30 Day Challenge: Day 2

Day 2: A Book You've Read More Than Three Times

Honestly, I am not a big re-reader. When I put a book back on my shelf, it's there for a long time before it's looked at again. It isn't that I am not interested in falling back into a familiar book--I understand the comfort that readily returns when you pick up a favorite text for another run-through. I recall quotes easily, and when a book really speaks to me, I am more inclined to read specific passages over again rather than the entire work. Still there are a few titles that have piqued my interest enough to warrant more than a few reads.

The title I've read the most, however, is Roald Dahl's The BFG. I have memories of my grandmother's house: a giant bay window behind an elliptical, concentrically-colored rug, a glass of water, and the tiniest copy of The BFG. It's a book that resonates not just through Dahl's magic storytelling, but also fosters a sense of place that is impossible to detach from how much love I have for this title. From the first time Sophie steps through her window, to the ever-comical Frobscottle and Whizpoppers, and the climactic battle with The Fleshlumpeater: The BFG is one of those titles that bursts with creativity and wisdom--it's no wonder I turned out so well!

-Josh 

There are plenty of books I've read more than three times. Just like most people, I've read my favorite picture books a number of times. But today my book is from a middle-grade series that I grew up with, Redwall by beloved British author, Brian Jacques (1939-2011). 

I will never forget the first time I discovered the Redwall series. It was the summer after 4th grade and as usual, I was accompanying my dad on his errands into town. He always dropped me off at the library down the street from the bank. It was the perfect way to spend an hour---I'd find at least 5 books to take home with me and read for the next week. But this trip was different. It was the trip where I discovered a whole new world full of heroes and foes, great feasts and celebrations, triumphs and woes, all within a fantasy world of personified animals. I couldn't put Redwall down and when my dad came by to pick me up, it was the only book I checked out. That week I looked up the whole series and went back to check out the rest of the books the following weeks (and also won the summer reading contest because of them!). I loved the books so much that my mom bought me the newest paperback of the series each year after that. It's recommended that you read the books in the order they were published, but I read the books in chronological order according to the timeline within the story itself. So every time my mom bought me a new book, I just had to read the whole series over again with my newest book in its chronological place. (We all have our quirks don't we!?)

You can see I'm missing a few books in the series, but the the books I do have are more than worn from years of re-reading. I guess my next step is to go buy the rest...

-Desiree