To Re-Read or Not To Re-Read

When I was a kid, I re-read books all the time. I'd get to the last book in The Little House on the Prairie series or in the Anne of Green Gables series or the last story in a Stephen King short story/novella collection then go right back to the start. But, as I got older, I did that less often. I'm not sure why, exactly. Maybe because I had more access to libraries and bookstores, more money to purchase new books, more knowledge of upcoming titles that sounded intriguing?

Lately, though, I find myself turning back to old favorites (for a variety of reasons)...and loving every minute of it. Here are some of my recent re-reads (including the links to past posts if you want more of a review):

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell for The Heroine's Bookshelf's GWTW Read-Along. Still love it, probably love it even more now. It reminded me of how it feels to be caught up in a true saga.

Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer. These are the first two in her YA Moon Book series and I re-read them because the third one had just come out and I wanted to experience them all in a row. (I'm geeky that way.)

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens. This was just as creepy the second time around, maybe even more so because I knew what was going to happen on the next page or in the next chapter and I was helpless to stop it. The reason I re-read this one was because I didn't enjoy her second novel as much as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but it didn't freak me out the way this one did, and I had wanted to go back and see if I had built the first one up in my head. Nope.   

Do you re-read books? Why or why not? Are there any books out there you keep meaning to go back to but haven't yet? (I want to go back to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith and The Betsy-Tacy Books by Maud Hart Lovelace.) Any favorite re-reads you'd recommend?

It's a Classic for a Reason

I'm not going to argue what makes a book a "classic." That's for more scholarly brains than mine to deal with. In my mind, Gone With the Wind is truly a classic and what proves this to me is the great discussion taking place over at The Heroine's Bookshelf.

We're talking history, the roles of women and men in that time and place, love, marriage, conformity and courage. Our hostess, Erin, briefly summarizes each chapter and provides a bit of historical background and/or trivia and then she lets us loose to discuss favorite scenes and characters and to ask questions and to share our opinions and thoughts. There's no pressure, no right or wrong answers. We're just a group of people gathered around this novel, much like the boys gathered around Scarlett at the Twelve Oaks barbecue, all of us fascinated by this young woman who has no idea how much her life is about to change.

One of the things that strikes me about this re-read, is how I feel so differently about the some of the characters this time around. I used to love Ashley and his romantic, poetic ways and this time? He comes across more wishy-washy than anything. I used to think Melanie was a boring, goody-two-shoes but this time? I see the steel of her backbone.
 
Go on over and check out our discussion of Part I and Part II. Meet Scarlett and her sisters, meet Gerald and Ellen, Mammy and Prissy and Pork. Meet the Tarleton boys. Meet Ashley Wilkes, Melanie and Charles Hamilton. And you will never forget Rhett Butler. See the land of Tara stretch before your eyes, smell the barbecue, watch the young, bustling city of Atlanta age and evolve, hear the moans of the wounded, of the dying men, who crowd homes and hospitals as they return from a war they won't win.   

To me, this book is a classic in every sense of the word.

Get Yourself GONE . . . WITH THE WIND, That Is!

Come join me - and about 100+ other people - for THE GREAT GONE WITH THE WIND READALONG over at The Heroine's Bookshelf.

Whether you've read it before or are reading it for the first time (oh, I envy you!), there's a place for you in the discussion. Erin has a schedule for what chapters will be discussed when (it sounds more formal than it is, don't worry!) and she'll provide some historical background and fun ways to approach the reading. Plus, there will be prizes!

The first discussion starts August 1st and covers Chapters 1-7. Believe me, for such a huge book, it reads incredibly fast. I'm already up to the part where Scarlett meets Rhett for the first time . . .Sigh. Where was I again? Oh, forget it. I'm already Gone...