Hobbit. But I did enjoy another book given to me to read by the same teacher - A Separate Peace. This is one of the first "serious" books I read, which is how it made the 15 list.

What's odd about me not liking The Hobbit, is that I read a lot of fantasy. Many of the Tolkein's followers are authors that I love. Because of my dislike of The Hobbit, I didn't read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy until shortly before the movies came out. I didn't enjoy reading the LOTR trilogy, either, but I love the movies.

In any case, A Wrinkle in Time was a fantasy I read in 7th grade that I loved. I've read nearly all of L'Engle's work, including the nonfiction, and she's one of my favorite all time writers. I couldn't believe it when I was able to meet her when I was in college. She was the first really famous person I'd ever met. (I just thought about the number of children's book authors I've met in person. Given that only a couple of the meetings were at book signings, it's actually a fairly impressive group.)

Books I Read as a Small Child

In my post on 15 books that have stuck with me, I included Little Mommy by Sharon Kane (a Little Golden Book), the Little Golden Books' version of Jingle Bells (pre-school), and the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Why do I remember these?

Jingle Bells is hard to forget. This made my list, though, because of a photo. One year, probably the year I turned four, my mother took a photo of me in my rocking chair reading this. Despite the fact that the photo was taken during the summer, Mom sent it out that year with our Christmas Cards. I still have several copies of this.

Little Mommy was one of my favorites. I can still recite it, if I think about it hard enough. So can my mother. Imagine, then, my surprise and horror the first day of my undergraduate children's literature class when the instructor (Patricia MacLaclan) holds it up as an example of absolutely horrid children's literature. It is bad, I can't disagree with her, but that's my childhood she was mocking.

The Little House books made the list for two reasons. They are among the first books I read for myself and not as a school assignment and signal the point at which I really became a reader. They are also among the books I re-read every summer until I was in college.

Stuck on 15

This week's Booking Through Thursday question is: “This can be a quick one. Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.”

Here are mine in the order in which I remembered them. I've included information about when I read them, because there are patterns. I plan to do a follow up post to discuss why some of these stick.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (11th grade)
2. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (7th grade)
3. Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier (11th grade)
4. Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie (post grad school)
5. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury (college)
6. A Separate Piece by John Knowles (7th grade)
7. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (college)
8. Patriot's Dream by Barbara Michaels (college)
9. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (post grad school)
10. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (grad school)
11. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (7th grade)
12. The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (4th grade)
13. Little Mommy by Sharon Kane (pre-school)
14. The Little Golden Books' version of Jingle Bells (pre-school)
15. Gabriela, Cravo e Canela by Jorge Amado (college)

Second Time Around

Booking through Thursday asks this week: What book would you love to be able to read again for the first time?

This is an interesting question for me. I often re-read books. As a child, I only owned a few books and would re-read them each summer, and, as a result, I tend to forget the details of books fairly quickly so that I can enjoy them again. But, I still know that I enjoyed them the previous time, and, therefore, anticipate enjoying them again.

Ideally, what I would like is to experience the sense of wonder I had the first time I read many classics of my childhood. Reading them for the first time now as an adult wouldn't be the same as reading them in junior high. This would include books like A Wrinkle in Time; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; and The Eqypt Game. Even The Secret Garden. Books I came to later, but that still gave me that same sense of discovering something new, are the first Harry Potter book, The Blue Sword, and The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1964. There will always be something magical to me about children's and young adult books that tends to be missing in adult books.