10 reasons to revisit a book

One of my most favorite blogs, The Book Spy, recently came up with a top ten list of reasons why books make us angry. It got me thinking about books that merit a revisit or re-read. Now, I'm not going to pretend I'm as well read as TBS, but there are a few times I've finally gone back and given a book a second chance. This is a RARE occurrence, because my memory is such that I sometimes get bored rereading old favorites. Here, though are ten reasons to give a book a second (or third or fourth or seventh) read.

1. It's your favorite. I love Spindle's End by Robin McKinley. The world she created, the characterization of the animals, the language, the story in general. I love it soo much.

2. You couldn't get through it years ago. I started reading Jane Eyre when I was about twelve and eventually gave up. When I was eighteen I tried again, loved it, and then ended up writing my senior paper about the aspects of Gothic Romance in the book. Describing the purple, bloated figure appearing in Jane's room was quite the crowd pleaser.

3. It made you feel deeply. Any emotion. I read and loved Daughter of the Forest by Juliette Marillier when I was seventeen. So much pain. So much sacrifice. So much beauty. The Six Swans remains one of my favorite folktales (if that says anything about me). Parts of it pretty much make me break down into a blubbering mass of sadness, but it's beautiful. Catia and I differ in our preferences in the trilogy. She likes the second book where the heroine does a lot of disobedience and making her own way, but I prefer the story of one woman's sacrifice for her brothers, at extreme expense to herself. Every now and then, I have the need to just feel those feelings again.

4. You know you liked it but can't remember any of the details. Some of the Chronicles of Narnia books are like this. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, for example, I can't remember anything about. A lot of the books in that series leave me hazy (Apart from The Horse and His Boy, because it is my favorite). It's a series I return to every few years.

5. Tradition. Every year at Christmas, I read Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I have it spaced out so that I finish one stave every five days, ending on Christmas Day with the final "God Bless us, every one." The cliche is true here, I get something new out of it every year. I love the way Dickens wrote this book.

6. The subtext went over your head when you first read it, but now you are older, wiser, and appreciate the message behind it. I loved A Wrinkle in Time as a child, but I know now that it's about so much more. After I'm finished with Sense and Sensibility (which I'm LOVING) I'll give it another peruse.

7. The library only had the abridged version. I read the abridged version of Les Miserables when I was in high school. Again, loved it. I remember reading it during English class while the rest of the students studied for the final from which I was exempt. The bell rang and my teacher came over and jokingly slammed the book closed. I looked up at her with the saddest eyes and said "But Eponine's dying!" Really it was excellent and the abridged version did give the gist of the story, but I want to try again. I'm also working through Don Quixote, so perhaps I'll just have to give it a glance when I get through it. Or juggle two humongous books at the same time. Yes, I think that's what will happen. This also applies to reading the children's version.

8. You read it, didn't like it, but LOVED everything else you read by that author. Emma falls under this category. I read Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and am in the middle of Sense and Sensibility. Love them all. But Emma was a bit of a slog for me back when I was 17 (I read a LOT of books that year, which is funny because I was dancing six days a week, taking a dual credit course, taking an AP course, taking Chemistry, and involved in drama competitions. No wonder I never slept). I know Austen's goal in writing Emma was to create an unlikeable heroine, but I've liked the story (especially in the latest BBC version) and hopefully I'll appreciate it more now!

9. You miss the characters/world/story. Another reason why I re-read Spindle's End so often. I feel like they're my friends.

10. You didn't like it, but people whose taste you trust loved it. This has convinced me to consider giving certain books another try. Perhaps I was in a bad mood or distracted, and that's not the book's fault. They deserve a second chance. Never Bartleby the Scrivener, though. I prefer not to.

What do you think? What different reasons do you have for revisiting a book?

Bye bye, peekaboo buddy.

Yesterday was my last day at work. After a year and a half working with these amazing children, I cleaned out my office, distributed my goodbye letter, and bid farewell to the teachers, and hugged as many of the children as I could goodbye.
My peekaboo buddy gave me such a hug. He hugged me, then he put his knees on mine and before I knew it, he was wrapped around me and refused to let go. I got to do my favorite thing, hugging him and then bending over so his hair ALMOST touched the floor, then bringing him back up and spinning. Toddlers are precious. His mom hugged me (she's not a touchy feely person) and thanked me for everything I'd done for him. I was deeply sincere when I looked her in the eyes and said "It was my pleasure."
My toddlers (well, not MINE, but yes, mine) made a tote bag for me with their hand prints on it. And I got to spend a lot of time with them that day, with them coming up and tapping me on the shoulder, saying "Hi, Kate!" So proud of themselves, some of them, that they could say my name.

Two of the teachers offered to give me references. I got so many hugs. So many words of advice and encouragement. "You'll find your way." "You'll be so successful in whatever you do!" So much love and encouragement.

Goodbyes are the hardest things for me. I am great at moving in, adjusting, becoming happy with my "now," but goodbyes are the hardest. I spent the whole day going in and out of tears. One of the moms saw that as I was leaving and she said "Well, one chapter ends and another begins." I'm not sure if that helped at all...because I started crying again.

The new beginning had better start soon.

Open letter to choreographers

Please please please someone choreograph an artful routine to Songbird by Fleetwood Mac. And then put it on Youtube so I can watch it whenever I want. Little sixteen year olds showing off their technique does not count as art. Do the music justice. (This goes for all dances.)

oooommmmmggggggg

Pray HARD for this application going out if you are a praying person. This job is exactly what I want to do.

My life in pictures...in random order.

I realize it's been a while since I last posted. A lot of my life is documented on my iphone camera and then made so interesting and beautiful through the instagram application. I thought I'd share a few bits of my life over the past two months. I was invited to Lady G's home for their family Easter feast. I love that family so much and I was so honored to be there. Her children put together an Easter egg hunt for us in the living room. Perfection. I also got to go to my church's Easter egg hunt the Saturday before Easter. Like good Methodists, we had an amazing potluck spread. I say that if it's a holiday, it's not considered gluttony. So, I found out that my department gives awards to students. I found this out because I was selected to receive one! I find out what it's for on Thursday at the Italian Feast! I made one of the best parking jobs ever in my life, and had to commemorate it with a victory note. (No, I left before they returned, so if someone got keyed, it wasn't my car!) Sometimes I like to sit in the driveway and listen to the radio with the engine off just for a little bit. It's getting too hot to do that now. My church remembered I was graduating and put me in the prayer bulletin. I'd like it if they prayed for me to get a job, too...Relaxing in my room. I love this room. This is my graduation dress. You might remember it from my dye day I stole a rose (it smelled so wonderful) and the Beast let me pass. Penny officially tested heartworm-free! She likes to sit in the chair at the vet's office. One of my favorite things about Texas in the Spring: The Bluebonnets came! I had the most amazing lunch of my life followed by the most amazing dessert of my life. Penny and I went home for spring break and got to spend some quality laziness time. Brother, Father and I went to the zoo and I got to see my friends the otters. Using my key at home for the first time since JANUARY! I went to the Save Texas Schools rally at the capital. Also attended the Austin Kite Festival. By myself, but still good. Snuggled with my pup while writing the last big paper of my graduate career.

Would you believe it? This is my last real week of school stuff and then I graduate in less than 20 days. I feel like I just started this madness and now it's over! Yes, I'm looking for jobs, but no I have no real leads yet. Fingers crossed, friends!

Too much exposition...

Sometimes I imagine that I'm in a movie. I have the voiceover and background music in my head as I open my door, put the dishes away, and begin to make tuna salad. Great opening for a movie, right? It would probably have some peppy music in the background, like "Unwritten" by Natasha Beddingfield, or whatever the popular equivalent of the day happens to be. Of course I'd have to put in some random kicky dance moves to make myself appealing to the audience and let them know that this is a happy movie. Alternately, "Right as Rain" by Adele could play to show that this is an empowering movie and I'm a little less naive than I would be with the previous song. In fact, if this blog entry were the voiceover for the opening scene in my movie, I'd switch right there, and then probably switch back to show that yes, I'm strong, but mostly upbeat.

And then there would be a lot of scenes with no music at all. These would be hilariously mundane, like when I was in the library and discovered I was too short for the books on the shelf. I found the little stool thing and kicked it in short bursts across the aisle until I could reach and get them.

Random scenes like that. Like at church were I'm sitting next to the new guy and trying not to look interested. Or when I come in to the toddler room and they all yell "KAAAAATE!!!" Penny would probably be in a lot of them, probably for comedic relief or to serve as an outside observer making commentary on my actions through her eye rolls.

These are all scenes that build appreciation and understanding of the main character. These are all scenes that take place before something big happens, before the plot line starts turning up. Before the main character is swept up on some adventure or meets that special/interesting/horrible person who makes life wonderful/a new experience/just awful, leading the character to live life differently.

I haven't exactly had that yet in my movie. My initial incident hasn't happened, there is no rising action or subplot. Just a lot of exposition right now.

Or is it all 'initial incidents'? Is it all rising actions, a series of climaxes and subplots and denouements. Will I only know the story of the movie of my life when it's all over, in like 65, 70 years? I'd like to know at least what genre it is.

Whoa...

So, I just applied for two jobs in Hawai'i. Yeah, THAT Hawai'i. I think that's the first out of state application I've filled out so far. I could definitely do Hawai'i.
The thing is, I'd apply for these jobs if they were anywhere, so I really would like to get one of them. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Also, I got 19 pageviews from Iran today. Feel free to make your presence known!