Wednesday Writer Club: What makes you re-read?

My husband, the Bear, thinks I'm crazy.

For lots of reasons, but today we're just going to talk about one.

You see, I re-read books.

Not a lot of them, but there are a few that I'm pretty religious about reading every so often.  I think it's my own personal version of a pilgrimage.


I've had more than one person ask me why I bother reading a book when I already know the plot. (Especially when I was still teaching).  Here are some of the answers that I've given through the years:


(Note: I'm not counting if you re-read books in a series before the new one comes out, that's just for a completely different reason).

1. I'm a different person than I was back then--I firmly believe that books like The Scarlet Letter (for example) should not be read in high school.  I know that when I read it, I wrote it off completely as old-fashioned and dull.  But when I re-read it as an adult, I could see it for what it was.  A truly tragic story of redemption.  Without my life experiences, I never really saw the big deal about Hester.
2. I'm sentimental--There are a few books (Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe) that will always have a soft spot in my heart because they meant so much to me as a child.  I find myself turning back to these books in times of stress when I need to unwind from more adult issues.
3. I discover something new every time--I try to read Catcher in the Rye and Jane Eyre every few years (odd combination, I know).  Every time I read these two works, I find some small detail or character that brings the whole book to life again. 

I want to write books that people re-read time and again.  I'm not trying to kid myself and say that I'm as wonderful a writer as those I've mentioned above, but I believe even the less "heavy" of books can become a perennial favorite.  

 Are there books that you re-read on a regular basis?  Are there any reasons that I missed?

Mini-Reviews! (Or all the guilty pleasures I've devoured lately)

During my hiatus from blogging, I've read several guilty pleasure books.  You know, those books that are so much fun, but you wouldn't want to read next to the person who brought Proust on the airplane (no really, there was a lady reading Proust on her way to Costa Rica). 

Since I have three books backed up on the review train, I thought I'd give them a very short review.  Hope you enjoy and I've tempted you enough to pick them up!

Guilty Pleasure Meter: 8/10
The Masque of the Black Tulip is the second in the Pink Carnation series. It follows the story of two side characters from the first novel, Henrietta and Miles. I found Henrietta a very refreshing change from Amy in the first novel.  She's more level headed and intelligent.  Miles is also very charming as the protective big brother figure that suddenly realizes that "Hen" is a woman.

I felt that Eloise (our modern heroine) was better drawn this time.  I'm starting to like her more as I read about her, although I still have a very hard time remembering her name.

The plot was fast paced and fun (although some parts were very predictable), and some new very intriguing characters were added (my eye's on you Lord Vaughn).  I started the next one as soon as I put this one down.

Guilty Pleasure Meter: 9/10
The Deception of the Emerald Ring is the third book in the Pink Carnation series.  I really enjoyed the different approach this book took.  Instead of a love connection, the main couple in the book is forced to marry, even though they don't love each other.  We see them struggle and fight between chemistry and terrible misconceptions about each other.

Letty is also rather refreshing.  Although she's given a great rack, she isn't considered a beauty by anyone.  She's too short, too plump, and too freckled.  She's also terrible at lying and intrigue. 

Some of the plot points seemed a little rushed or confusing at times, however it was still a great, fun read.  Thanks, Jamie, for turning me on to this series!

Guilty Pleasure Meter: 10/10
A Duke of Her Own is actually the last of the Desperate Duchess series. It was my randomly chosen romance novel for my 101 in 1001 challenge.  Based on the reviews from Amazon, it's the best of the series, so I'm glad I picked this one up.  I actually started reading it about 8 one night and finished it a few hours later. 

It's the perfect guilty pleasure book: great heroine (although the back of the book makes it a mystery as to who the heroine is, you know in the first chapter), a Byronic hero with a heart of gold, a standard romance plot with interesting variations, one or two steamy scenes, humor, and one or two scenes to make you tear up.

A fun, quick read, that's more regular novel than the cover would make you believe.

A few down, a lot more to go!

Completed objectives:

1. Open an Etsy account.  After trying to come up with a clever title tied to crafting, I gave up after the third one was already taken and used my blog title.  So far I've got no items up, but I plan on putting up a few.  It'll mostly be crochet toys, scarves, hats, with some random cross stitch and paper crafts thrown in for good measure.
2. Cancel my cable.  Ok, this one I kind of fudged on.  I wanted to cancel cable because the Husband and I rarely ever watch it, and I hated to see all that money go to waste.  So when we called, they had a special one year "Please, please, please, don't leave us" package that allowed us to keep our current cable and a higher level of internet for much cheaper than what we were paying now.
3. Outline a novel.  
4. Start following a comic book.  I talked about this more here.
5. Follow through the substitute teaching process. 
6. Finish five things form this list in a month.  Yeah, it kinda felt like cheating, but I have a serious issue with follow through, so it was a good motivator, especially here at the beginning.

Halfway done or more:

1. Create a care package for Marine Corps Kids.  So far I have three toys and a hat made.  I want to make two or three more hats.  I'll post pictures when I'm ready to send it off.
2. Read a book every week for a month. This is going to become a lot tougher for the rest of the month, because I have family coming in and out.  I should be able to steal some time here and there, though.
3. Find a new TV show to watch. Now that it's summer and everything's reruns and Lost is gone, I need another show I can watch.  Currently I'm trying out Stargate SG1 (has ten seasons on Hulu) and Wire in the Blood (via Netflix).  I'm really liking both and will probably end up following both.
4. Post every day for a month.  I kinda cheated on this one, too.  I didn't actually start posting daily this month, but I had several days where I posted a couple of things, so I still have 18 posts for July.  For me, it's good enough.
5. Send 10 postcards through Postcrossing.  I sent out several this week, so hopefully I'll be getting several in the mail in the next couple of weeks.

So far I'm feeling really good about my list.  I think having this list is going to help me feel more active, too.  Whenever I get bored or find some free time that I would usually just waste, I have something to shoot for.

Have you started a list?  How are you doing with it?