8.26.2008

Reading Wish List

There are many books I have read that I want to read again. These are books that affected me at the time I read them, and I want to experience them again; in many cases, it’s been 15 or so years since I’ve read the book so it would be fascinating to re-read a book I loved when I was 16 now that I’m in my 30’s.

Additionally, there are books I have never read. They have been on my “to-read” list for ages upon ages, and I’m hoping that someday…someday…I’ll actually be able to read them. In most cases, I already have these books sitting in on my personal bookshelves, spines uncracked, waiting for someone to open them.

So here is my wish list of books I want to read again…or for the first time:


1. Harry Potter series. I read the whole series so voraciously, so impatiently, that I really didn’t enjoy it, you know? I’d like to start over and really savor the whole experience.

2. Lord of the Rings trilogy. I read it because I was so hyped up on the movies. Now that the movies have come and gone, I’d like to re-read it. Though I don’t see how I’ll ever get Viggo Mortenson and Orlando Bloom out of my head. Naturally, I don’t mind if they stay…

3. Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. I’ve never even looked inside this book. I suppose it’s because I know I don’t have the right amount of time in my life now to really enjoy it, soak it all up, and learn all I want to. I want to show it proper respect. And best as I can tell, I won’t have time for this until I retire.

4. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. In high school, I had all the time in the world to sit in the local coffeehouse in Placerville, CA and read this cover-to-cover. Oh, to have the time to do that again!

5. Discovery of France by Graham Robb. As a self-proclaimed Francophile, I desperately want to read this. It sits on my shelf at home, mocking me, reminding me that such a small fraction of time is my own. It’s become so much more than a book about France to me: it’s become a symbol of all those passions I have so little time to pursue. Seriously.

6. L.M. Montgomery (everything). Again, back in high school when I had nothing but time to read, I read every one of her books sitting in the local coffeehouse. The coffeehouse had a cute patio with a fountain, and I’d sit out there on sunny-but-freezing winter days, wrapped in a thick wool sweater and gloves, cradling my mocha and getting lost in PEI. And I’m longing to do it again.

7. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I fell in love the first time and want to fall in love all over again.

8. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers. I was obsessed with the movie as a kid. So much so that I've never read the book because I feared it would taint my nostalgic, sentimental, warm memories of the Julie Andrews classic. Nevertheless, I’m determined to read this before I leave this earth, childhood illusions be damned.

Eight books…which doesn’t even scratch the surface…

Eat, drink, and revel in your younger years when you were able to fill your time with books

1 comment:

Lisa said...

I read Madeline L'Engle's novel "A Severed Wasp" when I was twelve and on a bus ride from hell (or maybe to hell) with 200 of my closest relatives en route to the family reunion. That book was the reason I survived.

I picked it up again a few years ago hoping for the same experience and it was awful! I can't believe that I had been so moved by this story.

I've had the opposite experience as well, but man, that disappointment is something hard to live with.

Make your selections carefully, young grasshopper!