Happy Monday! …. If there is such a thing. Frankly, I have my doubts, but if there’s one thing that can always make a crummy day better, it’s thinking about my favorite books. And since it’s November, I’m already starting to think about some of my favorite winter rereads.
Like many readers, I find comfort in familiarity, in revisiting stories over and over again. And each year, I find myself thinking of and (almost always — some years are crazier than others) reaching for my tried and true favorites.
The Princess & the Goblin by George MacDonald is probably top of this list. It’s a short but delightful read, full of humor and wisdom and just a little bit of that spookiness you want on a dark and wintry night. I think I mentioned in last week’s Roundup that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince is my dad’s “reread so you don’t go bad” book. Well, The Princess & the Goblin is mine. Some of MacDonald’s ideas have aged better than others, of course, but he’s still one of my favorites, and his words and imagery never fail to enchant me. And spending time with Princess Irene and the miner boy Curdie is always a pleasure. I don’t always fit in the sequel, The Princess & Curdie, but I think I’d like to this year, since it’s been so long, and I miss Lina!
James Hilton’s Random Harvest is another story I want around Christmas time and the new year. It’s not a Christmas-y story at all, really, but I first read it around that time of year, and it really is the perfect tale for a cold night by the fire. I never tire of watching Charles Rainier grasp for the pieces of his lost years and wrestle with his relationship to the present, to his “real life.” And then, of course, I get to rewatch the enchanting 1940 adaptation with Greer Garson and Ronald Colman – an adaptation that compliments the original text beautifully.
In a similar vein of recovering lost time, I also find myself rereading Persuasion almost every year. It’s one of Jane Austen’s shortest novels, of course, which makes it easy to fit in, and the gentle tone and the themes of personal seasons makes it perfect for autumn and winter. And after almost every read, I come away with a different view of the novel — still considering it excellent, of course, but from a different angle. It’s one of those books that not only ages well but ages with you well, almost like a yardstick by which you can measure yourself each year.
And last of all, because surely you haven’t heard me go on about it enough yet — Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini! When I’m in the mood for a good swashbuckling adventure with lots of dramatic scenes, this is what I reach for. Watching André-Louis slip in and out of trouble, always with a snide remark or a witty retort, never fails to amuse me. And last year, I finally got my hands on the sequel, Scaramouche the King-Maker, so I’ll probably try to squeeze that in this winter, too! It’s a very different book, of course, but that’s part of what I liked about it, I think — where Scaramouche races by, The King-Maker takes its time and really digs in, making you like André more… and less.
But what about you, my fellow serial rereaders? Are there any books you find yourself picking up every year? And what are they, so I can read them, too?!
–b
Book It With Becca 