It’s the first day of the last month of the year! Wah! Christmas is just over the corner and 2021 is knocking on the horizon! 2020 is really closing its curtains and I am fervently hoping that nothing uneventful will happen, nothing that will knock us off of our collective breaths.

Oh well, Tuesday also means one thing, a Top Ten Tuesday update! It has been sometime since I did one but this week’s topic piqued my interest hence this update.

toptentuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s given topic is Books I Want to Read Again.

You see, I am not a huge book re-reader. I am the type to move on to the text one. When I was younger, I did re-read some books because I had no other books to read (haha). As an adult, finding the time to re-read has become doubly challenging because of time constraints and I just have too many books to read. Nevertheless, there are still titles that I want and hope to re-read, if only to re-experience the memories, relive the joy that these books once brought me. Without more ado, here are the ten books I want to re-read. Happy reading!

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Kicking off the list with one of my all-time favorite reads. I read Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince when I was still in university. I guess I was in to it a little too late but it still filled me with wander. It has taught me a lot of lessons. Some of you might have noticed several references to the book in my blog posts. It was that memorable and it would be a pleasure reading it again.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

A little throwback again to my university days. I came to a point when I lost interest in mystery and suspense novels. It was right at that moment that I got introduced to Agatha Christie and Murder on the Orient Express. Needless to say that the book revived my interest in the genre and I have since then become a devout Agatha Christie fan. She is, in fact, my second most read writer.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

From the moment I opened my first Khaled Hosseini, I was entranced, riveted, enchanted. You name it. I loved his three novels but The Kite Runner hit me differently. The picture of Afghanistan that Hosseini painted left a deep impression on me. It remains one of my all-time favorites, one that I would love to re-experience.

A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford

It has been nearly a decade since I lifted Barbara Taylor Bradford’s A Woman of Substance. Nearly ten years have passed but I am still reminded of Emma Harte, and her tenacious spirit. She is indeed one of the most memorable literary characters I have encountered and reliving her journey, from the quagmires of poverty to opulence would be a pleasure, despite its length.

The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe

Here is another literal throwback read. Just like A Woman of Substance, Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities is a book that I have read over ten years ago but still remains embedded in me. Its wit made me fall in love with Wolfe’s prose. But my memory has become sketchy. It would be great to reexperience this novel.

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Swedish writer Jonas Jonasson’s The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is a book I was reluctant to read at first. It was too hyped up and I find the ridiculously long title, well, ridiculous. But I am thankful I overcome this apprehension for it is a book I loved. It also introduced me to the “dry” Swedish humor.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Here is another all-time favorite. I barely had an iota on what Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo was about when I borrowed it from our university library. I just knew that it was one of Dr. Jose Rizal’s favorite books. I ended up loving the book and I wouldn’t mind reading this literary classic again.

The Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens’ The Great Expectations is another book from about a decade ago. It was, I believe, my first Dickensian tale and despite its length (and my relative “greenness” to English classics), I ended up loving Pip’s story. Needless to say, it made me an admirer of Dickens’ works. Ten years thence, I still name this novel one of my favorites and nothing has changed.

Looking For Alaska by John Green

Yep, a young adult novel. Of all of John Green’s prolific works, it was Looking for Alaska that truly hit differently. Yes, it revolves around death but it was this understated work that I found Green’s narrative moving and mature. Everything flowed naturally. Looking for Alaska is one of those very rare young adult novels that I truly liked.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

I’ll be honest. I want to re-read ALL of Haruki Murakami’s works and not for reasons that you think. I want to reread them because I want to understand them deeper but of all his works, Kafka on the Shore looms large. It is a book that many a literary pundit have sang high praises on. Unlike them, the book left me baffled. Yes, it has strong imagery but it was also these images that I found perplexing.

The many wonderful words I read about the book made me wonder. Was I missing something? To my defense, I read it when Murakami’s prose was relatively new to me. I was inexperienced, in a manner of speaking, not just on his works but on magical realism in general. I actually bought a copy of the book just to reread it but the opportunity never came because I have a long list of unread books. LOL. I am still resolute on to rereading this book.

And that ends my Top Ten Tuesday post. How about you fellow reader, what books to you want to read again? I hope you can share them with me in the comment box.

Happy Tuesday!