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!

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

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

And now for something completely different...

Well, actually this one kind of is. The Blue Castle is an L.M. Montgomery book, but one a lot different from her usual fare. For one, the heroine doesn't start out as a child. Valency is almost 30 - and, as her domineering family keeps reminding her, unmarried.

Then, her doctor tells her she has a year to live - at most. Suddenly, she has an excuse to throw off her drab, dreary existence and start to make every day count.

There's a fascinating, rakish man involved, of course - though he doesn't turn out to be nearly as wicked as he seems at first. Moving into the "Blue Castle" of her dreams, Valency learns to live the life she was meant to (and uncovers a secret or two along the way).

The ending is not going to shock any long-time L.M. Montgomery fans (I saw it coming a mile away), but this book is a testament to living "the road less traveled by". A great story.