Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time
Ramblings about the books so good that I want to erase the memory and experience the euphoria all over again for the first time.
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There are a handful of feelings I wish I could bottle up forever: the golden warmth of sunlight pooling on your skin when abroad, when somebody tells you they love you for the first time, bringing home your first pet, and getting home after a long day to take your bra off, claw-clip your hair and sink into loungewear with a book in hand. Another is the feeling of having read and discovered a book so good that you wish you could wave a wand, erase the memory, and experience it all over again for the first time.
This year, I’ve been on a mission to read everything that was unread on my shelves and, in turn, keep up a book-buying ban throughout 2024. Both of these felt impossible back in January, but I’m proud to report that it’s September and I’ve stuck to both of these! In fact, I think there’s only a handful or more of unread books left in my bookcase and I haven’t purchased a single book since October 2023. In doing so, I’ve also revisited a lot of old favourites – sometimes nothing beats a comfort read. And yet, when you delve back into an old-favourite fictional world, something feels different. We’re uncovering new parts of the story, applying fresh meaning to something already seen. Reading any book for the first time comes with endless golden feelings: getting to know a character, watching a world come to life before your eyes, paying witness to budding romances and blossoming relationships. It’s just unbeatable.
Here are just some of the books that I wish I could read again for the first time.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
I’m currently rereading this book, which is what prompted me to turn my bookstagram carousel into this longer Substack piece. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue completely stole my heart a few years ago, taking my breath away at multiple points of the story. In a moment of desperation back in 1714, a young woman makes a bargain to live forever, cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Her life is magical and magnificent, filled with dazzling adventure and the everyday mundane, playing out across centuries and continents. How far will Addie go to leave her mark on the world? 300 years later, Addie comes across a young man in a bookstore – and he remembers her name.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a captivating, emotional and brilliant fantasy fiction. I read this furiously over the course of a week and instantly wished I could do it all over again. One for the sentimental hearted, nostalgic, and romantic reader.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Sometimes it feels like all I do is talk about Pachinko. This multigenerational family saga is set in South Korea and Japan, following one family as it navigates pre- and post-war. I sort of remember this being one of the first big books I picked up in my post-academic years, and that felt like a big deal to me. Since it is huge, Pachinko really lets you sit with the family and develop a deep emotional resonance with almost all of the characters. We start in the early 1900s: Sunja, the teenage daughter of a fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger who promises her everything she could dream of. She discovers that she is pregnant, her lover married, and instead decides to marry a sickly minister, leaving home for the first time. What ensues is a multi-generational family saga full of love, loyalty, sacrifice, sanctities and passion. Lee takes us from fisherman shores to street markets, pachinko parlours to universities. I’ve read this book twice and loved it even more the second time, but I desperately wish I could experience the twists, turns and emotional pull again for the very first time.
Jade City by Fonda Lee
This trilogy is what cemented my newfound love for science fiction and fantasy. Set in Janloon, the Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that have a monopoly on the island of Kekon, where rare magical jade is produced. While once the Green Bone clans of jade-wearing warriors once protected Kekon from invasion, now it is a post-war metropolitan island full of vicious politics, high-stakes commerce and magic. I absolutely love the complex family saga that deftly weaves through a Godfather-style mafia, science fiction/fantasy epic. I have an incredibly deep love for all of the Kaul family, and can’t wait to revisit this series again.
Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
I read this as a kid and I’m happy(?) that it still stands up in my adulthood. Growing up British-born Chinese meant that there was an added layer of anxiety, nerves and cautiousness in shared spaces: at primary school, I knew I was different, because I was treated as such. In Noughts & Crosses, two children become friends at school. Sephy is a Cross – the dark-skinned ruling class – while Callum is a Nought – a ‘colourless’ member of a class that were once slaves to the Crosses. In their world, Noughts and Crosses don’t mix, and their friendship is at threat. Amidst prejudice and violence, young love blossoms between Sephy and Callum. Can they find a way to be together against all odds?
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Going into Piranesi plot-blind is the best way to read this book and, for that reason, I absolutely wish I could read this again for the first time. Not only is it a five-star read and beloved in the sunbeamsjess Book Club, it was a magical, surreal and sparkling read for me. I devoured it in just days and was completely enthralled by how the rich prose slowly reveals a beautiful vignette and commentary on what living means. You begin the book fumbling around in the dark for all the best reasons, and I think I’ll struggle to ever properly compare this to another book.
Pew by Catherine Lacey
I have similar thoughts about Pew as I do Piranesi in that it’s the confusion, overwhelm and untangling of what’s happening that makes the book so great. ‘Pew’ is somebody of unknown age, race, nationality, religion or gender, who suddenly appears in a small town in the American South, asleep on a church pew, one day. A family takes him in and this short little novel is a curious little fiction that explores what it means to be a person, to be human, with no identifiable features about one.
Which books would you love to read all over again for the first time? And, will you be picking any of these up?
I haven’t read any of these…so I’m excited!!!
most of these are on my tbr! i have had addie larue on my shelf for a couple of years and i never find the right time to read it, but i know i need to pick it up. i have also been dying to get a copy of piranesi because everyone says it’s life changing