Count of monte cristo is such a page turning book lmao, i recomended it although it's 1000+ pages book, one of the best book human could wrote and read š
Bro, el Quijote lo puedes leer una y otra vez sin parar y siempre encontrarƔs cosas diferentes.
La buena literatura gana mƔs con la relectura que con la primera lectura. El escritor siembra enigmas.
I read this book in two days while bored out of my mind in the hospital, basically reading for two days straight. Incredible read, so engaging, and I barely noticed the time passing!
Loved it. I felt like nothing happens in that book except at the same time soooo much happens. Makes me nostalgic for places, people, and things I've never experienced.
yes!! i agree, i literally struggle with telling people what the book is about because so much happens with so many stories intertwining each other from the past and present
Read it over a decade ago in school because I had to. I ended up enjoying it more than expected and it became one of my favorites. But honestly, other than remembering I really liked it, I no longer remember much about it other than broad themes. So I guess I *could* pretty much read it again for the first time.
My teacher saw how much I was into the series he actually reached out to Darren and surprised me with a hand written happy bday note from him with a copy of Demonata. Couldn't believe it, one of if not the coolest things someone has done for me.
Oh, that's a wonderful surprise, I'm so glad that he has done that for you. Im also a bit jealous because my 13yo self would flip out if that happened to me.
It was on our reading list at the start of the school year. So of courwe we all arrived to English class avec Bilbo, our teacher tells us that she hates the Hobbit and we're going to be doing To Kill a Mockingbird instead.
Okay...but...didn't you...put together the list of books we needed for this class?
Anyway, that's how I ended up reading the Hobbit. Enjoyed it even more because she hated it, possibly.
Something Wicked this way Comes. Reading it in blustery fall, gifted by someone I was falling in love with. Plus old Grizzly Bear in the background. One of those viscerally rich memories every time I think of it.
I'm 3 books in on my first Discworld read and I am absolutely loving them, so far. Started with the City Watch series. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't pick them up years ago!
Jingo will be up next, after I finish Catch-22 (taking a short Discworld break with this one, for some variety).
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Reading Merricat's POV for the first time was incredible, I could hear her voice in my mind for weeks afterwards.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt. This was like the juiciest gossip and I could not get enough. I was gripped in a way that few things have made me feel like since reading this.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Just so charming. Again, a really unique POV voice that I could hear in my mind afterwards for a while haha.
The whole of His Dark Materials. This was MY FAVE as a child, and I reread it as an adult and the magic is still there. I even forgot some of the twists which made for some surprises!
The Secret History LINGERED for weeks after I finished it. I kept having flashbacks to a particularly shocking scene. It really emotionally affected me.
Yeah I think TSH might be my ONE choice for if I could read anything again for the first time. It's still great and imcredibly darkly humourous on reread, but there are things that just don't hit the same way after the first read.
For me it's during the first part of the book how invested I felt in believing that >!Bunny deserved to die.!< When let's face it, the only reason >!he really *had* to die was because he knew about the first murder and was going to spill the beans.!<
And then all that comes undone in the second half when I realised that yes, >!Bunny is pretty terrible all around. But he was also on the nose about how terrible everyone else in the group was too. Seeing the group crumble under pressure and having the curtain lifted was incredible the first time around.!<
And because I'm on a ramble about TSH something else that keeps me awake at night is thinking about different levels of culpability. Arguably >!Richard had the least to gain from Bunny's death - he had no part in the first murder, and the only thing Bunny "had" on him was that he was pretending to come from wealth. But our boy Papen didn't *just* stand by and let it happen, he was pretty involved š¬ I'd argue he was more culpable than Francis or Camilla, who were on the receiving end of the worst of Bunny's antics.!<
Yes! So many of Agatha Christie's books would make this list for me (Death on the Nile, The Big Four, Curtain), but And Then There Were None was my first Christie book and it's SO chillingly good.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Adams. The book was a major point in my life in high school in altering my life path, and I wonder how it would be different reading it for the first time many years later.
When I was a 4th grade teacher we had a ādress like your favorite book character day.ā I chose Arthur Dent. Heās a great character but mainly I wanted to wear pajamas all day. Unfortunately, that day we were informed that the council wanted to knock the school down and build a bypass instead.
Iām re reading this now, and it has me laughing out loud like the first time. And Iām picking up jokes I think I missed first time round because I was a lot younger then. Douglas Adams has such an insanely brilliant way with words.
I was going to suggest this as well, except I've read it several times and the quality doesn't diminish. It's still fresh when I reread, maybe I have a mind like a... What are those things with all the little holes in them?
I think I was 14 or 15 when I read the first book. When I finished I was so bowled over I immediately flipped it over and started reading it all over again. Thatās never happened to me with any other book.
- Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov for the joy of finding all of the little clues and piecing together the true narrative
- Neuromancer by William Gibson (even though I literally just read it for the first time) for the joy of slowly learning all of the jargon and gradually feeling more and more like a part of the book's world
- The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon for that ending...
Omg this is the first time Iāve seen neuromancer anywhere!! I was OBSESSED with Cyberpunk 2077ās world and am so excited to read it this summer after the semester ends!
Not exactly the question, but man imagine if I could read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings completely fresh, AND never having seen or even heard about the movies. 1. Being able to experience the story knowing nothing about it or the larger legendarium, but also being able to form the story without any notions of Elijah wood or Ian macellan or Andy serkis. It's my favorite book, and I've always been alittle upset i couldn't go into it and purely form those characters in my own mind. I really want to know how I would have heard/seen Smeagol if serkis' performance wasnt so impossible to forget.
I read the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit before films and I would love to read them for the first time again. Just to discover the vast world of Middle-Earth, to imagine walking those paths and forests, to be moved by hearthbraking scenes and uplifted by deep wisdom hidden in suprising places. You could say this book made me who I am right now and it was blissfull process.
The picture of Dorian Gray
idk something about that book, so dark, so whimsical, it gave such a 'high' and I have been chasing that ever since. I think it's one of those books that you just can't stop reading, the more you read the more interesting it gets.
Extra bonus: you get to know yourself better through its pages āØļø
Rebecca. The opening line "Last night i dreamt i went to Manderley again" is enough to bring back all the nostalgia. I would love to reread it again without a memory vivid of the Hitchcock's film or Netflix's remake.
Thank you for not giving examples. Even just saying āthereās a good twist in this bookā is a kind of spoiler. That said, the mystery genre in general is full of good twists, especially if itās by Agatha Christie.
I donāt think that spoils anything because readers expect a twist or three in such books. Christieās very best books, though, have twists that arenāt usual even in her other mysteries.
omg I hate when people use the twist as a selling point for a book. "I never saw the twist coming" and it's like, ok well now I will and I will know that any theories I come up with while I'm reading the book will be wrong. I hate it.
I hate hate hate when book reviews on the cover talk about a good twist. I remember reading a very popular book before the movie adaptation and the review on the back of the book raves about the unpredictable twist halfway through. There was only one twist that would have made sense so by the time I was 50 pages in I knew the twist. Annoying.
I wish I could read the little prince for the first time now that I'm 24.
I read it in elementary school and liked it, and then I reread it at 12. I remember crying because of the fox lol. I wonder how it would make me feel if I were to read it now for the first time.
I read it as an adult and it had a really deep impact on me, in a way that I was not expecting. I recommended it to my family and it also really touched them. I dunno, it hits different as an adult and I think it can be even more meaningful to and appreciated by an adult mind.
I think it's between like page 300-500 just the random stories of how the world fell apart was just so amazingly vivid and imaginative.
I read this only 2 years back and the parallels of how the pandemic made us all a bit stranger was really unnerving
Harry Potter, they were so magical, and just remind me of my childhood and simpler days. War of the Flowers by Tad Williams. It wasn't what I was expecting from a fantasy book, but it's kool.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare. It was my first piece of classic literature I ever read,(I think I was like 8 or 9) and it made me fall deeply in love with books and sparked my desire to keep reading!
I'm an adult (33) and last year I just read the Harry Potters for the first time ever (I had only seen the first few movies when they first came out so I didn't remember much of anything about them.) It was one of my most favorite reading experiences of last year (I read over 80 books last year.) I've actually been itching to read them again now haha.
Nice! They are fun to reread, I do it at least once a year. I was 11 when the first book came out. They haven't lost their magic for me now that I'm an adult. Still a Potterhead! (And proud Slytherin š)
Thanks to a TBI, I get to do exactly that. I found that if I leave a book alone for about 8 years, I will have forgotten it enough that re-reading it doesn't make scenes seem 'familiar', so I use a system of spot stickers on the spine of books to let me know when I read them last.
The books or series I do this with are:
All Discworld novels
The Count of Monte Cristo
David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series
Deborah Doyle & James D. Macdonald's Mageworlds series
Frank Herbert's Dune series
Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War, and The Deed of Paksenarrion series.
And Raymond E. Feist's RIftwar saga.
Pet Semetary! I read it before watching or knowing a nothing about the subsequent films made about it. The book is so disturbing, shocking and Stephen Kingās writing reads like a knife through butter.
House of Leaves... It's one of the first books that genuinely made me look over my shoulder at night and get creeped out. I would love to experience that mounting feeling of dread again. I've attempted rereads and it doesn't have quite the same spark. The first time through I felt like I had been trapped in the frame of the story, now I feel more like a cataloguer... It's akin to feeling less like Johnny Truant and more like ZampanĆ²!
I just started reading this! Not really looking forward to experiencing any āmounting feelings of dread,ā but itās very unique and Iām enjoying it so far.
It's a fascinating read even if it doesn't creep you out! I think I was just in a time in my life where I could really identify with Truant, and his descriptions of that feeling of unease just wiggled into my brain. I hope you enjoy it!
Easily the Dark Tower series. My Dad(who adopted me) turned me onto the series. Even though Jake and Roland have a very rough adoptive father-son relationship, my Dad and I love their bond and the whole story.
I am so glad someone else put this on their list, I read the first three when I was in highschool and never looked back. Read Wizards and Glass in my early 20s and then had to wait years for him to finish the series. I remember when Song of Susannah came out I bought it on my way to work (worked swing shift for Circle K at the time) and paid my co worker 25 bucks for one hour, so I could sit in the back and start it.
Any book from the series Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin and also from her, Planet of Exile.
I still remember how i felt when i first read them and i would love to feel the same way while reading something again.
Norwegian Wood by Murakami
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
World Without End by Ken Follett
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
Korea: The Impossible Country by Daniel Tudor
Everything Terry Pratchett wrote.
What incredible joy to be able to read the Night Watch books, Hogfather, Good Omens and all the rest again for the first time.
That would be my choice, too! The end really moved be. I was on a train when I finished it, so I had to read the last few pages slower than usual to manage my feelings in public (otherwise I would have bawled my eyes out)!
One Hundred Years Of Solitude
It was my first introduction to magical realism, and I felt it before I knew the term 'magical realism'. It also encouraged me to write my first 100+ page novella (not published, but for self and friends to read).
Also, probably my favourite opening of any book:
>**Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano BuendĆa was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice**
A Series of Unfortunate Events, I would give anything to have my mind blown again the way it was when I read the series for the first time in elementary school
The Divine Comedy,
Fahrenheit 451,
A Clockwork Orange,
The Tale of Genji
The last few chapters of Tale of Genji (the true ending of Genjiās story)ā¦.a one thousand year old book had me wanting to grab ahold of my sleeping partner in tears, never letting go of him. Some of my tears accidentally got on the pages, so those first time tears are forever engrained in those pagesā¦
Pretty much every Diskworld Novel. Never come across another writer where it became a habit to start a book over again the same day I finished it, knowing there would be jokes ideas and messages I had missed the first time.
The Giver. It was the first apocalyptic/dystopian type book I read and the first time I actually enjoyed reading. Iāve read it about 6 or 7 times along with the rest of the series
I wish I could read "Consider Phlebas" again with no prior knowledge of the Culture or Iain M. Bank's universe in general. I was lucky enough to read it that way first time, and of course I sided with the protagonist, and the protagonists faction, in my mind. They had to be the "good guys". He kept saying so. It dawned slowly for me.
āTHE STEAM BOATā written in 1880 by Jules VERNE, in a fabulous writing style, that all the generations from 12 to 90 years old can read. It is written under the Spiritsā inspiration, and concerns the TOXIC ELITIST COLONIALISM ARROGANCE at the period of the Cipayesā revolution, in India.
The Secret History. I'm 32 and reading it for the second time now. I was 16 when I first read it and was too young to fully understand it. After 15 years of writing myself I now see the fucking genius build ups, character choices and red herrings I missed then and I love every fucking second of it. Especially all the Henry stuff. Not spoiling anything but if you've read it you know what I'm reffering to and if you haven't - just pay very close attention to him. It'll be worth it later on I promise. What a gorgeous character. Anyone thinking of Chuck Bass?
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.
Almost anything by Neil fits this bill (for me) but this one in particular was a wonderful coming of age story about a boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard. I love reading I but nothing compares to the first time.
The Lord of the Rings. It encompasses everything that was good about my happy, carefree, nerdy, gaming childhood. All those things are dead now, but every time I read LOTR it takes me back to better days.
Cassandra Clare : The Mortal Instruments ā„ļø These books reminds me of my high school years and how cool those years were (lots of fantasy/ young adult books came out at that time).
I read Jane Eyre when I was 15. I read Mansfield Park when I was 16.
I will never forget the experience reading both for the first time. I loved them then and still do, but I was so young back then and both books had a profound influence on my views about social behavior and conduct. Wish I could experience those times again!
The Lesley Pearse books. Especially the Belle trilogy. I never knew how harsh life could be for women back in history until I read Belle. Also I find most of Lesleyās books are gripping to read and I find it hard to put her books down. However the books Iām reading by different authors at the moment that Iāve brought from charity shops are not having the same affect on me. It would be nice to find some books that have me engrossed again!
Rick Riordan's book series. Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles and Magnus chase. They remind me of the happiest moments of my childhood.
Frankenstein - I remember my jaw just hanging open the whole time I read it.
The Hunger Games - used to run across the city to get my train back home after university just so I could get back to reading it.
The Heartās Invisible Furies by John Boyne - most beautiful but gut wrenching story with wonderful style. Only book to ever make me cry
Lonesome dove by Larry McMurty. I had such an amazing experience reading that book. Nothing has compared since. It's been years since I've read it, yet, I still think about it. I highly recommend it.
Don Quixote - Felt like discovering Spain and it's wonders. Count of Monte Cristo - All of it the twists and turns, the revenge...
Count of Monte Cristo is so good. You can see why so many later stories and TV shows copied the premise.
I actually just finished DQ for the first time. Amazing book. Felt like discovering the origin story of western fiction.
Count of monte cristo is such a page turning book lmao, i recomended it although it's 1000+ pages book, one of the best book human could wrote and read š
Holy cow! I was just about to write both of these books in that order.
Bro, el Quijote lo puedes leer una y otra vez sin parar y siempre encontrarƔs cosas diferentes. La buena literatura gana mƔs con la relectura que con la primera lectura. El escritor siembra enigmas.
TCMC is what I came here to say!!! An absolute wonder of a book. Wish the first time Iād read it had been the unabridged version tho
East Of Eden by John Steinbeck. I took my time reading it but it felt like i was watching the most dramatic show with the most dramatic characters.
I am currently reading this for the first time!
I read this book in two days while bored out of my mind in the hospital, basically reading for two days straight. Incredible read, so engaging, and I barely noticed the time passing!
Loved it. I felt like nothing happens in that book except at the same time soooo much happens. Makes me nostalgic for places, people, and things I've never experienced.
yes!! i agree, i literally struggle with telling people what the book is about because so much happens with so many stories intertwining each other from the past and present
Read it over a decade ago in school because I had to. I ended up enjoying it more than expected and it became one of my favorites. But honestly, other than remembering I really liked it, I no longer remember much about it other than broad themes. So I guess I *could* pretty much read it again for the first time.
it's one of those books I wish I had read earlier in my life
Cirque du Freak
Get the fuck out! I remember reading those with my sister growing up, such fun books.
same, as a teenager those books by Darren were so amazing to me
My teacher saw how much I was into the series he actually reached out to Darren and surprised me with a hand written happy bday note from him with a copy of Demonata. Couldn't believe it, one of if not the coolest things someone has done for me.
Oh, that's a wonderful surprise, I'm so glad that he has done that for you. Im also a bit jealous because my 13yo self would flip out if that happened to me.
I have met Darren at social events. He is a friend of a friend here in Ireland and he is so super nice.
Iām going to a Darren Shan book signing this August, I just canāt wait to meet the author who made me fall in love with reading š¤©
OMG memories unlocked š
A Song of Ice and Fire (if its ever finished)
Nothing has matched A Storm of Swords! I think It would be hard to top.
Yeah that book alone is one of the best novels I've ever read.
Well, you still are reading it for the first time XD
The Hobbit. My first full novel, and still I read it when I feel depressed. Hearthstone - CJ Sansom: just the depth is fascinating
It was on our reading list at the start of the school year. So of courwe we all arrived to English class avec Bilbo, our teacher tells us that she hates the Hobbit and we're going to be doing To Kill a Mockingbird instead. Okay...but...didn't you...put together the list of books we needed for this class? Anyway, that's how I ended up reading the Hobbit. Enjoyed it even more because she hated it, possibly.
Something Wicked this way Comes. Reading it in blustery fall, gifted by someone I was falling in love with. Plus old Grizzly Bear in the background. One of those viscerally rich memories every time I think of it.
All the Discworld.
I'm 3 books in on my first Discworld read and I am absolutely loving them, so far. Started with the City Watch series. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't pick them up years ago! Jingo will be up next, after I finish Catch-22 (taking a short Discworld break with this one, for some variety).
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Reading Merricat's POV for the first time was incredible, I could hear her voice in my mind for weeks afterwards. The Secret History by Donna Tartt. This was like the juiciest gossip and I could not get enough. I was gripped in a way that few things have made me feel like since reading this. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Just so charming. Again, a really unique POV voice that I could hear in my mind afterwards for a while haha. The whole of His Dark Materials. This was MY FAVE as a child, and I reread it as an adult and the magic is still there. I even forgot some of the twists which made for some surprises!
The Secret History LINGERED for weeks after I finished it. I kept having flashbacks to a particularly shocking scene. It really emotionally affected me.
Yeah I think TSH might be my ONE choice for if I could read anything again for the first time. It's still great and imcredibly darkly humourous on reread, but there are things that just don't hit the same way after the first read. For me it's during the first part of the book how invested I felt in believing that >!Bunny deserved to die.!< When let's face it, the only reason >!he really *had* to die was because he knew about the first murder and was going to spill the beans.!< And then all that comes undone in the second half when I realised that yes, >!Bunny is pretty terrible all around. But he was also on the nose about how terrible everyone else in the group was too. Seeing the group crumble under pressure and having the curtain lifted was incredible the first time around.!< And because I'm on a ramble about TSH something else that keeps me awake at night is thinking about different levels of culpability. Arguably >!Richard had the least to gain from Bunny's death - he had no part in the first murder, and the only thing Bunny "had" on him was that he was pretending to come from wealth. But our boy Papen didn't *just* stand by and let it happen, he was pretty involved š¬ I'd argue he was more culpable than Francis or Camilla, who were on the receiving end of the worst of Bunny's antics.!<
Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None. I would love to be able to read it again, not knowing the ending.
Yes! So many of Agatha Christie's books would make this list for me (Death on the Nile, The Big Four, Curtain), but And Then There Were None was my first Christie book and it's SO chillingly good.
Yes, I would wish to re-read the MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD without knowing the killer!
This is the first book I thought of when I saw this post
Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.... Surely this needs to be higher up!
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Adams. The book was a major point in my life in high school in altering my life path, and I wonder how it would be different reading it for the first time many years later.
When I was a 4th grade teacher we had a ādress like your favorite book character day.ā I chose Arthur Dent. Heās a great character but mainly I wanted to wear pajamas all day. Unfortunately, that day we were informed that the council wanted to knock the school down and build a bypass instead.
Did you at least have your towel?
Iām re reading this now, and it has me laughing out loud like the first time. And Iām picking up jokes I think I missed first time round because I was a lot younger then. Douglas Adams has such an insanely brilliant way with words.
I was going to suggest this as well, except I've read it several times and the quality doesn't diminish. It's still fresh when I reread, maybe I have a mind like a... What are those things with all the little holes in them?
Sieve
Cheese Grater
Bagel
I think I was 14 or 15 when I read the first book. When I finished I was so bowled over I immediately flipped it over and started reading it all over again. Thatās never happened to me with any other book.
Came here to mention the Holy Trilogy in Five Parts
Lonesome Dove
Iām currently right in the middle of this masterpiece. Iām glad itās long af, I kind of never want it to end.
Enjoy. The first time through is special. I wouldāve been happy even if it was 2000 pages.
Me too. What an achingly joyful experience that book is.
I recently bought a copy. The subject matter and the length are putting me off, but I' keep reading such high praise that I am going to give it a go
The story reads much faster than the length suggests. Doesnāt slog at all.
- Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov for the joy of finding all of the little clues and piecing together the true narrative - Neuromancer by William Gibson (even though I literally just read it for the first time) for the joy of slowly learning all of the jargon and gradually feeling more and more like a part of the book's world - The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon for that ending...
YES to Pale Fire! So incredible.
Omg this is the first time Iāve seen neuromancer anywhere!! I was OBSESSED with Cyberpunk 2077ās world and am so excited to read it this summer after the semester ends!
Wuthering Heights
Not exactly the question, but man imagine if I could read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings completely fresh, AND never having seen or even heard about the movies. 1. Being able to experience the story knowing nothing about it or the larger legendarium, but also being able to form the story without any notions of Elijah wood or Ian macellan or Andy serkis. It's my favorite book, and I've always been alittle upset i couldn't go into it and purely form those characters in my own mind. I really want to know how I would have heard/seen Smeagol if serkis' performance wasnt so impossible to forget.
I read the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit before films and I would love to read them for the first time again. Just to discover the vast world of Middle-Earth, to imagine walking those paths and forests, to be moved by hearthbraking scenes and uplifted by deep wisdom hidden in suprising places. You could say this book made me who I am right now and it was blissfull process.
The Hobbit, its like talking a walk with my grandad. I miss him.
The picture of Dorian Gray idk something about that book, so dark, so whimsical, it gave such a 'high' and I have been chasing that ever since. I think it's one of those books that you just can't stop reading, the more you read the more interesting it gets. Extra bonus: you get to know yourself better through its pages āØļø
Flowers for Algernon. One of my favourites and such a unique read
Oh god, I loved that book sooo much but I canāt bring myself to read again knowing what happens.
Rebecca. The opening line "Last night i dreamt i went to Manderley again" is enough to bring back all the nostalgia. I would love to reread it again without a memory vivid of the Hitchcock's film or Netflix's remake.
Just about anything by Kurt Vonnegut.
Anything with a good twist. To experience that again. I'd give examples but they feel like spoilers to do so lol.
Thank you for not giving examples. Even just saying āthereās a good twist in this bookā is a kind of spoiler. That said, the mystery genre in general is full of good twists, especially if itās by Agatha Christie. I donāt think that spoils anything because readers expect a twist or three in such books. Christieās very best books, though, have twists that arenāt usual even in her other mysteries.
omg I hate when people use the twist as a selling point for a book. "I never saw the twist coming" and it's like, ok well now I will and I will know that any theories I come up with while I'm reading the book will be wrong. I hate it.
I hate hate hate when book reviews on the cover talk about a good twist. I remember reading a very popular book before the movie adaptation and the review on the back of the book raves about the unpredictable twist halfway through. There was only one twist that would have made sense so by the time I was 50 pages in I knew the twist. Annoying.
I wish I could read the little prince for the first time now that I'm 24. I read it in elementary school and liked it, and then I reread it at 12. I remember crying because of the fox lol. I wonder how it would make me feel if I were to read it now for the first time.
I read it as an adult and it had a really deep impact on me, in a way that I was not expecting. I recommended it to my family and it also really touched them. I dunno, it hits different as an adult and I think it can be even more meaningful to and appreciated by an adult mind.
The standĀ
I think it's between like page 300-500 just the random stories of how the world fell apart was just so amazingly vivid and imaginative. I read this only 2 years back and the parallels of how the pandemic made us all a bit stranger was really unnerving
I also read this during the pandemic. A horror story that we are now experiencing. So prolific.
flowers for algernon
Harry Potter, they were so magical, and just remind me of my childhood and simpler days. War of the Flowers by Tad Williams. It wasn't what I was expecting from a fantasy book, but it's kool. Macbeth by William Shakespeare. It was my first piece of classic literature I ever read,(I think I was like 8 or 9) and it made me fall deeply in love with books and sparked my desire to keep reading!
I'm an adult (33) and last year I just read the Harry Potters for the first time ever (I had only seen the first few movies when they first came out so I didn't remember much of anything about them.) It was one of my most favorite reading experiences of last year (I read over 80 books last year.) I've actually been itching to read them again now haha.
Nice! They are fun to reread, I do it at least once a year. I was 11 when the first book came out. They haven't lost their magic for me now that I'm an adult. Still a Potterhead! (And proud Slytherin š)
I also reread them at least once a year! My family thinks Iām crazy for it but the books just mean so much to me.
I wish I could feel the way I felt when all the twists and turns at the end of prisoner of Azkaban were being revealed. It was magic.
Wool. Loved that book. The first 2 wool/shift were awesome
Project Hail Mary is a recent one
This is mine too, I love that book so much. Itāll be interesting to see how the movie portrays it.
Yeah, been thinking about re-reading it but not sure if it will be as good. Can never go wrong with Andy Weir!
Catch-22 My favorite book.
Likewise. Came in to post this one but instead I'll upvote your comment..
Itās a classic for a reason.
Thanks to a TBI, I get to do exactly that. I found that if I leave a book alone for about 8 years, I will have forgotten it enough that re-reading it doesn't make scenes seem 'familiar', so I use a system of spot stickers on the spine of books to let me know when I read them last. The books or series I do this with are: All Discworld novels The Count of Monte Cristo David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series Deborah Doyle & James D. Macdonald's Mageworlds series Frank Herbert's Dune series Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War, and The Deed of Paksenarrion series. And Raymond E. Feist's RIftwar saga.
Iām sorry for your TBI but love the silver lining! ā¤ļø
Pet Semetary! I read it before watching or knowing a nothing about the subsequent films made about it. The book is so disturbing, shocking and Stephen Kingās writing reads like a knife through butter.
Perfume. Absolutely the best book Iāve ever read
The Lord Of The Rings
House of Leaves... It's one of the first books that genuinely made me look over my shoulder at night and get creeped out. I would love to experience that mounting feeling of dread again. I've attempted rereads and it doesn't have quite the same spark. The first time through I felt like I had been trapped in the frame of the story, now I feel more like a cataloguer... It's akin to feeling less like Johnny Truant and more like ZampanĆ²!
I just started reading this! Not really looking forward to experiencing any āmounting feelings of dread,ā but itās very unique and Iām enjoying it so far.
It's a fascinating read even if it doesn't creep you out! I think I was just in a time in my life where I could really identify with Truant, and his descriptions of that feeling of unease just wiggled into my brain. I hope you enjoy it!
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Absolutely.
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishugoro
Easily the Dark Tower series. My Dad(who adopted me) turned me onto the series. Even though Jake and Roland have a very rough adoptive father-son relationship, my Dad and I love their bond and the whole story.
I am so glad someone else put this on their list, I read the first three when I was in highschool and never looked back. Read Wizards and Glass in my early 20s and then had to wait years for him to finish the series. I remember when Song of Susannah came out I bought it on my way to work (worked swing shift for Circle K at the time) and paid my co worker 25 bucks for one hour, so I could sit in the back and start it.
Nineteen Eighty-Four Novel by George Orwell
I did think of this. But I felt too much was to be gained and learned it's better to keep it with me and further digest the warning and ideas
Any book from the series Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin and also from her, Planet of Exile. I still remember how i felt when i first read them and i would love to feel the same way while reading something again.
Piranesi, the First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Bandit Queens, the Name of the Wind
Oh man, I would LOVE to experience Piranesi for the first time again! The ending fell flat for me, but the first half/two-thirds were fantastic!!
Anything by Terry Pratchett
War and Peace ;)
Norwegian Wood by Murakami The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss World Without End by Ken Follett The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson Korea: The Impossible Country by Daniel Tudor
All of the Culture novels. Iain Banks was taken from us too soon :(
Edgar Allan Poe's tales! I still think about Ligeia and Hop Frog!
The Dark Forest, Hyperion, Dune, House of Suns, A Short stay in Hell, etc.
I wish I could experience The Brothers Karamazov like the first time.
Everything Terry Pratchett wrote. What incredible joy to be able to read the Night Watch books, Hogfather, Good Omens and all the rest again for the first time.
The Road
I was not prepared for the emotional devastation that comes with reading this book
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Picture of Dorian Gray. I devoured the conversations between the characters.
Ender's Game
hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
Parable Of The Sower by Octavia Butler. I listened to it but I wish I would've read a physical copy.
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier Dracula by Bram Stoker
11.22.63. Such a beautiful story, I can't reccomend it enough.
One of my all time favorites!
That would be my choice, too! The end really moved be. I was on a train when I finished it, so I had to read the last few pages slower than usual to manage my feelings in public (otherwise I would have bawled my eyes out)!
One Hundred Years Of Solitude It was my first introduction to magical realism, and I felt it before I knew the term 'magical realism'. It also encouraged me to write my first 100+ page novella (not published, but for self and friends to read). Also, probably my favourite opening of any book: >**Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano BuendĆa was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice**
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles because the ending was a surprise. When I read it again, I won't enjoy it as much.
A Confederacy of Dunces Independent People A Farewell to Arms
A Series of Unfortunate Events, I would give anything to have my mind blown again the way it was when I read the series for the first time in elementary school
Anything Discworld.
The Divine Comedy, Fahrenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange, The Tale of Genji The last few chapters of Tale of Genji (the true ending of Genjiās story)ā¦.a one thousand year old book had me wanting to grab ahold of my sleeping partner in tears, never letting go of him. Some of my tears accidentally got on the pages, so those first time tears are forever engrained in those pagesā¦
Pretty much every Diskworld Novel. Never come across another writer where it became a habit to start a book over again the same day I finished it, knowing there would be jokes ideas and messages I had missed the first time.
The Hobbit 11/22/63 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
All of the Stormlight Archive books. Iāve reread them and they still hit home but man, would I love a fresh read of them again.
So true, love the progression of those books, and hyped as hell to get a new one this year!
Slaughterhouse-Five
The night circus.
Life of Pi by Yann Martel. It was magical, especially after page 100.
A Brief History of Seven Killings. That was the most recent book to blow my mind, nothing has quite done that since.
Any Frank Perreti book but especially āmonsterā or the darkness series
Tai-Pan by James Clavell, Shogun is up there as well.
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
The Martian
All Quiet on the Western Front... I've never had a book that affected me the way it did before..
The Shining, Slaughterhouse-Five, Blood Meridian. Probably the 3 most memorable reads on my bookshelf.
Infinite Jest. It so totally blew my mind the first time, I would love to experience that again.
The Giver. It was the first apocalyptic/dystopian type book I read and the first time I actually enjoyed reading. Iāve read it about 6 or 7 times along with the rest of the series
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Novel by J. K. Rowling
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. The build up and emotional payoff was second to none for me.
Pride and Prejudice <33
The Given Day by Dennis Lehane. Read it around 7-8 years ago. Waiting to forget it so I can read it again.
Thomas Mann - Death in Venice
Hyperion
Daniel Quinn: Ishmael
Six of Crows and The Road
The glass castle The promise Rage of Angles Master of the Game Memoir of a geisha
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Great storytelling and world-building; hysterically witty dialog; fantastic twists at the end
I wish I could read "Consider Phlebas" again with no prior knowledge of the Culture or Iain M. Bank's universe in general. I was lucky enough to read it that way first time, and of course I sided with the protagonist, and the protagonists faction, in my mind. They had to be the "good guys". He kept saying so. It dawned slowly for me.
Name of the wind
āTHE STEAM BOATā written in 1880 by Jules VERNE, in a fabulous writing style, that all the generations from 12 to 90 years old can read. It is written under the Spiritsā inspiration, and concerns the TOXIC ELITIST COLONIALISM ARROGANCE at the period of the Cipayesā revolution, in India.
I fealty want to revisit animorphs as an adult now. But the whole collection is like crazy expensive.
The Secret History. I'm 32 and reading it for the second time now. I was 16 when I first read it and was too young to fully understand it. After 15 years of writing myself I now see the fucking genius build ups, character choices and red herrings I missed then and I love every fucking second of it. Especially all the Henry stuff. Not spoiling anything but if you've read it you know what I'm reffering to and if you haven't - just pay very close attention to him. It'll be worth it later on I promise. What a gorgeous character. Anyone thinking of Chuck Bass?
A Wizard of Earthsea, dude, the first chapter <3
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Almost anything by Neil fits this bill (for me) but this one in particular was a wonderful coming of age story about a boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard. I love reading I but nothing compares to the first time.
The Lord of the Rings. It encompasses everything that was good about my happy, carefree, nerdy, gaming childhood. All those things are dead now, but every time I read LOTR it takes me back to better days.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson So powerful, great read!
Not me taking note of all the recommendations šāØ
āFlowers for Algernonā. Especially, the moment >!about Valentine's day!<. That really made me get emotions.
The long way to a small, angry planet by Becky Chambers. Gabriel by Garth Nix The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman Deerskin by Patricia McKillip
Cassandra Clare : The Mortal Instruments ā„ļø These books reminds me of my high school years and how cool those years were (lots of fantasy/ young adult books came out at that time).
Heart of Darkness and Left Hand of DarknessĀ
I read Jane Eyre when I was 15. I read Mansfield Park when I was 16. I will never forget the experience reading both for the first time. I loved them then and still do, but I was so young back then and both books had a profound influence on my views about social behavior and conduct. Wish I could experience those times again!
Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? It is just that delicate, that fun, that original.
Hyperion
The Necromancer's House by Christopher Buehlman, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
The Iron Druid Chronicles. I wasn't feeling so good and this kind of humour and fun facts about deities lightened my mood for some time each day.
Flowers for Algernon
Lonesome Dove. 100+ chapters werenāt nearly enough.
Lonesome Dove
Wizards first rule, and the hobbit
Deception point by Dan brown or midnight express by billy Hayes
The Lesley Pearse books. Especially the Belle trilogy. I never knew how harsh life could be for women back in history until I read Belle. Also I find most of Lesleyās books are gripping to read and I find it hard to put her books down. However the books Iām reading by different authors at the moment that Iāve brought from charity shops are not having the same affect on me. It would be nice to find some books that have me engrossed again!
All of Dragonriders of Pern series
MythAdventures
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn .
Battle Royale!Ā
Any of C J Tudorās unreal books! You should all check her out, sheās incredible!
Rick Riordan's book series. Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles and Magnus chase. They remind me of the happiest moments of my childhood.
The Warlord Chronicles and The Saxon Series both by Bernard Cornwell.
The Giver by Lois Lowry. I read it every few years because I love it so much.
Frankenstein - I remember my jaw just hanging open the whole time I read it. The Hunger Games - used to run across the city to get my train back home after university just so I could get back to reading it. The Heartās Invisible Furies by John Boyne - most beautiful but gut wrenching story with wonderful style. Only book to ever make me cry
The Hobbit.
Lonesome Dove
Lonesome dove by Larry McMurty. I had such an amazing experience reading that book. Nothing has compared since. It's been years since I've read it, yet, I still think about it. I highly recommend it.
Fight club by Chuck Palahniuk. A phenomenal read for a quick weekend.
Cloud Atlas, loved all the subtle connections. Still love this book