This Tuesday, The Broke and The Bookish ask us to think about this topic in our Top Ten:
There are just some books that leave you with such deep, intense feeling when you finish it for the first time. We've all experienced this at one time or another. The bad thing is, there's really no way we can go back and experience that feeling again, even with multiple rereadings. We already know what happens, if there are plot twists, a surprise ending, who the main characters ends up with , who dies, etc. Here are some books that leave me (Kelly) with these feelings of longing.
So here is my Top Ten of Books that I Would LIke To Read Again For The First Time...
10) "The Liar of Umbria" by Bjarne Reuter
Not sure this was ever translated to English which is a shame because it is a really really really amazing book.
9) Peter Pan and Wendy by J. M. Barrie.
One of the children's books that have most effectively captured my imagination. Such a wonderful book. Full of adventure and heartbreak.
8) "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.
I expected so little and got so much. I read the book right around Christmas time last year and it was a really amazing experience because I got so sucked into it.
7) "Stolen" by Lucy Christopher
The development of the stolen girl's Stockholm Syndrome and the changes in the relationship between captured and hunter had me completely enthralled. Loved the unpredictable parts of this story and loved the ending.
6) "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas
I love both the villains and the heros of this story. They are all so vain, so selfish and so lacking in the self-awareness department - have loved it since I was a girl and wish I could remember the first time I read it.
5) The Silent Duchess by Dacia Maraini
So beauty and such emotional turmoil. On amazon.com they write: "Episodic and essentially plotless, but propelled by an inner tension..." and I definitely got caught up in that tension.
4) "Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" by Christiane F.
The biography of a teenage heroin addict and prostitute in the Berlin of the 1990's. I was in a depressed state for days after first reading this when I was 13 years old. It was the first book that made me realize that it is up to us to take control of our lives and decide how we want to live it. A very very scary and emotional read.
3) "New Moon" and "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer
I long for the days when these were books that hardly anyone talked about and that didn't have people divided in lovers and haters. Because honestly I was completely addicted to these two. "Twilight" not so much but these two had me in a state of being where nothing else mattered except from Bella, Edward and Jacob. I miss the innocence of those days, before the movies and the R-Patz/K-Stew mania.
2)"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
I saw the BBC series before I read the book. Big mistake. Wish it was the other way around. LOVE this book, it really is one of the greatest love stories ever. And oh how I long for that first feeling of intense worry that Darcy and Elizabeth wouldn't have their happy ever after.
1) The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
Booking a week of vacation and spending the entire week reading all of the Harry Potter books in a row for the first time is more or less my idea of perfect bookish bliss. I loved being part of the HP adventure, lining up outside bookstores at midnight to get my hands on the newest book and I loved the sense of being a muggle, lucky to catch a glimpse of the magical world of Hogwarts.
P&P really should have made my list, too. It's such a fun read, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed - such a lovely read.
ReplyDeleteI thought Stolen was fantastic
ReplyDeleteMe too, it is a really good book.
ReplyDeleteI've got to agree with you on your number one - it would be delightful to read Harry Potter again for the first time. I started the series when I was 12, before any movies were made, and it was great to grow up with the series.
ReplyDeleteI also saw Pride and Prejudice before reading it, which I wish I hadn't. I enjoyed the worry about the happy ever after the first time too :)
ReplyDeleteStolen sounds interesting; I'll have to check it out. I haven't read Muskateers, but I really should. I suppose I'll add that to my list too. :)
ReplyDeletePride and Prejudice is on my list this week as well. I also saw the BBC miniseries before I read the book, and I love both equally. And by "equally" I mean I love them more than anyone should love a story. :D
I would love to experience The Hunger Games again, it's been so long since I read a book that for me, REALLY lived up to the massive hype. I read it quite late, so the hype was huge by then! I have high hopes that I'll enjoy the movie just as much now
ReplyDeleteI read Twilight but none of its sequels yet, and I really wish I could hop in a bubble and read them where all the noise and the hype and people's wildly varying (but always insistent!) opinions of them can't penetrate.
ReplyDeleteThe Hunger Games series is on my list of "books I must read soon" since I'm among the last few on the earth who haven't read and loved them (yet). ;-)
Tipping my hat to your #1 choice =) (and the vacation)
ReplyDeleteI've realized that there actually aren't too many books I wish I could read for the first time again, but Pride & Prejudice is definitely one of the few.
ReplyDeleteP&P and HP <3
ReplyDeleteYours is the second list I've stumbled upon which has The Hunger Games on it!!
ReplyDeleteI loved Pride & Prejudice and Harry Potter. My list would probably contain Catcher in the Rye and The Fountainhead as well.