And it was good. I loved little Holly, Mark Nolan and his brothers, and Maggie. I loved the setting of Friday Harbor and the dilapidated Victorian house that Mark is helping his brother Sam fix up. However, this was one of my favorite reads of 2013. Did it live up to that? Big fat nope. I mean it was good and I was pulled into the story right away - it's Lisa Kleypas after all. But while the fact that the hero had a girlfriend for at least half the book that wasn't the heroine didn't bother me in 2013 it drove me crazy this time around. What I had rated a 5 Star book in 2013 became a 3 Star book a few years later. The book didn't change but my connection to it definitely did.
While a good book is a good book so much of the reading experience is personal. Sometimes a book can come along at the right time and be exactly what we want or what we're looking for in terms of tone or characters or just the plot itself. And sometimes it isn't. I don't think a 5 star read will ever turn into a 1 star read but a perfect read can drop down to just good or even mediocre.
This is the kind of experience that always makes me a little nervous rereading a favorite book. What if it doesn't live up to the magic of the first read? Have you had this happen with a reread? What do you think changed? Does it make you nervous to reread an old favorite?
Oh yeah, reading is so personal! I know when I was first getting into romance novels years and years ago, I would honestly just read whatever I could get my hands on. I think if I read all the books I did back then, my feelings would definitely change. And sometimes it's small changed. For years my favorite Julie Garwood book was Honor's Splendour. Now, while I do still love that one, my favorite is The Secret.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love Julie Garwood's The Secret! It's on my top 10 list of books that I've reread over and over. And, yes, I agree that reading is very personal and I think a lot of our enjoyment may be based on where we are in life or life events at the time we read the book. I, too, have had books appear at just the right time. And were so enjoyed. But, upon a reread, maybe my tastes have changed or it's just a different season of life. I used to read a lot of romance and more gentle mysteries. Not so much now, but occasionally I reread certain books. Is every book that goes on our favorites list going to hold up later - probably not. I'm OK with that. I still like to try them again occasionally. Think this is a topic on the 'top 10 tuesday' meme next week maybe? You should write about this again for that meme Katherine. :-)
ReplyDeleteI only reread Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson and its sequel, Losing Lila. I reread both books immediately after the first round so the reading experience is still the same. I guess perhaps what happens in our life, our experiences etc, do affect our reading experience. It's quite subjective.
ReplyDeleteI found the Earthsea trilogy when I was in college and loved it, so much so that I tucked away the three paperbacks to share them with my future child(ren). I gave them to my son to read and he hated the first book. I don't think he finished it and that is rare for him. I thought as long as they were out I would re-read them and I didn't care for the first book at that time and didn't finish! I should try again. I think it was because I had read so much Fantasy by that time the book themes seemed cliche. Which was not its fault because it came first. :P
ReplyDeleteYes to all of those. I've re- read enough books that haven't held up that it does make me nervous now to revisit an old favorite. Although sometimes they do still hold up and that's a great feeling! But especially if I re- read something from when I was younger- a lot of times my thoughts are significantly different!
ReplyDeleteI don't usually re-read because the couple of times that I did, the book didn't live up to the first time I read it. I don't know why that happens, but it has happened to me often. Also, I just have too many books in my current TBR to read.
ReplyDeleteOh yes - and so these days I simply don't reread books. Partly because there is always the risk that I'll mess up my initial happy connection with it and partly because there are SO MANY marvellous books out there I haven't yet read. Why would I want to waste time going over something I've already read?
ReplyDeleteI think this is just a sad fact of life. We are what we are at that time and place and we see things with those eyes and that heart in that moment.
ReplyDeleteI always love the idea of a reread and sometimes do it. E Richards Shenandoah series lived up to it, but funnily enough I loved the Sugar Daddy trilogy by L Kleypas the first time round, next time didn't grab me as much. However I still keep books I want to reread! Its the nostalgia.
ReplyDeleteI usually like a book more with a re-read simply because I seem to pick up things with a second read through. I have had things go the other way though and have hated a book the second time around. I still love a good re-read.
ReplyDeleteWell said. I almost never reread. Either I’m disappointed or I sigh the entire time I’m reading, thinking about all the new-haven’t-read-yet books I’m missing by rereading this one.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely hot upon some good points here. I'm trying to finish the third Harry Potter Kindle book because I want to complete it and probably take a break from rereading the series because I've read them so much. However, in truth, if I take the time to reread a book, I'd have to have loved it. I have liked books even more from a reread.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I'm an inveterate rereader. But there are books that hold up well to multiple rereads, and others that I enjoyed the first time, and are just OK the second time. It's usually because I've changed in some way, through maturity, experience, changing tastes, or just that I'm in a different place emotionally than I was when I first read it. Changes in social mores and values have an effect as well; I'm bothered by problems with agency, consent, and representation that I didn't notice or wasn't bothered by even 10 years ago. And I've become a more critical reader as I've done more reviewing—not in the sense of being harsher, but of being more discerning, of paying more attention to structure, characterization, and plot.
ReplyDeleteAll of which is a long way of saying, yes, I've experienced that kind of disappointment on a subsequent reading, too. But it doesn't keep me from trying! And sometimes, I find that I actually like a book better the second or third time around.