"There are many wonderful books which are fine to read, but there are very few that are better reread, and still fewer that should be reread every year.
For me the test is, can I bear not to read this again? A fine book is like a mine. You get down strata after strata until the very deep loke is reached. This takes time and thought and isn't a business of skipping through once. On the other hand, a book may be pleasant as a shallow running stream and still worth reading. But the ones to keep, to carry with one wherever one goes - these are precious cargo."
- Gladys Taber
Which ones do you like to reread, Lisa?
ReplyDeleteGretchen Joanna
Gretchen, I reread the ones which are encouraging in one way or another, which remind me of higher things. Right now it's Lord of the Rings, and it's been a really long time, so while I recall the story, the details and the way he worded things is wonderful, with every page.
DeleteI reread the Brother Cadfael mysteries because I love the Middle Ages and because he is so interested in his fellow man. I love almost all Lucy Maud Montgomery for the way the inhabitants interact, the way they live and move and have their being in their beautiful and much appreciated landscape. Elizabeth Goudge for the same reasons, although in a deeper way. The value of a sense of place, which we've lost. I like the Jane Austen mysteries, just because she is so clever and I know I need to use my brain a little better. ;) And the real Jane Austen's novels, too. Under the Tuscan Sun, not because I long to go to Italy, but I think because Frances Mayes notices all sorts of things and isn't snobby about anything or anyone, and I go about with my thoughts somewhere else much of the time. :)
I'm rereading the Little House books. Again :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I also reread the Miss Read books (especially the Fairacre series).
I read the Frances Mayes books years ago. Maybe it's time for them again. And I've made note of some of your other recommendations.
I have one Gladys Taber book (Stillmeadow Sampler) which I often dip in to but have yet to read it all the way through.
So many books and so little time... :) xx
I need to get back to the Little House books; it's been probably two years since I read The Long Winter. I think I was traumatized by it! What a winter!! I haven't continued the series since. :D And I want to continue the Fairacre books, too. Thank for the reminder!
DeleteAnd have you read any of the Minack Chronicles by Derek Tangye? I think you would enjoy them too. Set in an isolate cottage in Cornwall. There are lots of cats in the stories :) xx
DeleteI have not heard of those AT ALL! Thanks for the tip!!
DeleteI'm rereading A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka. I remembered very few details of it, but I knew I had loved it very much and it was a good story; I'm so glad to get reacquainted...
ReplyDelete-Gretchen Joanna
I have not heard of that one!
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