Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time

Thank you to Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting/organizing Top Ten Tuesday!

I love this topic!!! Rereading books is great, but often you can’t capture the same emotions and shock that you feel when you read a book for the first time. It was interesting to think about which books I’d choose, and the reasoning behind them. I wish there was some way we could actually do this though haha.

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Honey Girl

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• Author: Morgan Rogers
• Target audience: Adult
• Series info: Standalone
• Genre: Contemporary

It’s pretty rare that a book makes me cry, but Honey Girl did just that. As I said in my review, “… I think ultimately, I loved this one because it felt like a punch to the gut. In a good way? Like I was just reading it and was like oh my god this is me, this is me, this is me. I don’t cry from books (well, not since I was a kid). But this one got me. Not while I was reading, but afterwards because I just couldn’t stop thinking about it and how much it felt like reading about my life.” This book made me feel so seen, and I’d love to capture that feeling again.

This is a coming of age story about Grace, a woman who has just finished her astronomy PhD, but feels a bit lost in terms of life direction, family pressure, and a slew of other things. It is an incredibly relatable novel for anyone in their 20s, or really anyone experiencing “Uncertainty of the path ahead, questioning everything that you’ve already done, and feeling alone even if you have loving people surrounding you” (from my review).

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When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain

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• Author: Nghi Vo
• Target audience: Adult
• Series info: 2nd in a series of novellas (ongoing) – can be read as a standalone
• Genre: Fantasy

I’ve realized that one of my favorite types of books is original fairytales/myths. For example, a popular one is The Language of Thorns, which is a collection of original fairytales set in the world of the Grishaverse by Leigh Bardugo. I love that magical and sometimes ethereal feeling you get from reading things like that. That is definitely how I would classify Nghi Vo’s Singing Hills Cycle novellas. This is the second one, and though I absolutely loved both of the ones that are out, I think this one might be a slight favorite over the other. I have a review for it here if you want to read it! It would be lovely to be able to read this original myth/tale for the first time.

Goodreads Summary

The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover—a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty—and discover how truth can survive becoming history.

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Golden Son

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• Author: Pierce Brown
• Target audience: Adult
• Series info: 2nd in a series of six (ongoing)
• Genre: Science fiction

This series (the Red Rising series) is one of my favorite series of all time. This book. THIS BOOK. It built so well on the first, and elevated the series to a whole different level. It was tense and brutal and I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what would happen. That feeling doesn’t really happen when you read a book over and know what’s in store for the characters, so I really wish I could go in with a clean slate again. And that ENDING. Yes. I definitely want to read that for the first time again because….WOW. I can’t say anymore because of spoilers haha. But here’s the summary of the first book!

Goodreads Summary

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

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A Psalm for the Wild-Built

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• Author: Becky Chambers
• Target audience: Adult
• Series info: Standalone novella
• Genre: Science fiction

You know what I want more of? Cozy sci-fi. Like this one. This is a book that feels like a soothing cup of tea. Which is just funny since the main character is a tea monk. But yeah, it’s like a soft cozy blanket wrapped around your heart and soul. I think I’d get a lot of the same feeling if I reread it, but sometimes you just need something new and comforting, which is why I think it would be great to have another first go with this one.

Goodreads Summary

It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.

One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered.

But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.

They’re going to need to ask it a lot.

Becky Chambers’s new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?

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Gideon the Ninth

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• Author: Tamsyn Muir
• Target audience: Adult
• Series info: 1st in a quartet (ongoing)
• Genre: Science fiction/fantasy

This book is ridiculous in the best way. Through a reread, you pick up on SOOOOO many hints for the next book but it doesn’t hit you with that same punch as the first read. Am I repeating myself too much? Idk I feel like I’m saying the same things for all of these books haha. But yeah anyway, I want to be able to experience for the first time again the batshit ridiculousness and mystery and murder that is Gideon. I wonder if I’d be able to catch more of the meme/pop culture references – but probably not, I’d probably be distracted again by everything else going on haha.

Goodreads Summary

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead. 

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A Killing Frost

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• Author: Seanan McGuire
• Target audience: Adult
• Series info: 14th in series (ongoing)
• Genre: Urban fantasy

I want to read this for the first time for the same reasons I talked about for Golden Son. Seanan expands a lot on the lore of the fae world in this book, and ties together some strings that she’s hidden through the other books. It was honestly mind blowing for me how she pulled it together! And of course it left me with more questions. Since this is the 14th!! book, I’ll leave you with the summary of the first book in the series.

Goodreads Summary

October “Toby” Daye, a changeling who is half human and half fae, has been an outsider from birth. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the Faerie world, retreating to a “normal” life. Unfortunately for her, the Faerie world has other ideas…

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening’s dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant and renew old alliances. As she steps back into fae society, dealing with a cast of characters not entirely good or evil, she realizes that more than her own life will be forfeited if she cannot find Evening’s killer.

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This is How You Lose the Time War

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• Author: Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
• Target audience: Adult
• Series info: Standalone novella
• Genre: Science fiction

The reason I chose this book is simple. The prose is so damn gorgeous. I want to be able to freshly bask in the gloriously beautiful love story. A lot of people had a hard time with because the plot is kind of nebulous, but I think that’s the point. I thought the plot was interesting, but this is more about what you feel, and watching the two characters connect over the course of the novella. Since I can’t read it again for the first time, I hope some of you check it out and live that experience for me.

Goodreads Summary

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.

Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That’s how war works. Right?

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Here, There Be Dragons

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• Author: James A. Owen
• Target audience: Young adult
• Series info: 1st in a series of seven (completed)
• Genre: Fantasy

Have I ever mentioned that I love myths? And retellings? And that I also love literary allusions? Okay I probably haven’t mentioned that part yet. But I am now, and this book has them all. I want to read this for the first time now, because I think would catch a lot more of the little hints to other books and myths. I first read this when I was a teenager, and just hadn’t read as much. But now, I’m a lot more well versed in popular literary references, books, etc. So yeah, I think reading it as an adult would just be a lot more fun for me!

Goodreads Summary

“What is it?” John asked.
The little man blinked and arched an eyebrow.
“It is the world, my boy,” he said. “All the world, in ink and blood, vellum and parchment, leather and hide. It is the world, and it is yours to save or lose.”

An unusual murder brings together three strangers, John, Jack, and Charles, on a rainy night in London during the first World War. An eccentric little man called Bert tells them that they are now the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica — an atlas of all the lands that have ever existed in myth and legend, fable and fairy tale. These lands, Bert claims, can be traveled to in his ship the Indigo Dragon, one of only seven vessels that is able to cross the Frontier between worlds into the Archipelago of Dreams.

Pursued by strange and terrifying creatures, the companions flee London aboard the Dragonship. Traveling to the very realm of the imagination itself, they must learn to overcome their fears and trust in one another if they are to defeat the dark forces that threaten the destiny of two worlds.

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Middlegame

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• Author: Seanan McGuire
• Target audience: Adult
• Series info: 1st in a series (ongoing) – can be read as a standalone
• Genre: Fantasy

Yes, okay, I know I mentioned this book in my last post but I can’t stop thinking about it okay? This is one of those books where I know that rereading it will be an amazing experience, and I’m sure I’ll pick up on a lot, BUT that first reading experience is just irreplaceable. My mind was totally blown through the whole book. I’d love to be able to feel all of those intense emotions all over again for the first time. Here’s a quick summary of the book from my review (which is here).

“This book is centered around a boy (Roger) and a girl (Dodger). They are twins with very special abilities: Roger is extremely gifted at words and language, and Dodger is a math genius. Oh, and they can also speak to each other in their minds. As they grow up, they are each other’s imaginary friends. Middlegame follows the two of them as the grow from small kids to adults, and explores how their powers grow and how their lives intersect with each other. For most of their lives, they don’t realize that they are the alchemical creation of James Reed (a VERY old alchemist who is an alchemical creation himself), who intends for them to be his tools to reach the Impossible City.”

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Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too

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• Author: Jomny Sun
• Target audience: Adult
• Series info: Standalone
• Genre: Science fiction

So I mentioned soothing books right? Well, this is definitely a heartwarming and soothing book. Especially right now, I think a lot of us could use a book that functions as a hug. So again, I hope you all go out and read this one so I can pretend I’m reading it with you for the first time. And I’ll just sit over here rereading it, capturing as much magic out of it as I can.

Goodreads Summary

Here is the unforgettable story of Jomny, a lonely alien who, for the first time ever, finds a home on our planet after learning that earthlings can feel lonely too. Jomny finds friendship in a bear tired of other creatures running away in fear, an egg struggling to decide what to hatch into, an owl working its way to being wise, a tree feeling stuck in one place, a tadpole coming to terms with turning into a frog, a dying ghost, a puppy unable to express itself, and many more.

Through this story of a lost, lonely and confused alien finding friendship, acceptance, and love among the creatures of Earth, we will all learn how to be a little more human. And for all of us earth-bound creatures here on this planet, we can all be reminded that sometimes, it takes an outsider to help us see ourselves for who we truly are.

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What do you think you would choose for this topic?