This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Is there a book you’d absolutely love to read again? I don’t mean to re-read, but to read once more for the very first time.
On rare occasions, as you turn the final page of a book, your emotions tumbling all over the place, you feel a touch of sadness because you’ll never get to read that book again with fresh eyes and unknowing innocence of where the plot will take you. We’ve all read books, which have been that amazing, haven’t we? And now, as a result, you recommend the novel to everyone everywhere only to be slightly jealous because they still have that first time book reading experience to come. Sigh.
Here, we reveal five books that we’d love to read for the first time again.
1. Sister by Rosamund Lupton – Amanda and Jennifer both adored Sister and would love to read it again for the very first time. Amanda says she loved the “surprises, the twists and turns and the great reveals”. And Jennifer says, she’d “love to discover the twist all over again”. In the novel, Beatrice gets a call saying her sister is missing, so she catches the first plane home to London. There, she embarks on a dangerous journey, which holds terrifying truths.
2. Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy – To be fair, I could have chosen any Maeve Binchy book, but I remember being incredibly captivated by Circle of Friends as a teenager. The story is that of Benny and her friend Eve – focused on their growing up and lives as students in Dublin. Maeve’s novels would always have that frisson of excitement surrounding them. I loved them so much I’d always get them in hardback, never being able to wait until the paperback was published. I knew with each and every book of hers, I’d fall into them so utterly and completely, so beguiled by the characters and the seemingly minutiae of their lives that made such rich storytelling. Now, following Maeve’s death, I’ll never capture that first feeling again.
3. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Kelly would love to read this modern classic novel again for the very first time. She first read it when she was a teenager and found it “beautiful and inspiring” believing it changed her outlook on life. Over 50 years old, To Kill a Mockingbird is told from the child’s perspective of Scout and Jem Finch. It is a story about race and class in the Deep South during the 1930s.
4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows – Kerry is very excited and also rather jealous because I am currently reading this novel on her and Amanda’s recommendation for the very first time. She still gets pleasure from re-reading the novel, but would love to capture that first time magic. The Second World War has just ended and Juliet, an author, cannot think what to write about next. By chance, a letter arrives from a member of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and correspondence begins.
5. One Day by David Nicholls – If Emma could read one book for the very first time again, it would be One Day. I know this novel has divided readers, but Emma was in “raptures” when she first read it. The twists made her gasp and in awe – a feeling she’d love to recreate. The story is about another Emma along with Dexter and their story of the same day, 15th July, over the coming years.
If you could read one book for the very first time again, what would you choose?