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Favorite Five Books You Wish You Could Read Again For The First Time
You all know that feeling of reading a book and loving it, but knowing that the first time reading it, experiencing the characters and world, well, you’ll never be able to get that exact feeling back again no matter how many times you reread it. Unless you completely forget everything about a book, which I suppose is possible. This is one of those topics that comes up a bunch on reddit’s r/fantasy forum, so I thought I’d give a list of the books I’d choose to read again like it was the first time.
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Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
I talk a lot about Good Omens and how it’s one of my favorite books and that remains true, especially since the mini-series came out. I reread it recently and while I still love it more than ever, I don’t think it was the same as the first time around. I’d love to have a brand new go at this one!
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Well, here’s Harry Potter on one of my lists again too. I just can’t help it, it has to be on this one. I mean, I’d love to experience that sense of wonder all over again, getting to know this magical world that exists alongside our own–that first book especially was a delight.
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The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
The first time I read this book I loved it so much I immediately read it again. And then I went into a mourning period because it was over (I believe this is known as a book hangover). I’d LOVE to experience this one again for the first time, not knowing where the story ends up, and walking the worlds of the Chinese afterlife.
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Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
Say what you will about the Anita Blake series, this one was a game changer for me. Until then, I hadn’t read anything even remotely like a noir Urban Fantasy–I think I was still reading UF like Charles de Lint at that point (which by now most just call Contemporary or Mythic Fic). This was the first time I encountered a book like this, a world like this, characters like these and I was all about it. I’d definitely love to experience that feeling of excitement again.
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The Ruins of Ambrai by Melanie Rawn
I love Rawn. Her Dragon Prince books were one of the series that cemented my love for the genre back when I was in early high school and first getting into Adult SFF after transitioning out of my middle school library. This is something special. I remember reading it shortly after it came out and falling in love with her writing all over again. This book just has so much going for it and it’s such a great epic fantasy centered around sisters. I know this series will probably never be finished, and I’m okay with that because there are plenty of other books for me to read, but I’d love to experience this first one over again knowing nothing about it going into it.
Those are my picks for this week! What do you think? What are some books you’d love to read again for the first time? Leave a note in the comments, I’d love to chat!
Way Too Fantasy 
Guilty Pleasures! I think that was my first LKH book too. I fell in love with the characters and their complex relationships, so good😁
Yeah, I adored those early Anita Blake books. So much fun. 🙂
Yea…I wish I could reread HP for the first time too 🙂 It was such a wonderful feeling when I first read the story.
Exactly!
I’d love to re-read HP again! Although I think having grown up with it and reading it as a kid helped make it as special as it is..but I would just love to re-experience that magic for the first time again! Good Omens would be a fun one to re-read for the first time again, also.
Yes exactly about Harry Potter. Well, I didn’t start it until I was in my early 20s but it was still a magical experience!
Yes, Harry Potter is a good one! Though it’s been such a long time since I read the books, when I started reading them to my daughter for bedtime reading last year, it did feel like the first time because I’d forgotten so much of the details, lol 😀
Every once in a great while that will happen to me where I forget most of the details but only vaguely remember how a book made me feel. I think that’s one of the reasons I wanted to start writing reviews, LOL. Glad you were able to re-experience it!
When I saw the post, the first book I thought of was Good Omens. Lol
Great minds think alike 🙂
HP is definitely a good one for this week’s theme.
I’d also like to reread Good Omens – to be honest it wasn’t my favourite book, I liked it but I didn’t like it as much as I expected somehow. A reread could be in order.
Lynn 😀
I think Good Omens is one of those books that you either completely love or it’s just ‘meh’ LOL. If I had to read it again for the first time I hope I’d still love it as much. 😀
At the time I read it I’d read a few Gaiman and loved them and read a couple of Pratchett and loved them and so I think my expectations were really high, ridiculously so. I recall reading it and thinking that I liked it but preferred their individual books instead. To be honest I imagine I would feel differently if I read it again.
It’s true, expectations can really color one’s enjoyment of something. I try not to get hyped for things anymore but sometimes I can’t help it. Some of the best reads I’ve had are ones where I didn’t know much going into it.
Good Omens for SURE! I think I would also love to read House of Salt and Sorrows, The Storm Crow, and Ace of Shades for the first time again… those reading experiences hold special place in my heart.
Those others sound great too, haven’t had a chance to get to them yet, hopefully soonish. Really looking forward to House of Salt and Sorrows!
Ahh I wish I could read Harry Potter and good omens for the first time again too!!
They would be excellent to experience all over again, especially HP with that sense of wonder and magic. 🙂