My Favorite Books to Read and Re-Read

I enjoy many kinds of books. Some are my "summer reads" that are the kind you borrow from the library and are happy to give back when you've finished them. Some are the exciting kind that tell a story that you are just enthralled by and you can't put the book down till you find out what happens. But you might not want to read those again because you already know what happened!

And then there are the kind of books you just want to keep on the bookshelf and be able to pick up again any time and re-read them. There just is something special about sitting down and re-reading a favorite book. They bring alive worlds and people that you have come to love. This is the kind of book I'm talking about here. In my case they include British and American authors, men and women authors, historical and futuristic tales, and more that I will have to add later!

This statement by Hemingway is one that truly resonates with me about this story:

I tried to make a real old man, a real boy, a real sea and a real fish and real sharks. But if I made them good and true enough they would mean many things.

I have to admit that I'm not really a fan of Charles Dickens, even though I'm a Brit! Maybe that's partly why; we did have to read several of his books in high school.

This one, though, "A Tale of Two Cities," captured my imagination, and belongs on my list of books I love to re-read.

It's set in a historical time, one that I didn't really understand too well until I read this book. The image of Madame Defarge, the tricoteuse, sitting beside the guillotine during the Reign of Terror knitting the names of those who will be condemned to be the guillotine's next victims, is one that has stayed with me.

And I just can't forget those opening (and closing) lines of this book:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

How true really, when you read the book. There are so many moments of joy but then tragedy is right there too. The beauty and wonder of the two cities of the title, London and Paris, yet the horror of the French Revolution and the guillotine. And just as the characters in the book move back and forth across the Channel between England and France so we wonder if the best of times or the worst of times will travel with them, and ultimately affect our lives. Dickens was surely concerned with that.

Perhaps that's not enough to make me want to re-read this book though! So it must be Sidney Carton's sacrifice that really moves my heart. He's not the best of sorts really, but in the end he comes through like a champion. And the last words in the book are his:

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

"Little Women" is full of so many good lessons about life, but I never feel it's preachy or get turned off by it.

The girls are so real, with their different characters and struggles. I just want them all to overcome their weaknesses and challenges and succeed in life.

Jane Austen is another of my favorite authors to re-read, and probably my daughter's absolute favorite (apart from the "Harry Potter" books which she likes to re-read every summer!).

Her writing is actually very funny, once you realize that Jane Austen is making fun of the English society of her day. Even if the situations seem dated compared to our contemporary society, her character studies still hit the mark perfectly. So, although the social situation has changed dramatically, the age-old issues she deals with have not.

I just love "Wuthering Heights," with its wild Yorkshire moors and even wilder characters, especially Healthcliff. Oh Heathcliff! How many times as a teenager did I go to sleep imagining the ways I could comfort Heathcliff and bring him the happiness I imagined he deserved.

This story is surely the greatest account of wild emotions and heartbreak that all but destroy everyone in their path. It really makes you want to get involved in their lives and help them achieve happiness!

It makes you wonder what kind of life this British woman, Emily Bronte, must have lived to be able to tell such a tale.

Although there's heartbreak and horror in Charlotte's "Jane Eyre," in many ways I find it a much more peaceful book than her sister's "Wuthering Heights." In this case, the ending is clearly intended to be happy, despite great suffering on the part of the main characters to reach that point.

Perhaps that is why I didn't re-read this as often in the past. But, I have to admit, Jane's story is so well told, and continues through so many different situations, it is really fascinating!

I just loved science fiction as a teenager and college student. And Isaac Asimov had to rate up there as pretty much my favorite author. He just seemed to capture the essence of what was going to be of great significance really soon in our world.

Although I love the "Foundation" trilogy, I don't actually find his "psychohistory" very plausible! I studied psychology and found there are just too many variables when we deal with human beings even for computers to handle. But I love the stories and the issues raised and explored in this series, even if not always fully answered.

I can't honestly say I have been a great fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I didn't have to read his novels in high school (not sure if that's a good or bad thing!) so I didn't actually read any till a bit later in life.

I know he's considered one of the most important American writers of the twentieth century. I guess that rates him alongside Ernest Hemingway whose writing I came to love at a much earlier age (did have to him in high school!).

In any case, I found Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" eventually, and now it's on my shelf of books to re-read. I don't know if you could call it enjoyable, but it's certainly great literature and quite a story! It's also been made into movies several times, with great (and good-looking!) actors playing Gatsby - like Alan Ladd, Robert Redford, and the latest, Leonardo diCaprio.

If you're a "baby boomer" you probably remember Jonathan Livingston Seagull very well! This book appeared in the early 1970s when so many of us were searching for inspiration. Loving the uplifting message but without even understanding the religious undertones.

Published in 1970, Jonathan Livingston Seagull is one of those books that are easy to read - it's really short, less than 10,000 words! And, for those who like pictures in their books, It also has wonderful photographs of seagulls flying. But this is no ordinary book, about seagulls or about flying.