Revisiting Books

I admit to keeping every book I buy, especially in recent years, and there are books I regret giving away like my Enid Blyton books because finding them in their true form these days is impossible, and there are some that I cannot find anywhere like Poppy and the Outdoors Cat, I cannot recall the author but I know I loved it and miss it. But this post isn’t about giving my books away, it is about revisiting books, and I miss not being able to revisit some of the books I was made to give away in the past through clean outs.

I love revisiting favourites that still live on my shelves, those magical books I just can’t bear to part with at all. They become old friends, a part of me and there is something new to discover each time I open their well-worn covers. The words wash over me calmly and the characters reassure me that their world is unchanged, and I can come back any time.

One of the books I enjoy to revisit, and plan to revisit again, is The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth. Both times I have entered this world, I have felt at home from the first word, yet the feeling of truly being at home has hit as soon as I reach Scotland. It is not just the setting but the words of author Kate Forsyth that make me forget reality and send me off into a new world of magic and mystery, of fairy tales and of history, and of a Celtic tradition that comes through in many of her novels for both adults and children.

The world of Wintersloe, Hannah and her friends is one of many I will always treasure, alongside Hogwarts and the Wizarding World, where I lost many friends and with many other readers, had my heart broken yet there was a reality about the war that was waged: it showed what happens in real war, how ideals and power can become the undoing of one, and the power of friendship. The Secret Garden takes me to a place I feel safe in too, though it is a somewhat isolated world for part of the novel for Mary, the moment she meets Dickon, when her world changes, is when I as a reader feel that she is starting to find her place in the world.

Many of the books I revisit happen to be classified as Children’s Literature and do involve the protagonist in a coming of age role. This likely brings up questions from people as to why I enjoy those books and why I re-read then. The answer is simply because I enjoy them and adult books sometimes just don’t have what I am looking to read about.

That said, I have a variety of books that need to be read and re-read across many age groups and genres and I am working my way through them.

So dear followers, are there any books from any genre or target audience that you revisit?