A book you wish you could experience again for the first time

Question

Sarah Cooney · Answer

brother of the more famous jack: A friend recommended this to me twenty years ago and my GOD, the way I needed this book as a teen and in my twenties and now in my thirties. Women’s literature about REAL things, not the derogatory mess that gets published for women’s interests. Real, meaty, bawdy, funny, heartbreaking, a romp.

AMB · Answer

The Gateway Chronicles Series: A indie middle-grade/YA portal fantasy (kind of like traveling to Narnia). The kids undergo massive character transformations throughout the series and you feel like you’re growing with them (similar to how the Harry Potter series has one book for each school year, this series has one book per each camp year). I’ve read this series so many times so maybe I’m biased, but it just holds a special place in my heart.

Tori · Answer

Circe: Such a rich story based on Greek mythology, written by a classics scholar. Even as someone not specifically into mythology, I absolutely loved Circe’s world and wanted to stay there long after the book was over!

Jules · Answer

the great believers: i cried so hard.

T · Answer

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell!: I didn’t get through it the first time, but the second time I stuck with it and it was sooooooo worth it.

Johanna Robertson · Answer

Heartbreaker by Claudia Dey: Dreamy, gritty written from unexpected characters’ POV and a beautiful balance of trippy, tragic, and true.

rory · Answer

east of eden: tenner

Adam · Answer

Every Man For Himself and God Against All: Herzog’s autobiography. Incredible storytelling and wilder stories. I’m obsessed with this book.

blakely · Answer

Raising Hare: A Memoir: READ IT.

Eugenie · Answer

King Kong Theory by Virginie Despentes

Jes · Answer

We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Shirley Jackson): Dark, funny, delicious. Shirley Jackson might be my favorite writer of complicated women’s interior worlds. I had read and been floored by The Lottery in high school, but this was the book that cemented her among my all time favorite writers.

Isabella · Answer

The Book Thief: I remember reading this as a little girl and I solely picked it out due to its name.

I loved the idea of another girl who loved books so much she stole them. Obviously if you’ve read this story there’s a bit more to that, but I can vividly remember reading this book in the fall and devouring it in one evening.

I loved the writing so much and have ready every other book he’s written. One of very few authors who I check every so often to see what they are writing.

Good Thing Going by Lena Dunham · Answer

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging book by Louise Rennison: I still remember how old I was (17) and where I was lying (the attic bedroom in a weird temporary rental we were living in) because I just felt this intense combination of amusement and coziness that I’ve been hunting for ever since! It’s probably 97% of the reason I moved to the UK…

froggermario · Answer

If on a winter's night a traveler: A book I return to over and over again and it keeps giving. Forever enjoyable, transforms as you read it and each time you re-read it. Not too heavy, not too light.

JDJ · Answer

The Long Game (Rachel Reid): Other people have deep answers but this is my real answer lol (and I was an English major). I’ve read it three times.

⋆.˚꩜｡ ℒ𝒶𝓃𝒾 ⊹ ࣪ ˖ ໒꒱ · Answer

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden: A must read for fans of the Bell Jar, Donna Tart, or classic psychological fiction in general. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg follows the story of Deborah as she battles with schizophrenia and depression in a mental hospital. It is a dense but relatively short read, my favorite book in the world!

M Sch · Answer

Constancia by Carlos Fuentes: The title story has a reveal that hits so hard the first time as it all falls into place.

Jennifer · Answer

Jane Eyre: Beautiful, moving, encouraging. Made me want to be a better person in the best ways.

Sarah G · Answer

Just Kids

cee · Answer

Deep Cuts: There’s a scene that happens in a later chapter I genuinely cannot stop thinking about

Lexi · Answer

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld: I really love this book and found so many aspects of it to be relatable to my own life as a teenager (although I didn’t go to boarding school). It made me reflect on my own experiences and feelings that I forgot I had. I feel like as an adult I’m always trying to reconnect with my younger/teenage self and something about this book was grounding but also so moving!

ildi marie · Answer

Reading 'Carrie' for the first time: God I wish I could go back to being a tween reading this for the first time. Flooded with emotions just thinking about it!

Abby Phoenix · Answer

Piranesi: It’s a slim volume and either you’re in or you’re out on it — I’d give it about 20-30 pages and you’ll either find yourself completely immersed in the world and savoring each sentence to make it last longer, or you’re… not me. 😉🤷🏻‍♀️

All you need to know ahead of time is that Piranesi lives in a mysterious labyrinth of a House, and he’s incredibly endearing.

Alice · Answer

Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky: The velocity of the writing, my god. It'll leave you breathless, startled, on fire. A masterpiece.

Dubya_Dee · Answer

Ender's Game: This is a book that I cannot wait to see the look on my kid's faces when we get to the ending.

Conner · Answer

52 Charing Cross Road: One of those books you clutch to your chest after reading; utterly and completely charming

Kelsey · Answer

Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow: Could not read it fast enough

Maddy M · Answer

Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry): I put off reading this book, despite numerous recommendations. Now I’M the one recommending it to everyone! Lonesome Dove is truly a masterpiece. It’ll make you laugh, and then break your heart. An epic tale full of incredible characters that you will never forget.

PS Don’t read the introduction until after reading the book… major spoilers!

Ema · Answer

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin: One of the best books ever written. And short!

Honorable mention for The Hours by Michael Cunningham — so perfect its perfection is almost a flaw.

Emilie Bienvenew · Answer

Lire Les Misérables de Victor Hugo: Le meilleur livre de tous les temps : la petite histoire dans la grande histoire

Si possible : ne regarder ni les films ou comédies musicales avant, découvrir l'histoire au fur et à mesure de la lecture est tellement incroyable

Jessica · Answer

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier: Go in blind. DuMaurier is a master of gothic fiction. The way I could feel the setting while reading this was unlike anything I've read before or since.

Carol Coote · Answer

David Copperfield: It's Dickens' Best and totally captivating.

Elena · Answer

Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood: A rare non fiction favorite, and a book that broke me out of a long reading drought and made me laugh out loud so often that even strangers felt compelled to ask what in the world I was reading.

The author is a poet who moves back in with her parents when her husband is getting eye surgery. The twist is that her father is a Catholic Priest and Patricia is not religiously persuaded. My therapist thinks I idealize Patricia’s ability to turn anything (even pain) into a beautiful cosmic joke that only she is in on. Maybe I do! All I know is ever since I read this I have felt like I can approach heavy feelings with more lightness. Every sentence is lyric genius and stands alone.

Elena · Answer

Learning To Be Me by Greg Egan (short story): The best short story ever written? Perhaps!! In my opinion, it poses THE most thought-provoking and prescient philosophical questions about technology, identity, and what it means to be alive.

I have reread this story about once a year since I first came across it a decade ago and it only feels more relevant.

Elena · Answer

A Face Like Glass & all Frances Hardinge books: A subterranean city built by passionate cartographers who lose their minds designing the twisting tunnels which are filled with mysterious and dangerous artisans who make crafts like hallucinogenic cheeses and bewitching (literally) perfumes, where everyone is born with a blank face and must learn all expressions from an elite class of Facesmiths…yet one wild girl is found in one cheesemaker’s tunnels and her face is like glass, revealing every emotion inside. Where did she come from? And where is she going, because you’ve never met a self possessed person quite like Neverfell.

One of my absolute favorite YA books that holds up as an adult. So many of Hardinges reads turn out this way for me.

Elena · Answer

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip: This story has stayed with me since reading as a child, when I fell in love with every mythical creature Sybel calls to her castle’s crystal observatory. Forever dreaming of the liralen.