Books We Want To Read Again For The First Time

CarolineRose13: Pride and prejudice is just such a classic. I loved reading it for the first time and I would love to read it again.

CarltonC: The book. To be eleven years old and beginning this for the first time. My only regret is that my children had read many other similar books before this, so that it appeared second hand to them, rather than the source.

miguel_b: I grew up reading the Hobbit, and the very first time I was able to read the Lord of the Rings by myself, it was a *struggle*. I think I was maybe 9 at the time. I'd love to be able to tackle it again for the first time as an actual adult. Though perhaps the wonder wouldn't be there as much, but I suspect it would.

Imprinted: Gripping writing and story that carries you along inexorably to the conclusion.

knerd.knitter: Especially with the movie trailer just coming out, I am reminded of the first time I read this book. It was "un-put-downable"!

Karlstar: The best scifi book of the last 15 years. Yes, it is that good.

CarltonC: The epic world building book. Although I had read other books about fictional galaxies and civilisations before this, this story had much greater depth. I was relieved when I reread this a few years ago that I could still feel the wonder, although more than forty years later I could recognise where Herbert had taken ideas to create his “greater than the sum of its parts” epic.

AbigailAdams26: The end of this book was a revelation to me! I did not see it coming, and would love to experience that surprise again!

Momgoth: I read this for the first time when I was much too young (maybe 10, I think). It really changed the way I thought of books centered around animals. It was brutal and a lot like the environment around my grandparent’s farm.

CarltonC: Although this book is much more than a historical crime novel, it sparked my interest in both genres.

hipdeep: Sadly, I reread it recently and it failed to return me to age 14. But I will always appreciate the memory of the first times.

CarltonC: Read when I was seventeen, having spent the previous five years devouring science fiction and fantasy novels, this poked fun at the stereotypes, and was so quotable. When I reread recently it had aged, but then so had I.

Katealayne: What a book, what a range of knowledge. So wrapped up in this book even though the ending was known from the beginning. Truly an exceptional read.

Momgoth: A lot of people talk about inclusion in literature. I’m all for it. This is the first time I ever felt seen (as the kids say) when reading. I now read it once a year along with another couple of favorites.

hipdeep: I read them first when I was terribly sick with chicken pox at the age of 22, a get-well loan from my girlfriend. Much as I've loved revisiting the Hundred Acre Wood, that's an experience I can't have again. (Which reminds me, I should make that more true by getting my shingles vaccine...)

paradoxosalpha: This book is sublime, and the way that I read it accidentally realized its genius on another plane.

AbigailAdams26: I remember racing through this the first time, absolutely glued to the page. I stayed up late to finish it, because I had to know how it would end. Recapturing that feeling of being absolutely riveted would be a delight.

gypsysmom: I've read a number of books by Ann Patchett now but this was the first one I read and I was blown away by it.

cindra-cat: I think the ending can only be read once to get the full impact. For that reason, it is on my list. I do, however, reread this often anyway.

Karlstar: A classic Banks Culture novel and one of the most fun to read.

Pargia: A magical competition, a magical love story, a vaguely sinister circus, what’s not to like? I love a good debate about whether magic can be learned or must be a talent one is born with. The structure of the writing, with the narrative jumping between a few different timelines, adds to the ethereal feeling of the work. And, the short, atmospheric passages makes you feel that you are visiting the circus and part of its story.

DAGray08: My first war novel. And the structure of a story as a downward accelerating spiral is something I hadn't seen before or since. The early humor, the later madness. Perhaps Kubrick could juggle those two things as well. They, at least on a figurative plane, echo what I learned later, both admiration for those next to you and contempt for the opportunists, in war.

miguel_b: I was too young to really understand this book the first time I read it.

Imprinted: This book taught me so much about how history is written and how to distinguish fact from fiction. Since then I've always looked to primary sources for information.

Momgoth: Read it in high school, and it really stuck with me. Especially lately.

Rome753: Engaging writing style. Orwell does an excellent job of drawing in the reader into the dystopian world. Serving as a warning, many aspects of the book seem all too real and relevant.

AbigailAdams26: Between Book 6 and 7, I read "The Great Snape Debate," to see what other people thought of this character, and whether he was a goodie or a baddie. I don't think I've ever been so invested in a reveal, as I was in that one.

Karlstar: A classic epic fantasy that sets the bar for everything that came after.

gypsysmom: Thomas Hardy is a favourite author but he can be pretty dark. This book, though, has a very hopeful ending.

Imprinted: Still the greatest detective stories of all time and the model for all going forward.

Momgoth: Read this for the first time when I was in college, not long after it came out. I still love it, and I love the most recent adaptation on AMC.

konallis: The gigantic twist can't be replicated on re-reading. However, you do get the pleasure of spotting the clues instead.

Momgoth: I got hooked on the whole Imperial Radtch series when I read this. The use of gender, the world building, everything about this just knocked me out.

Karlstar: The classic tale of hope, so well written. So incredibly memorable.

Sean191: An incredibly well-written book with memorable characters and setting.

gypsysmom: Who hasn't dreamed of running away with a circus? Find out what it is really like.

CarltonC: A perfectly constructed story.

CarltonC: So many Discworld books to choose from, but this probably inches ahead of Equal Rites and the later Guards! Guards! as being the one I would like to read again, for the first time. Humour and humanity.

Barbsn: I read this book as a child and the story has stayed with me my whole life. I would love to re-discover it.

DAGray08: This one hurts, reading it during our slide into authoritarianism, the voice of a young person who has every responsibility thrust upon her, for whom none of the old ways of thinking provide answers. Amazingly wise book.

MichaelDennis: Combat between two women in 1920s-1940s England for supremacy over their village. Ridiculous but glorious schemes and mishaps.

2wonderY: OS Card loves to gnaw on the same story over and over again. This is his original version; and the best. Terse and extremely impactful. It was originally published in a magazine, but was finally released in the collection First Meetings.

janey9: The start of a wonderful series

EerierIdyllMeme: I know, right? I keep trying to get other people to read this one because that's the closest I can get to re-reading for the first time, and noone has yet, even though it's short and available for free on the Tor website.

AbigailAdams26: One of my childhood and adolescent favorites! I've reread it countless times, but nothing will ever match the magic of that first time, when I wasn't sure what would happen to the kidnapped Harry!

Imprinted: Magical realism combined with political satire -- an absolutely essential read for understanding the 20th century.

knerd.knitter: This stands in for the whole Series of Unfortunate Events which I read so long ago, and would love to have the chance to go back and re-read again for the first time.

CarltonC: Such tolerant fun, opening up a different world.

Barbsn: I don't usually buy into the hype of books on social media but I decided to give this one a go, and couldn't put it down. Loved it.

ellie2001: It was a wild ride and I couldn’t put it down. Love to have that feeling again

cindra-cat: The twists always hit hard in dystopian stories. Jonas learns what being human means.

cindra-cat: Such an interesting world and a grey character finding his way through life.

Sean191: Laugh-out-loud funny.

Sean191: A must-read for outdoorsy types or anyone who just wants a laugh.

Barbsn: This book was so good. It changed my viewpoint of everyday Germans during the war. Such a great, but sad book in the end. I recommended it to everyone who would listen.

markhopp: Really transported me to Venice as a child.