Top Ten Tuesday is the weekly meme hosted by the gals at THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH. Each week there's a new topic and a new list to work on. Don't forget to check in to see what books other bloggers are talking about today.
If you read this blog you know that I re-read my favorites all the time, most especially vintage mysteries, i.e. Agatha Christie, Rex Stout and others. But I also re-read all my favorite classics as well. So finding books I want to re-read that I haven't already, was a real struggle.
But I've managed to come up with ten that for one reason or another, I haven't re-read yet, though I definitely plan to.
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Top Ten Books I Want To Re-Read:
1) THE OLD SILENT by Martha Grimes
Actually this is one of my favorite Richard Jury books in the series - perhaps my number one favorite - (I even own a signed copy) but I've always been afraid that if I re-read it, I'll find fault. Richard Jury (love that name!) is such a melancholy character. I do wish one day Grimes would write a happy ending for him. But that's just me, I suppose.
2) SHADES OF GREY by Jasper Fforde
Oh definitely need to re-read this one, if only to grasp more of the detail in this tale of a world (sort of like ours) in which most of the population can only see in shades of grey. A departure from Fforde's Thursday Next books.
3) LOST IN A GOOD BOOK by Jasper Fforde
The second in the Thursday Next, Literary Detective, series set in an 'alternate' reality. Fforde has such an inventive and quick witted mind that his books can't possibly all be grasped in the first reading. Especially when the story is chock full of fantasy, puns, literary allusions and brief detours inside the actual pages of a book, oh, and occasionally a bit of time travel.
4) WELL OF LOST PLOTS by Jasper Fforde
The third in the Thursday Next books. Same reason as above.
5) SOMETHING ROTTEN by Jasper Fforde
The fourth in the Thursday Next books. Same reason as above and also because I want to meet up with Hamlet again. This time, Shakespeare's Danish prince is hiding out at a boarding house in the 'real' world - Swindon, Thursday Next's home town (in an alternate England). Hamlet's on the run from the Goliath Corporation which has outlawed all things Danish including Danish pastry.
6) A DIRTY JOB by Christopher Moore
Moore is another author who occasionally must be read twice if only because I'm always thinking he can't have meant that - can he? This man has a dangerous mind.
The story involves a newly bereaved father left alone to raise his little girl. Of course, this being a Moore book, the little girl just happens to be the grim reaper. What is a father to do?
7) THE ALIENIST by Caleb Carr
Carr's best book. A story set in the colorful and dangerous world of turn of the 20th century New York City. (Theodore Roosevelt is one of the characters.) A person unknown has been quietly killing off his victims, though the crimes have yet to be linked. The police are stumped simply because they're not aware that serial killing exists. It's up Dr. Lazlo Kreizler, a psychologist, or 'alienist' and his friend, reporter John Schuyler Moore to put the pieces of a deadly puzzle together.
8) MOHAWK by Richard Russo
From the back cover: "Mohawk, New York, is one of those small towns that lie almost entirely on the wrong side of the tracks."
This is Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Russo's first book. In it he explores the lives of Mohawk's blue collar citizens in his own inimitable style, a mixture of wit and sly, precise vision. Russo is about the only 'modern' literary writer who writes stories I actually want to read.
I read this a long time ago and I think it's time for me to visit the town of Mohawk once again.
9) CRYPTONOMICON by Neal Stephenson
Such an undertaking requires a large chunk of time. But boy, will it be worth it. I loved this monumental book the first time around and am prepared to love it again. I got lost in it the first time and I am prepared to get lost in it again.
10) THE BOOK OF Q by Jonathan Rabb
You've heard me talk about this title before. It's the book that DA VINCI CODE should have been if written by a talented writer. 'Q' is a story about conspiracy in the Catholic Church - a long hidden document, you know the routine. But oh so moody and intriguing, so intelligently worked out, so well-written.
I love your re-read list! All that Fforde and of course some Moore. Have you ever read Fforde's "Nursery Crime" series? It's a lot of fun
ReplyDeleteHi Red: Yes, I've read both Nursery Crime books. Love Jack Spratt!
ReplyDeleteI almost never reread books, so it's unlikely that I'll start doing so now. Mohawk, on the other hand, would not be a reread but a read, so I'm off to add it to my wishlist.
ReplyDeleteDeb: You will not be disappointed.
ReplyDelete(At least I hope not.) I love Russo's work.
I am glad you want to reread Jasper Fforde 'cause you brought him to my notice. Thanks! The cover jackets of the Fforde books make me want to pick them up right away. About rereading books I'll go with Deb Nance at Readerbuzz, for the reason there are so many writers/authors I haven't read yet. But playing catch with books is fun...
ReplyDeletePrashant: Oh, it's not easy to squeeze in the re-reads between the regular reads. But I do try.
ReplyDeleteRe-reading, for me, is like visiting old friends. :)
Jasper Fforde is wonderful. If you're just discovering his work, you're in for a treat.
Oh, no, lured off the path once again. Books unread, even unknown, to be taken up. I enjoy rereading, though it does, as mentioned, cut into the time for new material. But they are old friends, so many of them.
ReplyDeleteMarylinn: If I've lured you into reading even one of these books, then my work here is done. :)
ReplyDeleteTime is definitely not on our side.