A new list of books I want to reread

I've made some progress on the list of books I wanted to reread that I posted in December, so I decided to update the list of books I've been thinking about a lot lately and just haven't gotten to yet:

1. Devil Water by Anya Seton
2. Avalon by Anya Seton
3. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
4. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
5. The Promise by Chaim Potok
6. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
7. The White Mountains by John Christopher
8. Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
9. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
10. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

My numbers 7-10 haven't changed. I guess I've just been reading from the top and getting new ideas of what I want to read next. (For example, I did a reread of The Chosen, so now I want to get another shot at its sequel. I begin to fear I will never have the time (or the courage) to attempt all 1,463 pages of Les Mis again - no matter how much I loved it the first time around.

You may have also noticed how heavy this list is on Anya Seton. I blame Chicago Review Press, which keeps putting out her oeuvre in shiny new paperbacks that I feel I must own. I loved Devil Water when I first read a mildewy old edition that's falling apart. Imagine how good it will be with new book smell!

Unfinished books

Here's an interesting article on the books Britons are most-likely to buy, but not read all the way through.

It got me to thinking about what books I've started and have just not been able to slog my way through to the end. Two that immediately came to mind were Little Women and The Secret Garden. I have read both of them all-the-way-through now - but it must have taken at least a half-dozen attempts for each one.



The funny thing is, I loved the opening chapter of both of them. I would read the opening chapter with enthusiasm. And then I'd get to chapter 2, which wasn't so great (IMHO). I might push myself to read chapter 3 - but that would be about it.

For years, these books haunted me. I could not get through them. I did finally read Little Women after the Winona Ryder movie came out. I absolutely loved the movie and that gave me the courage to attempt the book again. I read it, enjoyed it, and moved on to Little Men and Jo's Boys. Though - it may be worth noting that I've never attempted a re-read of them.

I did not get around to finishing The Secret Garden until last year - when I resolved I was going to get through all those books in the back of my closet if it killed me. I didn't think much of it, and soon got rid of the copy I'd been holding on to for all those years. However, I also discovered Heidi in my closet-raid, and thought that was a fairly good children's book - even though I'd never given it much of a fair chance when I was a kid. It's funny that I didn't like The Secret Garden, though, because I always loved the first chapter - and Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess was one of the seminal books of my childhood. (I wrote many a piece of juvenilia involving orphans and cruel boarding schools after reading that novel.)

But, I guess that's the reading life. You win some, you lose some.

So, what are some books that you could never get through?

Top Ten Books I've Been Meaning to Reread

It's been a busy fall, going back to school and all. Not only has my fun writing fallen to the wayside, so has my entertainment reading. I have a whole stack of unread books by my chair and a list of dozens more that I'd love to find the time for.

Still, as much as I want to read new material, I'd also love the chance to go back and read some old faves.

Here (in no particular order) are some I've been thinking about a lot lately and just haven't gotten to yet:

1. The Chosen by Chaim Potok
2. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
3. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
4. Avalon by Anya Seton
5. Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
6. Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson
7. The White Mountains by John Christopher
8. Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
9. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
10. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo