Tuesday, April 18, 2017

O is for “Ones I Read Over and Over”

Welcome to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays), I’ll be sharing a short bookish memory with you.

When I was a kid and young teen, I didn’t like new books. Actually, child-me didn't like books at all, but I often had them forced upon me. When I did read, I preferred to read the same story multiple times. I’d read a book to the end, flip it over, and start at the beginning again. My favorite novels were about nature, adventures, violent deaths, and people who didn’t fit into mainstream society.

Kids learn from repetition and are comforted by routine. That’s why they’re voracious rereaders. (And re-watchers, and re-askers of the same questions). Here are some of the books that young me read over and over:







Were you a rereader as a kid? Which books did you read over and over?






32 comments:

  1. I don't often read the same books over and over, but I remember reading a couple of books as a child over and over--one about Daniel Boone and another about Squato. As an adult, I know I have read Hesse's "Siddhartha" and Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" several times.

    http://sagecoveredhills.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-letter-o-orion-and-bit-about.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I liked books about historical figures when I was a kid, too. I read a lot of stories about Arctic explorers.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  2. I don't recall re-reading books when I was a kid but now as an adult, I actually do. of all the books you've listed above, Harry Potter is the only book I read, well, I read the whole series. I couldn't even get past the first few chapters of the golden compass, I guess that book isn't for me.

    have a lovely day.

    ~ my O post - Can you write 3 sentences about yourself without 'O'?~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Golden Compass is a tough one. For a kids’ book, it’s pretty dense.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  3. I don't remember rereading books when I was younger. I did love The Outsiders though :) My kids love the same books and we reread those daily.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ve heard a lot of parents say that their kids want to hear the same bedtime story every single night.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  4. I reread my Enid Blyton books a lot as a kid. I'd get lost in them however many times I read them. By the time I was 11 I was rereading Sweet Valley High a lot too! I was thirty when I first read Harry Potter but that and Stephen King's IT are my favourite rereads. I'd like to reread other things more but need to reduce the tbr first!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I try to reread one book a month, but I always feel guilty because my TBR pile is bigger than I’d like.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  5. I re-read My Friend Flicka, Anne of Green Gables, and The Secret Garden over and over again. I loved reading any kind of horse stories over and over, including Smoky, the Cowhorse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I loved horse stories as a kid, too! My favorite was Black Beauty.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  6. I LOVE re-reading. And The Golden Compass is one that I've re-read a bunch too :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want to reread The Golden Compass as an adult, but my dog threw up on my childhood copy, and I haven’t gotten a new one.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  7. Yep, definitely a rereader. The Outsider and Bridge to Terebithia were on my list. Some of the Little House on the Prairie books. Stephen King. Many others.

    O is for Owl Worship

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read and reread a lot of Stephen King books, too. He’s one of my favorite authors.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  8. You have me thinking about re-reading books. My son will re-read books dozens of times. Me, never. We've had several conversations about that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think a lot of people grow out of rereading. I hardly ever reread now that I’m an adult.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  9. I still enjoy reading the same books over and over.

    Melissa @ My Creatively Random Life

    ReplyDelete
  10. I read Jane Eyre over and over again. It was over my head but I didn't care, because I could relate to Jane in the beginning of the story when she was being bullied by the little boy she lived with. That, and her active imagination.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read Jane Eyre for the first time as an adult, but I could relate to her, too.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  11. I re- read a TON when I was a kid, I would read the same favorites over and over. I kinda miss those days, it was nice to revisit old book friends. :) Never thought of it like that, but yeah maybe the routine/ repetition was comforting.

    I always thought Island of the Blue Dolphins looked cool (and that title is so evocative) but I never did read it. Never read The Outsiders either although I loved the 80's movie ha ha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Island of the Blue Dolphins was one of my favorites. A girl gets a whole island to herself. That was my childhood dream.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  12. I love your theme. I could do this one next year because I read constantly. When I was a kid, I didn't do much re-reading, I was always after something new . . well, except for Hiedi, and Anne of Green Gables, and maybe some of the best Nancy Drew mysteries. Except for Alice, I think your favorites were published after I became an "adult", but I have read 8 of them at least once. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  13. As a very small child, I loved to read and re-read my collection of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales. It was an exquisite book. Now, my reading world is so much bigger, I want to read EVERYTHING, but I also think it's in my nature. I no longer re-watch movies or shows either, and I want to visit new places for my vacations too.
    Sam @ WLABB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same here. Now that I’m an adult, I want to see and do NEW things.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  14. I re-read books now but I didn't as a kid. There was never a shortage of books at my house so I always just moved on to the next. The only exception would be the choose your own adventure books. I would read those over and over trying to get my desired outcome. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. When I was a kid, The Baby-Sitters Club books came out once a month. So I would devour it in like, 2 hours, and then reread the series over and over, continuously haha. I re-read everything then. Now, I don't have as much time, but I still like to get at least one Hunger Games series reread in every year!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I don't really re-read any more (except in school or parenting situations), but I re-read all the time as a kid. Lots of classics--The Secret Garden,The Little Princess, Alice in Wonderland, Little Women, Eight Cousins, Bambi, Anne of Green Gables. Also books by Judy Blume, E. Nesbit, Joan Aiken, Madeline L'Engle, and many more. I actually have a Goodreads shelf called "Read Repeatedly As a Kid."

    I picked up The Body of Christopher Creed to read the other day, but it felt like it might be too horror-ish. Is it? I know you like that stuff, but I don't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It’s been a lot of years since I reread Christopher Creed, but I don’t remember it being too scary. There’s a slightly creepy scene with some dead bodies at the end. Mostly, it’s a missing person mystery. The kids are trying to find out what happened to their classmate.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  17. I was the same. I was a crazy big rereader as a child and teen. I loved nothing more than borrowing the same books from the library and revisiting old friends. It's why my HP books are so well read. I also reread LJ Smith's Secret Circle books more times than I can count. Since I began blogging rereading has fallen by the wayside and it makes me sad. It's something I've started doing again and I remember that joy it brought me when I was younger so it's something I like to do more of. A Book which can hold up to a second read is a book I want in my life and on my shelf.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I loved Holes and The Outsiders when I read them as a kid. And Bridge to Terebithia as well. I need to reread them all at some point, and actually buy my own copies (I borrowed them from a library then) for my future D:

    ReplyDelete
  19. My kids read books over and over and over again, but I don't remember doing that when I was a kid. Maybe I'm just forgetting?

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete