The Divining Wand

With a slight lull in book releases, The Divining Wand decided to take this time to go beyond its authors pages and discover what favorite books they reread.

Are any of the following on your own list?

Katie Alender (Bad Girls Don’t Die):

“I find “‘Pride and Prejudice’” rereadable in the extreme. That’s my old standby (and I love the audiobook and all the movie versions, too). Of books I’ve read over the past year or so, I can see myself going back to “‘Story’” by Robert McKee. It’s so densely packed with information that another pass would definitely be useful and no less interesting than the first one!”

Judy Merrill Larsen (All the Numbers):

“I used to reread To Kill a Mockingbird every year or so. Now, there are so many books on my TBR pile that it’s hard to justify re-reading anything, but a few that I’d reread include The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, any Faulkner, and East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath. I like to revisit the masters from time to time.”

Holly LeCraw (The Swimming Pool coming April 6, 2010):

“I reread any book that inspires me. Some of my all-time favorites are: The Great Gatsby: So Long, See You Tomorrow; All the King’s Men; To the Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway; Evening; Gilead; Atonement; The Unvanquished; the Last Gentleman; and many, many more. I tend to read books like this over and over. You always learn something new, or, if necessary, can use the best books to bring you back to your own center.”

Trish Ryan (He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: A Memoir of Finding Faith, Love, and Happily Ever After, A Maze of Grace: A Memoir of Second Chances coming in June 2010):

“Right now, I’m working on a novel, so I’m immersed in fiction. I just finished THE PROMISED WORLD by Lisa Tucker, and I’m going back to read all her others–she’s a master at moving the story along without giving away secrets. And Laura Dave’s LONDON IS THE BEST CITY IN AMERICA and THE DIVORCE PARTY show me what it looks like to create an entire world with words. Her books make me forget where I am.

“For memoir/essay, an unsung genius is Heather King. Her most recent book, about her transitions (from barroom drunk to married lawyer to divorced Catholic seeker) is called REDEEMED. Her words and her honesty raise the bar pretty high for those of us who want to write our own stories.”

Kristina Riggle (Real Life & Liars):

“I re-read books all the time. Some of my favorites: BREATHING LESSONS, Anne Tyler, NOTES ON A SCANDAL, Zoe Heller, THE GREAT GATSBY, F. Scott Fitzgerald, anything by David Sedaris. Also, I haven’t read them a second time yet but I know I will: THE EMBERS by Hyatt Bass and CONFESSIONS OF A PREP SCHOOL MOMMY HANDLER by Wade Rouse.”