Treat yourself and reread a favorite book. Not only do you reap the benefits of meeting an old friend you loved, but you also discover a different you who is now reading the book, but with different eyes. Experience the wisdom of Marcel Proust who said : “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
When I read a book to a classroom of children they often tell me ‘they know that story” and when I have finished the story, I hear a small voice say in awe, “ The story changed—that is not how I remember it.” Of course the story hasn’t changed—it is the listener who has changed. It was Mark Twain, who said in a letter written to William Dean Howells in 18187, “Nothing remains the same.” Each read delivers new riches.
Nothing demonstrates how personal reading is more clearly than rereading. I just reread Bridge to Terabithia and want to share one of my souvenirs from that timeless book. “Sometimes it seemed to him that his life was delicate as a dandelion. One little puff from any direction, and it was blown to bits.” From Bridge to Terabithia
In the books you read, begin to look for your souvenirs, a quote from a story you want to remember— and discover the power of ideas and how they are expressed.
