My Big Bookish Regret

Dear readers, I have a confession to make. You see, I've been looking back on my reading history and feeling like my shelves are missing some of my old friends. I keep asking myself why on earth I ever got rid of them, but that's a rhetorical question because I know damn well what the answer is. You see, as a kid and a teenager, I loved getting rid of books. Don't worry, I never threw a book in the trash, but I was big on "growing out of" books and rounding up big piles to take to the used bookstores so I could replace them with newer books, non-school-related books, more "grown-up" books or whatever else was striking my fancy at the time. Granted, it would have made our multiple moves over the years even more difficult, but I look back and am so sad I don't have any of my Nancy Drew or Babysitter's Club books. I don't have any of the Mary Higgins Clarks I inhaled during my first "adult" mystery phase. I can count on one hand the number of books from my school days I have the same physical copy of:

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury -- I thought this one was gone as well until I found it recently at my parents' house. Lucky for me we held onto it for my brother who didn't mind in the slightest if added it back to my collection.

Wait Till Helen Comes, by Mary Downing Hahn -- This wasn't a school book, but I read it SO many times. I also read every other Mary Downing Hahn book my hometown library had in circulation. I can't even really remember what they were about anymore, but I absolutely loved them back then.

Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of Nimh, by Robert C. O'Brien -- a grammar school summer reading assignment that I enjoyed and miraculously held onto for all these years. Why this one and not others is a bit of a mystery to me!

And that's it. Those are the only ones that have survived to adulthood. There is a box of (mostly) picture books at my parents' house that my mom kept, but so many of the ones I remember most fondly now, I passed on with barely a second thought. I'm not upset I got rid of the ones I didn't like the first time around, but I actually liked reading Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. I liked Cold Sassy Tree so much I actually sought out the (unfinished) sequel. They may not have all been absolute favorites, but I distinctly remember liking The House on Mango Street, The Giver, Number the Stars, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Last Unicorn, The Poisonwood Bible, Catcher in the Rye, The Importance of Being Earnest, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, A Christmas Carol, and The Crystal Cave -- all of which were either part of the curriculum or summer reading options. Strange & Unexpected Love was an incredible memoir written by a Holocaust survivor who came to speak at my high school -- why on earth did I not keep that book?!?!

So this, my friends, is my Big Bookish Regret. This adult bookworm really wishes she had held onto more of her childhood and teenage books. 14-year-old me couldn't possibly imagine the nostalgia 28-year-old me would be feeling all these years later. I've replaced a few over the years, but in my excitement over my new Required Re-Reading Project, I've been doing it a lot more lately. Starting fresh with new, shiny copies of books I didn't like when I read them for school is one thing, but I do wish I had my original copies of some books I did like. There's not much to be done about it now, unfortunately. I think I've found a bit of a loophole in my Golden Rule of Book Buying, but I really don't feel too guilty about it :)

What about you? Do you ever regret getting rid of books? Or have other bookish regrets? I'd love to know!

Required Re-Reading: The Joy Luck Club (a new feature + a giveaway!)

I've been wanting to re-read books I read for school for quite some time now. In particular, I'm interested in revisiting those books I had to read but didn't like (or in some cases, hated!). This all started when I was looking over some of my old GoodReads ratings and was struck by how low I rated most of my required reading. There were a handful of school assignments I loved, but the number is appallingly low. Looking at the titles now, I know most of them are highly respected and loved by many. I'm convinced that despite my teachers' best efforts, their significance was lost on my teenage self. I think many of them deserve a second chance now that I am older and can choose to read them of my own free will. So when Penguin contacted me about sponsoring a giveaway to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the publication of The Joy Luck Club, I figured why not start with this one? So I give you the inaugural edition of my new Required Re-Reading project, hopefully it is the first of many!

* * * * *

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Series? No
Publisher: Penguin
Date: 1989
How did I get this book? giveaway is sponsored by Penguin Books, but I purchased my own copy to read & review
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
GoodReads | Author | Publisher

When I originally read this book for my sophomore Global Literature class, it was a 2-star read for me. It is so unfair to blame the teacher, but the teacher I had that year really did not inspire any kind of love for the books she was teaching. It seemed as if they were homework for her as much as they were homework for her students. Maybe that's unfair, but when I look back on my high school years, all three of my other English teachers seemed a lot more passionate about their subject and really wanted us to love the books as much as they did. Even when I didn't love the books, those other teachers' love of literature was a noticeable thing I respected and admired.

Anyway, back to the book! From the moment I started reading The Joy Luck Club for the second time, I knew my 2-star rating was going to disappear. The writing is just beautiful and the intertwining stories are a fascinating exploration of the dynamics between mothers and daughters. Add to that the differences and misunderstandings between one generation born in China and the next generation born in the United States, and you have quite a compelling read. With alternating chapters telling the individual stories of eight different main characters, I sometimes had a little bit of trouble keeping everyone's story straight, but this didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the book as a whole -- I just flipped back to check on a name or a detail and continued on.

I found the Chinese culture portrayed in this book very interesting, but the search for understanding, meaning, identity, and a better life for one's children feels very universal as well. This book has become a modern classic and I can now see why. If, like me, you read this one for school and didn't like it, I highly recommend giving it a second chance!

* * * * *

Thanks to the publisher, I am running a giveaway! One winner will receive a copy of the Penguin Classic Edition + a copy of the (gorgeous!) new Drop Cap Edition. Since the books will be shipped by the publisher, this giveaway is restricted to US and Canadian addresses only. (Sorry international readers!) To ship to Canada, the publisher will need the winner to provide a phone number. Personal information will only be used for the purposes of this giveaway and will be kept private. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

_____________

Reading Challenges:
Classics Club #4
Diversity on the Shelf
Re-Reading
Book to Movie
Banned or Challenged