Standalones I Want to Reread

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about rereading books. I read a lot, but I can never seem to find time to revisit old favorites. There's so many amazing books that I want to read again, and since I don't want to forget about them, I figured that I might as well make a post about it.

This is actually only going to be the first post on this subject. I was going to put everything I want to reread in one post, but the list got too long. Way too long. There were enough series that I decided to make those into a separate post, which I'll publish in a week or so. 

For a book to be on this list, it has to fit a few requirements:

• I liked it the first time I read it (of course)
• It's either a standalone or the first book in a series for which I don't want to reread the other books
• I haven't read it for at least a year. This is the main reason that this list isn't entirely Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.

A lot of people make these kinds of lists at the beginning of the year for books they want to reread that year. I'm making no promises about that here. I probably won't read all of these in the near future, but don't be surprised if quite a few of these show up on my blog again within the next few months.

So, without further ado, my top priority rereads are: 
  

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain: I haven't read enough Mark Twain. He's one of my favorite authors - he's witty, he's clever, and his nonfiction is always an incredibly insightful commentary on the events of the time. This book was my first introduction to Twain, and I'd like to go back to it. I remember certain things clearly - the fence-painting scene in particular - but I don't actually remember the main plot. At all. Rereading this is long overdue.

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster: I'd never heard of this book before I read Dear Pen Pal, the third book in The Mother-Daughter Book Club series (one of my favorite middle grade series). Each of those books is centered on a different classic (others include Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, and Pride and Prejudice), and this one sounded interesting enough that I wanted to read it. I'm so glad I did. I remember absolutely adoring this book, but, once again, I remember very few of the plot details. This one will be fun! I also want to finally read the sequel, Dear Enemy, which I've somehow never gotten around to.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin: I have absolutely no excuse for not rereading this one soon. It's short enough that I could easily do it in a sitting. Unfortunately, I do remember the result of the mystery in this one, so it's not quite as much of a fresh look as it could be, but I think it'll be interesting to look for all of the clues that I missed the first time around.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: If things had gone as planned in my freshman lit class, I'd already have reread this. However, it turned out that nobody had done the summer reading because no one knew what it was, so we put Animal Farm in at the beginning of the year and pushed this aside. This one is another classic where I remember some of my favorite scenes but not the actual plot. I also want to see the movie for this one, but I'm not letting myself do that until I finally reread the book.

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen: I'll admit that I saw the movie before I read the book. In my defense, I didn't know that there was a book. And from what I remember...I actually liked the movie more. It set the story in the 1960s, where it worked incredibly well, and I always like historical settings. However, the movie aside, I remember loving this book. It's another quick read, so I'll probably get to it pretty soon. I also don't know many other people who've read this, so I might be using the reread as a way to bring it to more people's attention. It deserves it!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: I actually attempted a reread of this after I saw the movie (which, by the way, is probably the best adaptation of a book I've ever seen. Watch it.), but I only got halfway through. I did get far enough to be reminded of all of the reasons I loved the book in the first place, and I know that I'll love it just as much when I finally get around to reading it again.

The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson: I think that Maureen Johnson is one of the most underrated authors I've read. Her books all have so many good things in common, but what sticks out to me the most is her humor. If you want a small sampling of that, go follow her on Twitter. You won't regret it. I'd forgotten how much I like her books until I finally picked up The Name of the Star in October, when I fell in love all over again. I remember especially liking this one, so I really want to read it again.

Looking for Alaska by John Green: I can't believe that it's been nearly three years since I first read this book. I was a freshman! I remember most of this book so clearly that it's as if I read it a month ago. Even so, I know I'm missing a few vital things, and I'd like to see whether my perspective on it has changed at all now that I've (mostly) gone through high school myself. I know it'll still astound me, but I think it'll do that in different ways now, and I can't wait to see what they are.

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman: This is probably one of the funniest fiction books I've ever read. It has classic Terry Pratchett humor, which is always wonderful, and Neil Gaiman only adds to how wonderful it is. I actually don't remember the plot at all, other than it involving the apocalypse and "an angel who did not so much fall as saunter vaguely downwards." That's good, though, because I'll get to dive into it fresh.

Dodger by Terry Pratchett: This was one of the first Terry Pratchett books I read that wasn't Discworld. It's not even fantasy. It's a beautifully crafted historical fiction with a little bit of a mystery, and unfortunately, it's another one that I read so long ago that most of what I remember is how much I loved it. Picking this one up again is going to be a treat.

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West: This might be my favorite light-hearted contemporary ever, and the main reason why (besides the warm, fluffy, adorable romance that Kasie West is always so amazingly good at) is sarcasm. This book has sarcasm done completely right. The main characters have exactly my sense of humor, and that made me fly through this book. I want to get lost in something like that again. I think I'll save this one for a rainy day.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly: To me, this book screams "read while sitting outside on a hot summer day with a glass of lemonade." And I didn't get to do that the first time I read it, so now I want to. It's that simple. (This book actually has a sequel, but I read that much more recently, and it wasn't quite as amazing, so I'm treating it as a standalone.)

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson: This book broke my heart, and I've been recommending it to everyone since then. I want to read it more slowly than I did the first time around. I want to appreciate every word of that incredible writing. It's not for everyone, but I happened to love it. I want to try to see where all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, because the first time I was reading, I didn't even know that there was a puzzle. I want it to break my heart again, because maybe this time I'll be prepared for it.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: I can't believe that this is the first time I've mentioned this book on my blog. It's only one of my favorite books of all time! The thing with this book is that there's so many plot twists that I should have seen coming. Instead, I was surprised by all of them. This is another book that I started to reread a while ago, but only got about a hundred pages in. I actually did that with the audiobook, and it was incredible. I'd like to finish that instead of just reading the physical book again, but I'll probably have to wait until I'm done with school, since I'm going to want an entire day just to sit down and listen.


Have you read any of these? What did you think? What books are on your must-reread list? Do you reread at all? Tell me in the comments!