There is no shortage of books to read. If you read one book for every day of your life, you would come nowhere close to having read all the books there are. But it’s fun to try! That’s not to say you’re going to enjoy them all, obvs. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to genre, style, length, age category, and so forth and so on. As my brother-in-law says,
“Life is too short to read a book you don’t enjoy.”
I’ve rarely been known to DNF (did not finish) a book. But I still have strong preferences for what I enjoy. Novel-length is my preference, but the rest is rather broad. I like YA, but I like adult…and middle-grade. Give me a fantasy novel! …but I wouldn’t say no to a good mystery. I guess, for me, a mark of a book well-worth reading means that you have (or will) read it multiple times.
Here are a few books I have read multiple times, and highly recommend:
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
- N or M? by Agatha Christie
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
What makes a book worth reading over and over again? Some people don’t like reading a book a second time or watching a movie a second time all because they know what happens. They put value in the element of surprise. I’m not judging those people, and I like a surprise as much as the next person. But with most or all of the books above, rereading the book for the third or fourth time…it’s like visiting an old friend. I long to go and share a meal with Molly Weasley or listen to Bilbo Baggins retell his adventures. Characters, in my own opinion, are what elevate (or sink) a novel.
So what about you? What are your favorite novels? What about them makes you want to come back for more?
Or, if you’re a “read ’em once” sort of person, why is that? I’d like to know 🙂
Keep your pen on the page,
Beth
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Beth Overmyer, Author 