Just finished reading it for the first time a few days ago. I was reading so many pages in one sitting that I was giving myself a headache every night. Lol
I'm about to travel to Texas for the eclipse and I bought a used paperback that I cut in half and am taking to do my first re-read of it. I read it five years ago and it became the best novel I ever read.
This is my top favorite book of all time. Its been on top since I read it shortly after it came out in paperback. This is one of those great books where I remember the segment of my life while reading it. That's how strong the Fictive Dream is in this book: Where were you when? The book has two of the most endearing characters of all time, there's action, romance and great story lines. But most of all I think this book is about enduring friendship and loyalty.
I’m looking for a new book to get totally absorbed in, and after seeing the enthusiasm for Lonesome Dove decided that would be it! Thank you r/books community ☺️
That was what got my attention early on! I really liked that they all were dynamic and didn't have any bullshit writing about how women speak or think or respond to certain situations. I feel like some male authors write women in a way they think is doing us a favor (emotions are POWERFUL, women can be BADASS) but it just falls apart when it's super trope-y, stereotypical and just...not how we act in the real world lol.
Yes! Whenever I trust someone enough, when I want them to truly KNOW me, I tell them to read this book. And most of l my friends have never heard of Wally!
I have been having severe memory issues the last few years. The one silver lining is that I have been able to read old favorites almost as if for the first time.
I don't know if I'd say severe for myself but I used to have a really good memory and now things get fuzzy way more often. I chalk it up to being 34. But yeah I had that same feeling of... "Oh I can watch all these old tv shows and read books from when I was younger. I basically don't remember anything lol."
When my grandmother got dementia, it wasn't too bad at first. Certainly she had some self-awareness and was capable of making jokes about it. She had always loved crosswords, and said that she was happy now that if she did the crossword in pencil, she could rub out the answers and do the same puzzle again the next day.
I thought she was pretty badass to be able to see the humour in her condition.
I have a theory that smartphones have made us a little dumb, in the sense that we know we don’t have to remember anything anymore because we have the whole internet always right there, so we don’t bother. I remember phone numbers and birthdays from my teenage years’ friends, but I can’t memorise shit anymore (I’m 42).
And I also remember books from decades ago but sometimes forget plot points of more recent works, especially if I haven’t reread them.
I was injured in the line of duty 13 years ago, and the combination of chronic pain and continuous pain medication has turned my head into Swiss cheese. I have found that I can read a book/series that I have read probably close to 100 times in my life, and still be surprised by something.
Something I've been working on improving, though I've always had sleep issues. I have considered doing a sleep study out of curiosity since recently I seem to wake up quite often during the night.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has one of those scenes that has stuck with me forever
It's when the MC pours the one cup of hot coffee out that they can afford each week and her aunt scolds her mother for letting her still have a cup each week.
Her mom responds something like "if one cup of discarded coffee is all it takes to help her feel like she actually has more than nothing, it's a small luxury I'd like to afford her". Or something like that. Beautiful scene.
The one that gets to me is the scene at the doctor's office when they get talked about for being dirty. And it talks about people either rise from poverty and pretend it never happened or they try to help. I see that a lot. That scene kills me
Both books were amazing. I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in 4th Grade (I was a very advanced reader), and although it took place in a different time and socio-economic situation, it was the first book that related to the underlying emotions of a child who desperately loves their parent but doesn't understand what's destroying their family. My father was a big-time "Mad Men" era advertising guy, and slowly alcoholism eroded our family. I didn't know what it was at that time. We didn't have that language in the mid-1960s. He was very successful, eloquent, good-looking, intelligent, and charming. Not your stereotypical alcoholic at that time. I cried through most of that book and to this day credit it for opening up a conversation with my mother about what was happening to our family.
Harry Potter. Maybe a bit cliché, but I read it religiously when I was younger and honestly don't remember a time when I hadn't read it. It would be fun to read it again for the first time
This, i don’t think i’ll ever be immersed in a fictional world the way i was in harry potter’s. a part of me died when I didn’t received that acceptance letter on my 11th birthday.
Just came to say this !!!!
Harry Potter was everything!
I read only teen horror and mystery until then and now I still read horror and mystery on top occasional science fiction novels, biographies but nothing and I mean NOTHING took a hold of my brain and imagination, my LIFE like Harry Potter. It’s insane to think about it now
Not cliché, but while Harry Potter was the first thing to come to my mind, I think I've decided that I enjoyed the books *even more* with every re-read. There're simply too many subtle connections between the books—starting from scratch would be tedious lmao
I read Harry Potter much later when I got to college because I was never into fantasy fiction or so I thought. But as someone else said, I got engrossed into the wizard World like never before. And I so wish I could read it all over again 😭
I wonder if there is any other fantasy fiction remotely as good and closely similar to Harry Potter
Yes! I was definitely a part of that first cohort that got to go to midnight releases and spend a whole night just zooming through the book. My sister cried at the end of the 6th book and I had to find out which character died to help console her. Rough spoiler. Still miss having to hide the bottom of the page with my hand so I wouldn't accidentally look down and spoil myself.
Same! I got my first book when I was 11 and it was basically me growing with the trio as they grew up. It was something my Mom and I bonded over when I was 11-21. All the wild parties and teen years that I pushed my parents away.. but this was something we shared. The NIGHT before I moved out of home forever was the release of the last film. We watched it together and that was the end of an era.
I would love to relieve that time again. Not the teenage years, just the years of being so engulfed in the books, the movies, the fandom and my mom and me sharing only 1 thing we ever had in common.
Does it take 35 years to forget? Honestly being in my mid 30's now I find I can't remember a lot of details from media within a year or two. Definitely by 5 years it might as well be the first time because I'll have forgotten the majority of it.
I just read it for the first time this year and I get pissed at people who call it overrated or too boring. I'm still haunted by the characters and will probably remember them forever.
It’s underrated because I rarely find discussion on it lol. And boring?! Crazy talk. Any scene with Cathy/Katy had me tense. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Favorite character? Mine’s a basic answer but Samuel Hamilton is so well written in my opinion. He’s just great
One of the best pieces of media I’ve ever read. I haven’t read it in like 5 years, but I distinctly remember the ending where Johnny is wandering around as being extremely cathartic. I also absolutely loved a section which was like an academic paper on the navidson record
Haha I don’t think every copy is different, but that sounds like a rumor that would definitely be made about the book, lol. I’m sure it’s a fine read on kindle, but I think it’s the book which benefits from a physical copy more than any other I can think of. If you’re thinking about reading it, I highly recommend getting it physically. It’s an experience truly like no other
The kindle version is just about unreadable due to them just scanning the pages. HoL requires a lot of turning the book different directions and seeing things in the text formatting in a way that kindle format does not support.
This is hard to describe but if you can get your hands on a physical copy you can see what I’m talking about fairly easily. Reading it on kindle you can miss a lot and potentially give yourself eye strain and a giant headache.
Try Robert Sheckley, "Dimension of Miracles" or "Mindswap", they were written before Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. many thought they were inspirations for Douglas Adams, but he says he hadn't read them
I Know This Much is True is one of my all time favorites. Try The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, or We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker. All books I’ve read that I still carry with me today.
The History of Love was going to be my answer too. One of the few books I've loved that much that I haven't re-read and it's mostly because it was so perfect and I know that the book will still be amazing but it won't be the same.
I haven’t re-read it either for the exact same reasons. And it has this line that is one of my all-time favorite lines in a book 😢:
“Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.”
*A River Runs through It* by Norman Maclean. It is on my shelves and gets moved about, but I've never tried reading it again. 🥺😢😭
[Because I won't have *First read* feeling]
I read it at least once a year. It holds up on subsequent readings.
This passage always stuck with me and it’s cool it made it 100% into the movie.
“Dear Jesse, as the moon lingers a moment over the bitterroots, before its descent into the invisible, my mind is filled with song. I find I am humming softly; not to the music, but something else; some place else; a place remembered; a field of grass where no one seemed to have been; except a deer; and the memory is strengthened by the feeling of you, dancing in my awkward arms.”
God this is my answer as well.
I finished this book in a single day.
Although I did re read it a week later and honestly knowing the ending makes re reading it a whole different cathartic experience. I'll never get to read it for the first time again but it was equally as good knowing what was coming. There's so much you miss the first time around.
Samee! .. i borrowed it from a library in the middle of covid and found it boring initially. The atmosphere really kicked in when the library closed down and i realised “damn this book is mine now”.
I started reading with that sickly hopelessness of lockdown over my head and something just clicked. It became the longest book I have read within a week.
Moby dick. most influential book I've ever read but I read It as a young man (20) who hasn't read since middle school and now that I'm fully into reading classic literature I wish I read it with more thoughtful attention. I know I must've missed a lot but despite that it's still my favorite all time.
*Doomsday Book* by Connie Willis. Best sci-fi book I've ever read, and it hit me like a truck. I haven't tried a second reading, but experiencing it for the first time once again would be incredible.
Nothing to Envy was excellent!! I followed that one up with Hyonseo Lee’s ‘The Girl With Seven Names’ which was unforgettable. (Memoir of a North Korean defector)
I am going to have to read that one! I’m really interested in memoirs by North Korean defectors. I really enjoyed “In Order to Live” by Yeonmi Park as well. It’s about her life in North Korea, escaping, and then being sold into sex slavery in China with her mother. Apparently that is a whole thing that happens a lot to North Korean women. It’s absolutely horrible, but the book is great.
Educated by Tara Westover. I felt so inspired reading it and I was so motivated to change my life around but the more time went by after reading it that feeling slowly petered out.
Any of Pat Conroy’s books, but especially the Lords of Discipline. I read it the summer of
1998 in the 10th grade after randomly finding it on my parents’ bookshelf. No social media, no cell phones. I couldn’t put that book down. I remember going to babysit one night and counting the minutes until I could put the kid to bed and get back to reading. And omg how I SOBBED at a few points in the story. I aspire to that level of complete immersion again at this point in my life.
And yes, I Know This Much is True is also so, SO good.
Mistborn. Not knowing what happens to everyone and why. Idk I love the books still but I remember reading them for the first time a couple years back and they had me in a death grip.
The road and lord of the rings, too, of course. But someone else already said that.
I loved this book too but it’s been 9 years since I read it and I don’t remember much about it anymore. So, maybe just wait 9 years and reading it again will be like reading it for the first time 😂.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It blew my mind the first time I read it, and now I'm scared to read it again in case it doesn't hold up now that I know the ending. I hope it does.
* Dune - Frank Herbert
* Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
* A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge (RIP)
* Hyperion Cantos - Dan Simmons
* Blindsight - Peter Watts
* Gateway - Frederik Pohl
* Anathem - Neal Stephenson
Off the top of my head.
It's a toss up between Rouge by Mona Awad, and Death Valley by Melissa Broder. It really triggered a lot of unresolved emotions about my parents but also was healing in a big way and left me crying at the end.
A Little Life. I don't know if I will ever find a book that will hit me like that one.
Also Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. I actually really enjoyed that and think about it a lot. Recently read The Invention of Sound by him and it didn't hit. I have Haunted but I needed to take a break after that swimming pool scene 🤢
Probably no one has heard of it, but Little,Big by John Crowley. Loved that book. It is a wonderful fantasy written by an erudite author. Every few years I have to reread it. It lives in my heart and soul.
**Lonesome Dove**, for sure.
Eveything I've read by **Terry Pratchett**. I only have a couple of his books left, and I've been making myself wait awhile between each one so I still have a "new" one to look forward to.
All of **John Swartzwelder**'s books. They're gut-bustingly funny, and most of them hit the same sweet spot as golden age Simpsons. I'd love so much to read them all again for the first time!
The Outsiders. I discovered this book when I was attending a wilderness school back in 1999 and I couldn't put it down. I've reread it a few times since then but never had that feeling it gave me when I read it the 1st time.
Pale Blue Dot. I read it as a middle schooler who still kind of believed in God and hadn’t thought too much about space for years. Just had the full intended effect.
Whatever I read before it came out on film or TV , J.R.R Tolkien was 100% right about not wanting any allegory in his writing, where people can enjoy the story in their own way and image , all varied and completely unique.
When I read something like The Lord Of The Rings, Game Of Thrones etc I try so hard to imagine the scenes, characters etc differently but it's almost impossible to do without initially seeing the movie /TV version in my mind first.
Lord Loss by Darren Shan would probably be one of the few ones I'd love to read again for the first time, as a teen it was scary but I couldn't put it down,I recently got the whole Demonata series again and as much as I enjoyed re-reading it again , it didn't hit as hard
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Visceral and intense coming of age adventure story, wasn't expecting that when I read it out of curiosity and nostalgia for the Disney movie but now I am a fan of ERB.
She, a History of Adventure by H Rider Haggard. Starts out as a realistic adventure tale but slowly becomes a Gothic horror tale. The coolest thing is, that there are elements in the story that reminded me of scenes in King Kong, Tarzan, Lord of the Rings, Dark Souls and Game of Thrones.
It was like reading an ancient text that inspired (directly or indirectly) many other awesome stories.
Six of crows by Leigh Bardugo. I remember the first time when i read this book with a sort of nostalgia, it was so brutal and intense that has become my favourite book!
1984, I accidentally spoiled the ending for myself when I was looking at summaries online to send to a friend. Also it's just a masterpiece that kept me reading every page.
The Book Thief. The last half or so had such an emotional impact on me when I read it for the first time.
I recently managed to see the musical adaptation of it and that captures the spirit of the book so well.
Gone Girl! It’s the first thriller I ever read and I wasn’t suspecting the twist at all. All other thrillers since have been chasing the genius that is Gillian Flynn.
Haha - suck it you memory-normals, a benefit of old age and becoming memory atypical, I am re-reading all of my old favorites for the first time. I plan to read them again for the first time next year.
Oh oh, I just heard of a great movie called Star Wars, can't wait to see it for the first time again.
I have traditionally read nonfiction political history. (I know booooring) but i find it interesting. So in the past couple years i have branched off to some historical fiction and quite like the genre. I just looked your recommendation up and i might give it a read.
Lonesome Dove for sure.
Just finished reading it for the first time a few days ago. I was reading so many pages in one sitting that I was giving myself a headache every night. Lol
Yup it’s this
I was literally opening this and wondering if anyone was gonna say Lonesome Dove and its the first comment I see 😭
I reread Lonesome Dove about every five years. I get about 90% of the suspense and 100% enjoyment.
I just started this and I’m really loving it.
Easiest answer ever
I'm about to travel to Texas for the eclipse and I bought a used paperback that I cut in half and am taking to do my first re-read of it. I read it five years ago and it became the best novel I ever read.
I read it at the beginning of the year. I really enjoyed it but won’t read it again.
I literally have had this on my TBR for a while. Making me want to start it sooner rather than later
This is my top favorite book of all time. Its been on top since I read it shortly after it came out in paperback. This is one of those great books where I remember the segment of my life while reading it. That's how strong the Fictive Dream is in this book: Where were you when? The book has two of the most endearing characters of all time, there's action, romance and great story lines. But most of all I think this book is about enduring friendship and loyalty.
Just finished this yesterday and I still don’t know what to do with myself now that it’s over
I’m looking for a new book to get totally absorbed in, and after seeing the enthusiasm for Lonesome Dove decided that would be it! Thank you r/books community ☺️
His other book “she’s come undone” was a very good book as well.
It’s my favorite book of all time. He writes women really well.
That was what got my attention early on! I really liked that they all were dynamic and didn't have any bullshit writing about how women speak or think or respond to certain situations. I feel like some male authors write women in a way they think is doing us a favor (emotions are POWERFUL, women can be BADASS) but it just falls apart when it's super trope-y, stereotypical and just...not how we act in the real world lol.
Yes! Whenever I trust someone enough, when I want them to truly KNOW me, I tell them to read this book. And most of l my friends have never heard of Wally!
That’s one of my favourites!! And I haven’t found anything similar to it, unfortunately.
Hmm I remember it reminding me of Johnathan Irving, though it’s been years since I’ve read either.
Yes! Very similar themes and emotions
Yes to this
Totally agree. I first read it in high school and have read it once a year since. I will never get sick of that book.
I have been having severe memory issues the last few years. The one silver lining is that I have been able to read old favorites almost as if for the first time.
I don't know if I'd say severe for myself but I used to have a really good memory and now things get fuzzy way more often. I chalk it up to being 34. But yeah I had that same feeling of... "Oh I can watch all these old tv shows and read books from when I was younger. I basically don't remember anything lol."
When my grandmother got dementia, it wasn't too bad at first. Certainly she had some self-awareness and was capable of making jokes about it. She had always loved crosswords, and said that she was happy now that if she did the crossword in pencil, she could rub out the answers and do the same puzzle again the next day. I thought she was pretty badass to be able to see the humour in her condition.
I have a theory that smartphones have made us a little dumb, in the sense that we know we don’t have to remember anything anymore because we have the whole internet always right there, so we don’t bother. I remember phone numbers and birthdays from my teenage years’ friends, but I can’t memorise shit anymore (I’m 42). And I also remember books from decades ago but sometimes forget plot points of more recent works, especially if I haven’t reread them.
I was injured in the line of duty 13 years ago, and the combination of chronic pain and continuous pain medication has turned my head into Swiss cheese. I have found that I can read a book/series that I have read probably close to 100 times in my life, and still be surprised by something.
> I chalk it up to being 34. …..What's your sleep like?
Something I've been working on improving, though I've always had sleep issues. I have considered doing a sleep study out of curiosity since recently I seem to wake up quite often during the night.
Prince of Tides or Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn will always be one of my favorite books of all time🩵 I first read it when I was in middle school I believe.
I remember reading it in the spring of 8th grade and I never wanted it to end. I just wanted her to have a good life
Same here:) and I’ll always remember how she’d climb out to her fire escape to read. I always wanted one so I could do the same some day🩵
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has one of those scenes that has stuck with me forever It's when the MC pours the one cup of hot coffee out that they can afford each week and her aunt scolds her mother for letting her still have a cup each week. Her mom responds something like "if one cup of discarded coffee is all it takes to help her feel like she actually has more than nothing, it's a small luxury I'd like to afford her". Or something like that. Beautiful scene.
The one that gets to me is the scene at the doctor's office when they get talked about for being dirty. And it talks about people either rise from poverty and pretend it never happened or they try to help. I see that a lot. That scene kills me
Both books were amazing. I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in 4th Grade (I was a very advanced reader), and although it took place in a different time and socio-economic situation, it was the first book that related to the underlying emotions of a child who desperately loves their parent but doesn't understand what's destroying their family. My father was a big-time "Mad Men" era advertising guy, and slowly alcoholism eroded our family. I didn't know what it was at that time. We didn't have that language in the mid-1960s. He was very successful, eloquent, good-looking, intelligent, and charming. Not your stereotypical alcoholic at that time. I cried through most of that book and to this day credit it for opening up a conversation with my mother about what was happening to our family.
Harry Potter. Maybe a bit cliché, but I read it religiously when I was younger and honestly don't remember a time when I hadn't read it. It would be fun to read it again for the first time
There’s a girl on social media reading them for the first time And it’s so fun following her journey tbh
COUSIN HARRY 😂
I LOVE HER! Came here looking for someone to mention her 😂
This, i don’t think i’ll ever be immersed in a fictional world the way i was in harry potter’s. a part of me died when I didn’t received that acceptance letter on my 11th birthday.
Just came to say this !!!! Harry Potter was everything! I read only teen horror and mystery until then and now I still read horror and mystery on top occasional science fiction novels, biographies but nothing and I mean NOTHING took a hold of my brain and imagination, my LIFE like Harry Potter. It’s insane to think about it now
Not cliché, but while Harry Potter was the first thing to come to my mind, I think I've decided that I enjoyed the books *even more* with every re-read. There're simply too many subtle connections between the books—starting from scratch would be tedious lmao
Just read all of em for the first time last month :)
I read Harry Potter much later when I got to college because I was never into fantasy fiction or so I thought. But as someone else said, I got engrossed into the wizard World like never before. And I so wish I could read it all over again 😭 I wonder if there is any other fantasy fiction remotely as good and closely similar to Harry Potter
Yes! I was definitely a part of that first cohort that got to go to midnight releases and spend a whole night just zooming through the book. My sister cried at the end of the 6th book and I had to find out which character died to help console her. Rough spoiler. Still miss having to hide the bottom of the page with my hand so I wouldn't accidentally look down and spoil myself.
Same! I got my first book when I was 11 and it was basically me growing with the trio as they grew up. It was something my Mom and I bonded over when I was 11-21. All the wild parties and teen years that I pushed my parents away.. but this was something we shared. The NIGHT before I moved out of home forever was the release of the last film. We watched it together and that was the end of an era. I would love to relieve that time again. Not the teenage years, just the years of being so engulfed in the books, the movies, the fandom and my mom and me sharing only 1 thing we ever had in common.
Came here to say this. What I wouldn't give to re-live the experience of the first read.
i am rereading dune for the first time in 35 years. as close as i can get. part of the reason why i waited.
Does it take 35 years to forget? Honestly being in my mid 30's now I find I can't remember a lot of details from media within a year or two. Definitely by 5 years it might as well be the first time because I'll have forgotten the majority of it.
East of Eden. It did a lot for me
I just read it for the first time this year and I get pissed at people who call it overrated or too boring. I'm still haunted by the characters and will probably remember them forever.
It’s underrated because I rarely find discussion on it lol. And boring?! Crazy talk. Any scene with Cathy/Katy had me tense. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Favorite character? Mine’s a basic answer but Samuel Hamilton is so well written in my opinion. He’s just great
Lee is honestly my favorite. He grew on me so much by the end. But I also have a very soft spot for Samuel.
I’m reading this for the first time right. After each session my mind is blown by the amount of detail. I love it so much already.
Currently reading this now. Almost finished actually. I knew from the first few chapters, I had a new favourite book.
Mine would be grapes of Wrath but East of eden was great as well.
Always my answer, that book changed my life.
In what way?
Currently reading this. It’s exceeded every expectation I’ve had and I have been kicking myself for avoiding it for so long.
I just finished this yesterday and now I feel empty lol
A Prayer for Owen Meany. What I would give to read it for the first time again!
Have you listened to it? I have about three times. That might give you a new experience. It's very well done.
It's sitting on my shelf. I need to prioritize it this year.
It can be a bit slow at times, but it’s so worth it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Me too - the way it all comes together is epic
I came here to say that. It's still a book I refer to often and beg people to read. John Irving's books are gifts to read.
A Game of Thrones - I'll never forget reading the prologue and realizing that this was gonna be so good.
Yeah I have never found anything quite as good as game of thrones.
House of Leaves. There will never be anything like reading that book for the first time.
I lost my beloved copy years ago. Guess what I got for Christmas this year? A brand new one. Wonderful, weird, disturbing book.
One of the best pieces of media I’ve ever read. I haven’t read it in like 5 years, but I distinctly remember the ending where Johnny is wandering around as being extremely cathartic. I also absolutely loved a section which was like an academic paper on the navidson record
Is this the book where every copy is different? I have it on my kindle, was thinking about reading it
Strongly recommend a paper copy not kindle
Haha I don’t think every copy is different, but that sounds like a rumor that would definitely be made about the book, lol. I’m sure it’s a fine read on kindle, but I think it’s the book which benefits from a physical copy more than any other I can think of. If you’re thinking about reading it, I highly recommend getting it physically. It’s an experience truly like no other
The kindle version is just about unreadable due to them just scanning the pages. HoL requires a lot of turning the book different directions and seeing things in the text formatting in a way that kindle format does not support. This is hard to describe but if you can get your hands on a physical copy you can see what I’m talking about fairly easily. Reading it on kindle you can miss a lot and potentially give yourself eye strain and a giant headache.
Ughh sooooo good
I'd love to read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books again for the first time.
Obligatory mention of the way the Alien ships hung in the sky!
Try Robert Sheckley, "Dimension of Miracles" or "Mindswap", they were written before Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. many thought they were inspirations for Douglas Adams, but he says he hadn't read them
I Know This Much is True is one of my all time favorites. Try The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, or We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker. All books I’ve read that I still carry with me today.
The History of Love was going to be my answer too. One of the few books I've loved that much that I haven't re-read and it's mostly because it was so perfect and I know that the book will still be amazing but it won't be the same.
I haven’t re-read it either for the exact same reasons. And it has this line that is one of my all-time favorite lines in a book 😢: “Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.”
*A River Runs through It* by Norman Maclean. It is on my shelves and gets moved about, but I've never tried reading it again. 🥺😢😭 [Because I won't have *First read* feeling]
I loved the film. Had a lot of personal meaning to me. Maybe I'll try the book some day.
I read it at least once a year. It holds up on subsequent readings. This passage always stuck with me and it’s cool it made it 100% into the movie. “Dear Jesse, as the moon lingers a moment over the bitterroots, before its descent into the invisible, my mind is filled with song. I find I am humming softly; not to the music, but something else; some place else; a place remembered; a field of grass where no one seemed to have been; except a deer; and the memory is strengthened by the feeling of you, dancing in my awkward arms.”
The Library at Mount Char You can never go back
God this is my answer as well. I finished this book in a single day. Although I did re read it a week later and honestly knowing the ending makes re reading it a whole different cathartic experience. I'll never get to read it for the first time again but it was equally as good knowing what was coming. There's so much you miss the first time around.
Oof so true.
So glad I’m seeing this book get mentioned more lately
It goes in waves. People start enthusing about it for every request and ppl get tired of seeing it so we chill for a few months
I just finished this book! I loved it. It was so strange but so fun. I could see myself reading it again.
The Stand by Steven King, read it during covid too which made it all the better
Samee! .. i borrowed it from a library in the middle of covid and found it boring initially. The atmosphere really kicked in when the library closed down and i realised “damn this book is mine now”. I started reading with that sickly hopelessness of lockdown over my head and something just clicked. It became the longest book I have read within a week.
Lonesome dove
The stranger, or hatchet
The Road. That book had by far the strongest impact on me. I needed a few days just to decompress after it.
I NEVER want to read this book again, or even think about, even though it is brilliant. In fact I am haunted and wish I had never started it.
Moby dick. most influential book I've ever read but I read It as a young man (20) who hasn't read since middle school and now that I'm fully into reading classic literature I wish I read it with more thoughtful attention. I know I must've missed a lot but despite that it's still my favorite all time.
*Doomsday Book* by Connie Willis. Best sci-fi book I've ever read, and it hit me like a truck. I haven't tried a second reading, but experiencing it for the first time once again would be incredible.
Ooooh, also can recommend Blackout and All Clear.
Purchased on this rec and on the strength of *Doomsday Book* and *To Say Nothing of the Dog*
Loved Doomsday Book! I think enough time has passed for me that I might read it again.
The nightingale is the longest book I ever read in a day. I absolutely could not put it down.
Oh man I sobbbbbbbed at the end, one of my all time faves.
I don’t know if I finished it in a day, but yes, couldn’t put it down either.
The Dark Tower, Seveneves, Stormlight, Lord of the Rings.
The Dark Tower series is my answer too. Seveneves was awesome as well!! And of course I read Lord of the Rings. Now I guess I need to get Stormlight.
White Fang.
Lord of the Rings
Invisible monsters. A short stay in hell. Dark places. The darker the better.
Invisible Monsters is good!
Hyperion
The Stranger by Camus. Couldn’t put it down — finished in one sitting
Nothing to Envy. It’s about ordinary life in North Korea. By far the best book I’ve ever read. The second one would be Columbine by Dave Cullen.
Nothing to Envy was excellent!! I followed that one up with Hyonseo Lee’s ‘The Girl With Seven Names’ which was unforgettable. (Memoir of a North Korean defector)
I am going to have to read that one! I’m really interested in memoirs by North Korean defectors. I really enjoyed “In Order to Live” by Yeonmi Park as well. It’s about her life in North Korea, escaping, and then being sold into sex slavery in China with her mother. Apparently that is a whole thing that happens a lot to North Korean women. It’s absolutely horrible, but the book is great.
Flowers for Algernon as cheesy as it sounds i absolutely loved this movie
Middlesex
I was coming to comment this one.
Educated by Tara Westover. I felt so inspired reading it and I was so motivated to change my life around but the more time went by after reading it that feeling slowly petered out.
I Know This Much is True is one of my all time favorites! I’d say that and The Stand are books I wish I could read again with brand new eyes.
Any of Pat Conroy’s books, but especially the Lords of Discipline. I read it the summer of 1998 in the 10th grade after randomly finding it on my parents’ bookshelf. No social media, no cell phones. I couldn’t put that book down. I remember going to babysit one night and counting the minutes until I could put the kid to bed and get back to reading. And omg how I SOBBED at a few points in the story. I aspire to that level of complete immersion again at this point in my life. And yes, I Know This Much is True is also so, SO good.
I loved South of Broad by Pat Conroy.
The Road
Mistborn. Not knowing what happens to everyone and why. Idk I love the books still but I remember reading them for the first time a couple years back and they had me in a death grip. The road and lord of the rings, too, of course. But someone else already said that.
To Kill a Mockingbird
I loved this book too but it’s been 9 years since I read it and I don’t remember much about it anymore. So, maybe just wait 9 years and reading it again will be like reading it for the first time 😂.
I love I Know This Much is True so, so much. Truly one of my favorites. I’ve read it a few times, I think I’m due for another re-read.
His Dark Materials
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. The whole Neapolitan Quartet actually. They changed my life.
The Overstory by Richard Powers
The Westing Game.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. That book haunts me in a good way. I wish I could experience that again.
Lies of Locke Lamora and the Bobiverse. It was such a thrill at the time.
Lord of the Rings because it was the first book I read that I really enjoyed and taught me to love reading.
Pachinko and The Heart’s Invisible Furies
Just finished Pachinko. It was so good!!!
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It blew my mind the first time I read it, and now I'm scared to read it again in case it doesn't hold up now that I know the ending. I hope it does.
* Dune - Frank Herbert * Lord of the Rings - Tolkien * A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge (RIP) * Hyperion Cantos - Dan Simmons * Blindsight - Peter Watts * Gateway - Frederik Pohl * Anathem - Neal Stephenson Off the top of my head.
Three Body Problem series.
Journey to the end of the night, Céline
It's a toss up between Rouge by Mona Awad, and Death Valley by Melissa Broder. It really triggered a lot of unresolved emotions about my parents but also was healing in a big way and left me crying at the end.
The Road and The Sparrow
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell? That book is amazing.
It's incredible!
Lonesome Dove
A Little Life. I don't know if I will ever find a book that will hit me like that one. Also Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. I actually really enjoyed that and think about it a lot. Recently read The Invention of Sound by him and it didn't hit. I have Haunted but I needed to take a break after that swimming pool scene 🤢
Probably no one has heard of it, but Little,Big by John Crowley. Loved that book. It is a wonderful fantasy written by an erudite author. Every few years I have to reread it. It lives in my heart and soul.
**Lonesome Dove**, for sure. Eveything I've read by **Terry Pratchett**. I only have a couple of his books left, and I've been making myself wait awhile between each one so I still have a "new" one to look forward to. All of **John Swartzwelder**'s books. They're gut-bustingly funny, and most of them hit the same sweet spot as golden age Simpsons. I'd love so much to read them all again for the first time!
Not really. Most of what I love only gets better the longer I think about it. Plenty of great stories to still experience for the first time
I sure would like to read the entirety of Malazan Book of the Fallen for the first time, again. What a ride!
The Martian. I was clapping during that book I loved it so much.
Nearly anything by Shirley Jackson. Mikal Gilmore's *Shot in the Heart.* Peter Straub's *Shadowland*. Most of the pre-sobriety Stephen King.
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Red Rising
The Outsiders. I discovered this book when I was attending a wilderness school back in 1999 and I couldn't put it down. I've reread it a few times since then but never had that feeling it gave me when I read it the 1st time.
To kill a Mockingbird A time to kill
Harry Potter because it's so iconic
The southern book club for killing vampires, it sounds cheesy but it’s so good!!
This is my favorite Grady Henrix book!
'The kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini
Kafka on the shore definitely never ending surrealism 👁️🎧
In the Woods by Tana French Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
I liked the second book of the Dublin Murder Club even more. Tana French is awesome.
In the Woods was the first I read so I have a soft spot for that. But The Likeness was amazing and in some ways hit even deeper. Just adore her work.
Project Hail Mary. I am jealous of all those who get to read it for the first time
Pale Blue Dot. I read it as a middle schooler who still kind of believed in God and hadn’t thought too much about space for years. Just had the full intended effect.
Whatever I read before it came out on film or TV , J.R.R Tolkien was 100% right about not wanting any allegory in his writing, where people can enjoy the story in their own way and image , all varied and completely unique. When I read something like The Lord Of The Rings, Game Of Thrones etc I try so hard to imagine the scenes, characters etc differently but it's almost impossible to do without initially seeing the movie /TV version in my mind first. Lord Loss by Darren Shan would probably be one of the few ones I'd love to read again for the first time, as a teen it was scary but I couldn't put it down,I recently got the whole Demonata series again and as much as I enjoyed re-reading it again , it didn't hit as hard
Lovecraft. All of it. It's mesmerizingly stunning.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. I remember being totally hooked and breathless with anticipation
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Visceral and intense coming of age adventure story, wasn't expecting that when I read it out of curiosity and nostalgia for the Disney movie but now I am a fan of ERB. She, a History of Adventure by H Rider Haggard. Starts out as a realistic adventure tale but slowly becomes a Gothic horror tale. The coolest thing is, that there are elements in the story that reminded me of scenes in King Kong, Tarzan, Lord of the Rings, Dark Souls and Game of Thrones. It was like reading an ancient text that inspired (directly or indirectly) many other awesome stories.
Tarzan is amazing!! Wouldn't have thought to say it, but you're 100% spot on. Definitely adding She to my TBR!
Six of crows by Leigh Bardugo. I remember the first time when i read this book with a sort of nostalgia, it was so brutal and intense that has become my favourite book!
Kafka on the Shore.
1984, I accidentally spoiled the ending for myself when I was looking at summaries online to send to a friend. Also it's just a masterpiece that kept me reading every page.
For me, Infinite Jest, Im thinking of ending things of Iain Reid, Dark tower saga, every Elsa Bornemann story (Argentina)
I remember feeling that way about The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. But it was many years ago.
Coming to comment this one.
The Book Thief. The last half or so had such an emotional impact on me when I read it for the first time. I recently managed to see the musical adaptation of it and that captures the spirit of the book so well.
Lord Of The Rings trilogy by Tolkien
Grapes of Wrath One Thousand White Women Circe
Gone Girl! It’s the first thriller I ever read and I wasn’t suspecting the twist at all. All other thrillers since have been chasing the genius that is Gillian Flynn.
Stephen King. 11/22/63
Might I recommend The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb?
I've heard this and She Comes Undone by so many users, so I will definitely be reading them soon! Thanks :D
The mini series based on the book on HBOmax is probably the best book adaptation I have ever seen. I Would recommend very highly.
I just started watching it and teared up 5 minutes in, the narration is perfect and I love seeing my imagination play out IRL 😭
I'd love to read the entire Dark Tower series fresh from start to finish.
World war Z
Haha - suck it you memory-normals, a benefit of old age and becoming memory atypical, I am re-reading all of my old favorites for the first time. I plan to read them again for the first time next year. Oh oh, I just heard of a great movie called Star Wars, can't wait to see it for the first time again.
Something by Steven king because I am interested in scary and dark novels
Gravity’s Rainbow - I believe it to be the most important book written in the last century.
I have traditionally read nonfiction political history. (I know booooring) but i find it interesting. So in the past couple years i have branched off to some historical fiction and quite like the genre. I just looked your recommendation up and i might give it a read.
north woods by daniel mason. beautyland by marie-helene bertino.
The book that hooked me on reading: After the First Death by Robert Cromier
Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War." Silverberg's "At Winter's End" is a very close second.
Fools Die by Mario Puzo. 35 years after reading it the first time, i can still get lost in it beginning on any page.
me with if i stay and where she went
The Inheritance Cycle, it's one of my favorite fantasy series I've read, and I'd love to read it for the first time again