Can I Get a Redo? Books We Wish We Could Read Again for the First Time

The books that made the cut? Reference titles. Books that had taken my enactment away. Books I had loved beyond each reason. Books I assumed I’d reread.

“But bash you truly extremity up rereading books?” radical ever inquire me.

Why, yes. Despite my never-ending TBR, yes, I do.

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Beach Music by Pat Conroy

To beryllium honest, I privation I could acquisition all of Conroy’s books again for the precise archetypal time. They are filled with lush descriptions and over-the-top melodrama and quippy characters whose quick-witted dialog rivals that of the tv ensembles connected shows similar Dawson’s Creek and Gilmore Girls. Reading them is similar enjoying an illicit saccharine (like those Ferrero Rochers I support hidden successful my bureau closet). Beach Music is the archetypal caller of his I read, a beat-up paperback pilfered from my father’s basement postulation erstwhile I was inactive young. It’s astir a Southerner surviving with his young girl successful Rome who’s called backmost to his puerility location erstwhile his parent falls ill. Once backmost home, helium has to contend with memories of the woman helium mislaid to termination and woody with the resentments of household members who consciousness helium abandoned them. I know. It sounds depressing arsenic each get-out. But this publication made maine consciousness all the emotions, some affirmative and negative, and I privation I could acquisition this rollercoaster of a caller again without knowing what was coming astir the bend.

Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien

Fast guardant to my assemblage years, erstwhile I entered my War Novel phase. I rapidly became enamored of O’Brien’s work, and I recovered this caller to beryllium peculiarly moving. It’s a surrealist anti-war caller acceptable during the Vietnam War successful which an full squad goes aft 1 of their members — Cacciato — aft helium decides to spell AWOL by walking each the mode from Vietnam to France. Through this premise, O’Brien explores the ravages of war, intelligence trauma, and the hazard that comes with pursuing one’s dreams. I inactive retrieve being a penning student, seeing O’Brien work astatine the Boston Public Library, wishing for a aboriginal successful which I, too, could physique a beingness retired of words. I deliberation my privation to acquisition his books again for the precise archetypal clip stems from nostalgia for a much innocent, hopeful clip successful my ain penning life.

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Lawson archetypal caught my oculus connected what I mostly notation to arsenic “mom Twitter.” Soon after, I began speechmaking her blog, The Bloggess, truthful I was ace primed to bask her archetypal memoir. In Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson uses acheronian wit arsenic a conveyance for her stories of slump and anxiety, mixed successful with random ridiculousness that is excessively absurd to beryllium believed. When I saw her work astatine a publication motorboat lawsuit successful NYC, I laughed truthful hard, I cried. I wasn’t embarrassed, though, due to the fact that everyone other was laugh-crying, too. I consciousness similar Lawson was astatine the forefront of this peculiar marque of humor, and to acquisition her again for the precise archetypal clip would beryllium to instrumentality to a clip erstwhile each of societal media was not a changeless deluge of self-deprecating snark.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 1: Squirrel Power by Ryan North and Erica Henderson

Five years ago, I began speechmaking comics. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl was not the implicit archetypal comic I picked up, but it was close, and it rocked my world. It was decidedly the archetypal 1 I fangirled implicit truthful hard, I ended up cosplaying arsenic the main character and adjacent decoupaging a framework to clasp the portion of creation I commissioned from the artist. More than anything, I loved the wit of the series, and besides its inherent wholesome goodness. I would emotion to instrumentality to a clip erstwhile I hadn’t yet work those archetypal fewer panels, which kicked disconnected a emotion for a mean I’d antecedently been indifferent to.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Okay. This 1 really rings the aforesaid bells for maine arsenic Lawson’s book. It tackles pugnacious topics with laugh-out-loud humor, albeit successful graphic form. Hyperbole and a Half is simply a wit memoir that grew retired of Brosh’s webcomic/blog. It tackles hard-hitting issues similar laziness, adulting, and slump and it does truthful with drawings that are truthful hilariously atrocious (yet inactive truthful expressive), they’ve circled each the mode backmost astir to awesome. It brought each the LOLs, adjacent arsenic I painfully related to it, and the chapters connected slump made maine consciousness peculiarly seen. Actually, each clip I work this one, it does still consciousness similar the archetypal time, so…achievement unlocked?

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

I’ve written astir this publication before. Somehow, it became my fig 1 favourite work successful 2020, contempt the information that I americium an indoorsy person. This publication is conscionable gorgeous, though. Kimmerer writes with quality and reverence toward the satellite we unrecorded in, braiding essays unneurotic to overgarment a representation of a civilization wherever radical behave with reciprocity toward the onshore and toward each other. She asks readers to determination toward that aforesaid narration of reverence and reciprocity and, successful redeeming the land, prevention themselves. This is 1 of those “made maine reconsider my full mode of life” books, and I loved it truthful much, I work it doubly wrong the span of conscionable a fewer months. Returning to it is simply a fantastic reminder of however we should beryllium surviving successful assemblage with the world and with each other.

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Sutanto’s comic thriller-romance is simply a premix of genres I don’t typically work but, overmuch to my surprise, it ended up being the astir amusive ever. In the book, our starring woman accidentally kills her unsighted date. Meddelin Chan doesn’t cognize what to do, but her Chinese-Indonesian aunties instantly measurement up, each portion prepping for the grandest wedding they’ve ever worked before. Can they propulsion it off? Will Meddelin reunite with the 1 who got distant portion besides getting distant with murder? I privation I could acquisition it for the archetypal clip again because, though I person enjoyed different comic thriller-romances precocious (it’s seemingly a full thing), nary of them person it successful rather the aforesaid way. Onward to my colleagues’ picks!

The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch

The archetypal clip I work this, I had to halt speechmaking and unopen the publication due to the fact that I kept thinking, you tin constitute similar this? I was successful my MFA programme and we were being told precise circumstantial things astir trade and however to constitute memoir, and present comes this publication and it blew up everything I was told. I was successful awe of the wordcraft, the mode she phrased things, what she discussed, and however she said it. I carried that publication astir with maine successful my container for years aft I finished it. I’ve reread it countless times since that archetypal read, but oh, however I privation I could acquisition it anew again. —Jaime Herndon

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

The Broken Earth phantasy trilogy made N.K. Jemisin the archetypal writer to triumph the Hugo Award for Best Novel 3 years successful a row, and for bully reason. It’s wholly genius, showing a dystopian beingness connected a expansive and idiosyncratic standard that takes the scholar connected a winding travel afloat of surprises. And those surprises are precisely wherefore I privation I could work this trilogy (and particularly the archetypal successful the series, The Fifth Season) again for the archetypal time. There’s a infinitesimal successful the archetypal publication wherever everything you deliberation you cognize changes, and I would springiness thing to spell backmost and consciousness my ain position displacement erstwhile everything clicks into place. I can’t accidental immoderate much without spoiling it, truthful if you haven’t work the Broken Earth trilogy yet, work it soon and bask it for me! —Susie Dumond

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

While Hitchhiker’s Guide was the archetypal Adams publication I ever read, this 1 blew my caput successful a wholly antithetic way. It’s a benignant of supernatural enigma communicative with respective crippled lines and crippled points that you deliberation cannot perchance link successful a rational mode (well, “rational” for a definite usage of the term). When it each started coming together, I conscionable sat determination astir laughing successful sheer awe. What benignant of a caput would travel up with thing similar that? (And wherefore couldn’t I get immoderate of that magic??) Actually, it’s been a portion since I’ve work Dirk Gently, truthful possibly I’ve forgotten capable of it that I tin spell backmost and reread it similar it truly is my archetypal time! —Eileen Gonzalez

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu

I loved this full collection, and determination are gripping twists and turns successful rather a fewer of them. But the archetypal communicative successful peculiar — astir idiosyncratic trying to “visit” their parent successful virtual reality, adjacent though that’s against VR rules — packs a peculiar benignant of gut punch that I’m not definite tin ever beryllium recreated by a reread oregon different story. —Eileen Gonzalez

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

This is an implicit classical of a romance caller with 1 of the astir badass heroines to ever grace the page. The chemistry! The wit! The drama! What I wouldn’t springiness to work the mitt country for the archetypal clip again. I’d emotion to conscionable galore of the characters for the archetypal clip again, particularly the grandmother. If you haven’t work this 1 yet, I’m jealous and precise chin hands waiting for your response. —Nikki DeMarco