In January, I launched The Rereading Project, a personal project for 2024 where I’m attempting to reread books from my childhood and early teen years that made a meaningful impact on my life as a reader.
In my original newsletter announcing the project goals, I wrote:
I’ve been a little nervous to put this out into the world because I know it means I’m opening myself up to a bit of accountability to commit to it and finish.
Well, friends, that’s what I’m currently struggling with. So far, I’ve managed to finish one book a month on schedule, my “extra credit” book, and read a few of The Babysitters Club books aloud to my daughter. On the surface, you could say it’s going well. Internally, I’m finding it difficult to prioritize reading from a set list of books. It’s the same reason I’ve never committed to a book club. I’m too much of a mood reader and making myself pick a book from a predetermined list feels a bit like punishment at the moment.
Here’s my mid-year status update.
Completed:
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Still to Read:
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Night by Elie Wiesel
Extra Credit:
Good Omens (published 1990) by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
I’m a little worried that I stacked the beginning of the year with the “easier” books to read (those at an elementary and middle-grade reading level). At first, I wasn’t going to assign a book to a particular month but they lend themselves to particular seasons and I wanted the overall vibe to match the weather.
shared in her newsletter Fiction Matters that reading backlist books can feel like a bit of a detox and I have to agree! The whole point of this project was to see if these books I fell in love with as a child still sparked the same joy in me as an adult. Spoiler alert… they do! So it shouldn’t feel like a slog to pick up one a month when I have slowly been falling in love with them all over again as I read this year.Amid this rereading project, I’ve managed to rack up eight eARCs on Netgalley that I need to read and review by the end of October. I’ve totally got this. Everything is completely 100 percent under control!
In all seriousness, I’m proud of myself for the progress I’ve made toward this project and based on my reading pace, I feel confident that I will finish it and all the eARCs I still have left to read.
As always, you can shop the full list through my Bookshop.org shop. Be sure to check your library first. They should have most of these backlist titles in their catalog!
Just a reminder that I set up a Storygraph Challenge if you’d like to read these books with me and track them.
❓ Have you read any of the books in my TBR list? Do we share any favorites?
Til next time,
Ooh yes! I remember when you launched this and I’m excited to see how well it’s going for you! I’ve reread On Writing by Stephen King and Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum so far. I intend to reread two of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novels as well. 🤍
This is a really great idea! I might steal this for next year. It’s something my daughter and I can do together.