2016 Reading Challenge: 10 Books or Series Worth Reading Again

Have any of you seen/done Modern Mrs. Darcy's Reading Challenges? In 2015, my sisters and mother and I formed a little e-mail reading club structured around the challenge, and it was a great way to connect over a shared passion even at great distances. (My oldest sister lives about eight hours away, which always makes me melancholy.)

Okay, honestly, my mom was the only one who really committed herself to the task, since some of us had babies or sick toddlers or new jobs to figure out. But even when we could only chime in every few months, it was a happy throw-back to the days we'd discuss Jane Austen over breakfast or Harry Potter over the dinner dishes.

We're trying again this year, with the new challenge that you can find here. Because I have a compulsive need to go in order, but because the list starts with "A Book Published This Year" which is rather difficult in January, we're going from the bottom up. :) Our first category will be "A book you've already read at least once."

In honor of that (and in case you'd like to join me in my reverse order challenge :), here are some of my favorite-est books to read over and over.

1. Anything by L. M. Montgomery

I have read Anne of Green Gables, or something from that series, every springtime since I was 10. My official read for the challenge will be Pat of Silver Bush, as that book plays rather a large role in my current manuscript.

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

Total honesty: these are great to re-read because you know when the long descriptions of the landscapes are coming, and you can skim. Sorry, Professor Tolkien. You know I love you.

3. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis

The best part of re-reading these now is reading them aloud to my girls and seeing their wonder at discovering the story for the first time.

4. Walking on Water, by Madeleine L'Engle

I re-read this "reflection on faith and art" in bits and pieces constantly. It's sunlight and water to a creator's soul.

5. Learning the Virtues that Lead You  to God, by Romano Guardini

This is my favorite spiritual book, full of practical advice as well as spiritual wisdom and psychological insight. (If you're into temperaments or personality types, I bet you'll love it.) As I'm nowhere near to perfect, I suspect I will be reading it over and over again all my life.

6. Jeeves and Wooster stories, by P. G. Wodehouse

Perhaps this seems like moving from the sublime to the mundane, but I've found that Wodehouse's humor is good for my soul. Only someone with a deep love for humanity could laugh so good-naturedly at its foibles. He teaches me to take myself less seriously.

7. All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot

This memoir of a Yorkshire farm veterinarian is hilarious and moving. For some reason, it always helps to put my own troubles into perspective.

8. The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom

Another memoir, this one by a courageous Dutch woman who was sent to a Nazi prison camp for sheltering Jews in her home. Paradoxically, it is one of the best anti-depressants out there, as you can't help but burst with gratitude, even for the troubles in your life, after reading it.

9. Daddy-Long-Legs, by Jean Webster

This young adult(ish) epistolary novel is still magical every time I read it. Really brilliant characterization and some laugh-out-loud moments.

10. It probably goes without saying, but... Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.

What books do you find yourself reading over and over? I'd love to discover them!

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