Once for the Unwritten Jewish Morning
The Once and Future King, by T.H. White (reread)
I read and reread this book so many times as a kid that I can't even reasonably estimate how many. Fewer than fifty, probably; fewer than a hundred, almost certainly. A sort of bell curve of rereading that peaked between the ages of 9 and 12. Then when I went to college I didn't bring a copy with me, and a few years passed when I didn't read it at all. And then I became afraid that if I reread it, it couldn't possibly be so marvelous and beloved as I remembered it (this has happened to other childhood favorites to greater and lesser degrees) .... so I avoided rereading it again. Then just recently I began to pine for it and eventually the pining outweighed the avoiding. It was absolutely the book I was in the mood to read, as marvelous as (if more sad than) I remembered it, and I'm so glad I have it back. It has flaws, but they are dear flaws, and I don't love it any less for them. I spent so much time with Wart as a child that *this* particular rereading was as much about excavating my childhood memories of the story - well, and about discovering things like "oh SAY, this WAS published in 1939, wasn't it?" - as it was about the story itself, and so I will probably reread at least the first part of the book again soon. (Also the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings cycle, which I never stopped rereading, but haven't revisited for a couple of years now. I would like very much for someone to read the Hobbit out loud to me...)
(78/200)
One for the Morning Glory, by John Barnes (reread)
When I read this book more than a dozen years ago, it seemed to be a perfect book, one of a very few I would name as such (and only after I'd reread them to be sure). In this case, my judgment stands.
(79/200)
The Unwritten, Volume 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity, by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
If this keeps up the way it started, it may become my favorite current comics series. Right now I'd put it above Fables. And y'all know I love me some Fables. Really smart, the horrific parts are really unpleasant, and the literary references scratch all the right itches. Also I completely adore Peter Gross' visual rhythms and have done since Books of Magic. I ought to go back and try Lucifer from the beginning, I think. Also, wtf have I never really read Hellblazer when Ennis and Carey both had long runs on it and I'm generally fond of John Constantine? And why did I start the first half of the first TPB of Alan Moore's run of Swamp Thing and then put it down and read something else even though I really really liked what I was reading? And isn't it just about time for a Preacher reread?? *is a hapless Vertigo fangirl, and should just embrace it*
(80/200, 7/100)
Black White and Jewish, by Rebecca Walker (reread)
Reread this for book club and fell in love with it all over again. Really looking forward to hearing what my beloved book club ladies thought about it. Didn't make me nearly as mad at Alice Walker this time because my attention was caught by other things. It's fragmentary and present tense and skips around in time and other things I really don't like in a narrative except when I love them. Love.
(81/200)
I read and reread this book so many times as a kid that I can't even reasonably estimate how many. Fewer than fifty, probably; fewer than a hundred, almost certainly. A sort of bell curve of rereading that peaked between the ages of 9 and 12. Then when I went to college I didn't bring a copy with me, and a few years passed when I didn't read it at all. And then I became afraid that if I reread it, it couldn't possibly be so marvelous and beloved as I remembered it (this has happened to other childhood favorites to greater and lesser degrees) .... so I avoided rereading it again. Then just recently I began to pine for it and eventually the pining outweighed the avoiding. It was absolutely the book I was in the mood to read, as marvelous as (if more sad than) I remembered it, and I'm so glad I have it back. It has flaws, but they are dear flaws, and I don't love it any less for them. I spent so much time with Wart as a child that *this* particular rereading was as much about excavating my childhood memories of the story - well, and about discovering things like "oh SAY, this WAS published in 1939, wasn't it?" - as it was about the story itself, and so I will probably reread at least the first part of the book again soon. (Also the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings cycle, which I never stopped rereading, but haven't revisited for a couple of years now. I would like very much for someone to read the Hobbit out loud to me...)
(78/200)
One for the Morning Glory, by John Barnes (reread)
When I read this book more than a dozen years ago, it seemed to be a perfect book, one of a very few I would name as such (and only after I'd reread them to be sure). In this case, my judgment stands.
(79/200)
The Unwritten, Volume 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity, by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
If this keeps up the way it started, it may become my favorite current comics series. Right now I'd put it above Fables. And y'all know I love me some Fables. Really smart, the horrific parts are really unpleasant, and the literary references scratch all the right itches. Also I completely adore Peter Gross' visual rhythms and have done since Books of Magic. I ought to go back and try Lucifer from the beginning, I think. Also, wtf have I never really read Hellblazer when Ennis and Carey both had long runs on it and I'm generally fond of John Constantine? And why did I start the first half of the first TPB of Alan Moore's run of Swamp Thing and then put it down and read something else even though I really really liked what I was reading? And isn't it just about time for a Preacher reread?? *is a hapless Vertigo fangirl, and should just embrace it*
(80/200, 7/100)
Black White and Jewish, by Rebecca Walker (reread)
Reread this for book club and fell in love with it all over again. Really looking forward to hearing what my beloved book club ladies thought about it. Didn't make me nearly as mad at Alice Walker this time because my attention was caught by other things. It's fragmentary and present tense and skips around in time and other things I really don't like in a narrative except when I love them. Love.
(81/200)