Books I reread, and why

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

This is probably my most reread book, and my reasons for rereading overlap the most between pleasure and professionalism, though it's safe to say they still lean more toward pleasure. I read the trilogy about every other year, and I find that it grows richer the more I know about the real medieval literature and myth that inspired it.

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

I haven't been back to this one in a few years, but it is still the standard against which I measure character development and tightness of plot.

The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende

I've read this one twice, and I once tried (unsuccessfully) to read it in Spanish. Both times were purely for pleasure.

Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card

I read this one a couple times when I was in middle school and high school, and then again recently, and it is one of those books that, as Spacks notes, shows its literary greatness with every reread. There are lots of science fiction novels, like The Hunger Games, that are spellbinding for a while but which lose a lot of their luster on a rereading, but every time I read Ender's Game, I am more impressed. (Now that I think about it, it has a lot of interesting similarities to The Hunger Games.) I have always read this book for pleasure, but my most recent rereading has convinced me that this book might be worth devoting some research to.

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle

Another childhood favorite that I've seen pop up in surprising places lately. Only a couple weeks ago, I read some of a new graphic novel version of the book. A pleasure read.

To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee

I read this book three or four times in high school, but I haven't read it lately. It doesn't have the impact for me that it used to, and now when I read it, I am reading for the sentimental love of favorite scenes and narration and the fond memories of past readings.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

This one started out as a pleasure read, but subsequent rereadings have been mainly professional. I've been rereading it aloud this semester with Song School for an entirely new professional purpose: polishing my pronunciation of Middle English.

Beowulf

Probably my most reread professional book. I gave it one cursory reading in high school, reread it in college, mostly out loud because I liked how the words sounded, again in college for a class, and then again for another class. Over break, I will be reading it again in preparation for my Beowulf course with Rob Fulk next semester, and then over the course of the spring, I will read it in Old English with that class. This is an especially interesting rereading because it will be the first time I have read it entirely in its original language, so in some ways it will be a first reading as well as a rereading.

"Wulf and Eadwacer"

"The Wanderer"